Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nathanrutledge]

Anyone ever write a newspaper in Korea with a response to an article? Ever get it published, get a response, etc?

[Sleepy in Seoul]

Writing a whole newspaper as a response seems a little over-reactive.

[coralreefer_1]

I read an article in the Korean herald maybe two years ago that was basically a 2-part series on attempts by Korean universities to be more competitive globally and their failure to attract foreign professors. After reading the first article, I wrote in with my opinions, and in the second part I was quoted twice.

Nothing to brag about really.


EDIT - (forgot about this one) - Again maybe two years ago another KH writer wrote an article about the Jim Carrey movie "Yes Man" in which there are several scenes of him learning Korean. First the article complained that the producers were insulting the Korean language by having the script written that he would learn Korean as opposed to some other language (basically complaining that the movie made Korean look like an obscure language), and then went on to blast Jim Carrey himself for not speaking correct Korean with perfect pronunciation.

I responded with the following message (phone number excluded on Dave's post)

- I recently read your article concerning the movie "Yes man"

I was saddened that the Korean Herald found what you wrote worthy of print. Your article consists of not much more than complaints about a foreigner who did not speak Korean as perfectly as a Korean.

Did you really expect that he would sound like a Korean? Rather that feel some satisfaction that Korea is recognizable in the world enough that it appears in some small portion of a movie should make Koreans feel proud, yet your article can do nothing but find fault with his Korean skills.

How about you and I have a telephone conversation, and I can critique you and find some small portion of your speaking ability that may not sound exactly like a native speaker? Surely you have studied English for much longer than a few months as Carrey did for the tiny amount of Korean that he spoke in the movie, so based on your criticism of his ability I would expect that your own English ability would be perfect. Will you take my challenge?

You complain that Hollywood movies typically portray Koreans in a bad light. I ask you, how are westerners portrayed in Korea? How many westerners have speaking roles in Korean movies? How is it that when a Korean pop star can add a few English words to a song, the pronunciation is not important and the song seems to become an instant success, but when an outsider speaks Korean in a movie, you can do nothing but find fault with it? Do you think your criticism of his speaking with encourage other western people to learn Korean? You suggest that the Korean government should do more to encourage Korean Language education around the world, but I have to wonder how your article can assist that purpose?

How about bringing something helpful to the table, or not join the table at all.

I did not like the movie, and only watched it because I read your article and was curious about what your complaint was. After the tiny amount of time he spent speaking Korean, I was left to wonder why it was even worthy of your time to write an article complaining about it. -


A few days later (early on a Sunday morning no less) the guy did actually call me. And while his English was VERY impressive, it was not perfect and we actually had a rather long discussion about the issue.

[SeoulNate]

that was like reading a long cliffhanger...

what happened?

who won the battle of words?

[coralreefer_1]

Well I didn't see it as a battle as much as I wanted him to understand that his comments and critique was a bit harsh given the fact that after only exchanging a few words with him I could tell he was not a native speaker (meaning he was not speaking at the level he expected Carrey to speak Korean). I wont say I won but the conversation lasted about 20 minutes and basically he agreed that he was a bit harsh in the article and that his comments were not helpful for the cause he was championing (government funding for expanding Korean education overseas)

[SeoulNate]

he admitted defeat. That sir, is a victory.

[Smee]

I've written a few responses and gotten them published. A few others didn't make the cut, because papers are worried about upsetting their regular writers too much.

Vanilla Ice got his published in the Times:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/05/137_44885.html