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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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 Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 4:44 am Post subject: CHINESE STUDENTS FORBIDDEN SAYS PC BANG |
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No one who's spent more than a week in Korea would be surprised to hear of xenophobic incidents, but doesn't this stray into blatant racism? And as more Chinese students come to Korea to study, could this become more than an isolated case of exclusion?
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Internet Cafes Refuse Chinese
By Kim Tong-hyung, Staff Reporter
Some Internet cafes near Kangwon National University in Chunchon, Kangwon Province, are refusing entrance to Chinese students, touching off a heated debate over ethnic discrimination.
Chung, who owns an internet cafe near the Chunchon school, posted a sign in front of his shop that reads ``Chinese students forbidden�� earlier this month.
``When Chinese students use our computers, they change the language applications on the Internet browsers so they can read Chinese characters. This is causing disruption among Korean students who have Chinese Web sites popping up whenever they log in to the Internet and it takes us time to renew the applications again,�� said Park.
``There are also times when we have to take care of computer viruses spread from the Chinese sites or deal with pop-up sites that spread malicious programs, which sometimes force us to reformat,�� he said.
Another Internet cafe owner, identified only as Kim, also bans Chinese students from entering his shop.
``Most Internet cafes, commonly called as ``PC bangs,�� in this area have computers with protection programs that block unauthorized programs and allow computers to restore to earlier settings after rebooting. So there is a lot to do after Chinese students use the computers and mess up the settings,�� said Kim.
With Korea having one of the world�s highest Internet penetration rates, PC bangs here have become common establishments where youngsters gather to play computer games or download music and video files.
Internet cafes are also commonly used by college students who don�t have personal computers, which includes many foreign students studying here. Korean universities base a large part of their curriculum on Internet-based studying methods such as online tests and Web broadcasts of lectures.
However, most university students seem to be calling the decision by the Internet cafes to ban Chinese students excessive.
``It is absurd that the Internet cafes fail to install programs on their computers that will protect the machines from malicious programs and blame their lack of readiness on the Chinese students using the computers,��said Lee, a 30-year-old Chinese student studying veterinary science at Kangwon University. |
Sounds to me like an excuse to exclude: the owner could set aside a few of his PCs for Chinese users if he really wanted to, ya think maybe? |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 5:19 am Post subject: Re: CHINESE STUDENTS FORBIDDEN SAYS PC BANG |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
| No one who's spent more than a week in Korea would be surprised to hear of xenophobic incidents, but doesn't this stray into blatant racism? |
Of course it is? You and I and everyone else knows that.
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And as more Chinese students come to Korea to study, could this become more than an isolated case of exclusion?
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No, as more Chinese students come, there will be more of a need to weed out things like this.
But on another note, you guys really expect a lot from Korea. I sure ain't me no apologist, I go on about Korea all the time. But America, one of the most free countries in the world (maybe was, that's not for this discussion) took ages to get over blatant racism (one would say it's still a work in progress too). Korea has really only had people of non-Korean descent (outside of invaders) settling down for a few decades, and you see no KKK, lynchings, hogtying, etc here. They are opening up at an amazing speed compared to our great and glorious nations in the West. This in no way means that this isn't racist and a horrible step backwards. But unlike all the foreigners with the need for persecution complexes, I realize it will get better. Of course it will.
BTW, there is already a thread about this. |
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hubba bubba
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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I'm more concerned about all the Korean people that use PCbangs. Everytime I go into one of those places, it's filled with koreans, and they ALWAYS change the language to Korean. 
Don't they Know that english is the international language of communication? |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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hubba bubba:
Yeah, but what puzzles me most is why the bangs near the universities that they know have many foreign students would deny themselves more profit by catering to their needs?
Typical case of Korean businesses biting off their nose to spite their face. |
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