Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

New headache for restaurants: Whistle-blowers with cameras
As if the sluggish economy weren't enough, Korean restaurant owners have a new problem to deal with: food paparazzi.

A profession of digital-camera-toting whistle-blowers has emerged to take advantage of laws offering cash rewards to citizens who report violations of food safety standards by restaurants and food manufacturers. They're known as sikparazzi, a combination of the word sik ("food") with "paparazzi." The Korean Food and Drug Administration says 10,567 food safety violations were reported in the first nine months of 2004, and 74.2 million won ($71,000) in rewards were paid. One major food manufacturer says it made 22 payments of over 1 million won in 2004; in 2003, it had only six such cases.
The sikparazzi have become so established that at least one private institute is offering to train people in the profession. It charges 350,000 won for a two-week course, and gives students such tips as "Photograph the entire vending machine if it doesn't have an identification sticker" and "When exposing a violation, it is best if two people work together to report it." The institute trains its students to use digital cameras and related equipment, and gives them a grounding in the relevant law. The classes have been crowded.
Some manufacturers claim that certain sikparazzi contaminate food themselves and demand compensation, threatening to report it.
by Park Tae-kyun, JoongAng Ilbo (February 11, 2005)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200502/10/200502102219389079900090409041.html

[JongnoGuru]

Best line in the whole piece:

[Real Reality]

JongnoGuru,

What about this line?

The sikparazzi have become so established that at least one private institute is offering to train people in the profession.

Is it a profession? Is it a profession worthy of having courses in a private institute?

[JongnoGuru]

Hell, we could take this a step further. The food manufacturers & vending machine operators are actually secretly running these "snitch photography" classes.... 350,000 won a head for 2 weeks, waiting lists, more classes in the works, and plans to take the programme nationwide. And they're also sabotaging a few of their own products/machines... not many... just enough to lather up a keen demand for the pricey snitch classes.

[Real Reality]

Are the course instructors certified? Are the course instructors for "blowing the whistle" on restaurants selling foreign cuisine from the appropriate countries?

[Ya-ta Boy]

It was only a matter of time.

A few years ago people were making a living standing around locations known for the frequency of traffic violations and taking pix. The government was offering rewards for convictions. Apparantly it was considered better than the cops enforcing the laws.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

They still have Seoul Municipal workers doing that. Kids in green uniforms with video cameras. I would love to see one of them get run down by a bus.

[Derrek]

In my home city, the competing TV station did a very successful series called, "Dirty Dining."

After a city gov't report would come out citing violations at restaurants (very few, if any, ever got 100% approval) the TV station would do a story and go visit the restaurant for comments.

People freaked out when the city reported roaches or little specks of mouse poop in the kitchens of their favorite eating establishments. They would also report things like people mixing salads by hand with no rubber-gloves, etc. That may or may not sound gross to you, but I remember my high school girlfriend doing that at our grocery store. She told me she lost a fake fingernail in the salad once!

[prairieboy]

[Zenpickle]

[Corporal]

Life's too short to worry about whether someone sneezed on your pizza.

[JongnoGuru]

...or barfed in your galbi-tang.

[Real Reality]

Life's too short to worry about whether someone ....
(Complete the sentence)



Life's too short to worry about whether someone ....
or
Life's too short to worry about whether ....

[mack the knife]

Back home in H-town, the champion of sanitary dining went by the name of Marvin Zindler. Sporting a white bouffant (sp?) hairdo and blue sunglasses (on the evening news, mind you), this gentleman's catch phrase "There's SLIME in the ice machine!!" not only helped clean up the H-town restaurant scene, but also caused the closing of many establishments that were simply dag-nasty. Hats off to Marvin.

If I had a penny for every naked hand that has prepared my food in Korea, I would be giving Bill Gates a run for the money. In fact, Koreans say that gimchi must be prepared by naked hands, or it won't develop the proper taste. Great. So that wonderful smell comes from germs and bacteria? Of course, the red pepper paste and fermentation kill all of the nasty-naughties. Right.

[Corporal]