The Land of the Not Quite Right

international | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis Saturday February 19, 2005 16:35 by Conor Purcell conor_purcell at hotmail dot com 086-8793388

Fearful Times for Foreigners in Korea

The U.S. embassy has just issued a warning to it's citizens to stay away from certain parts of Seoul. Demonstrations against foreigners are planned and an online petition to keep foreigners out of the country has already got thousands of signatures. Many foreigners are worried, some have already left. And all this because of a website? Welcome to Korea, one of the most reactionary and xenophobic countries in Asia.

Much ado about nothing. That was the first thought of many when a local expatriate website was brought down by Korean internet users two weeks ago. The site, used by western English teachers to find jobs, had a forum dedicated to Seoul’s social life. The forum also organized parties where westerners and local girls drank, danced and flirted. Koreans got wind of the site, hacked it, and brought it down. Many thought nothing of it. However in the last few weeks, things have quickly escalated. Daum, a local Yahoo-style portal set up a petition to rid Korea of ‘low-grade westerners’. Thousands have already signed it. Demonstrations are planned and activists are encouraged to confront western men who are seen with Korean women. Many foreigners are becoming increasingly worried. Some have already left. And last week the US embassy in Korea issued a warning against U.S. citizens visiting certain parts of Seoul due to fears of reprisals.

Korea is in danger of becoming the most xenophobic and reactionary society in Asia. This contrasts deeply with the stated aim of the Roh administration to become the ‘hub’ of North East Asia, a link between China and the Pacific Rim. Much of the racism, like in many countries, is down to fear and ignorance. Many Koreans point to their history, a constant whirlwind of invasions and subjugation by their powerful neighbours, as a reason for being mistrustful of foreigners. Indeed anti-Japanese sentiment still runs deep, especially amongst the older generation. Younger generations have long had a distrust for the US military stationed on the peninsula. Around Seoul’s main university district, large signs forbidding GI’s from entering are posted above the entrances to bars and clubs. Indeed many westerners, fearful of being mistaken for a soldier, wear their national flags on their backpacks. In the past, that was usually enough to avoid a confrontation. But that was when US soldiers, and not foreign English teachers were the target. That has all changed now. This has been brewing for some time, with the bringing down of an expatriate site being just the latest in a series of incidents. For many foreigners in Korea, the atmosphere on the peninsula at the moment is eerily reminiscent of 2002 when two Korean school girls were run over by an American military APC. When the two soldiers in the vehicle were tried in a US military court, under the terms of the SOFA agreement, there was an outcry. Demonstrations occurred all over the country, and for a while, it was not advised to travel on the subway alone if you were a non-Korean. Occasional demonstrations still occur outside US installations and Korean riot police are permanently stationed outside every entrance of all 41 US military bases. Now however, the focus is not on the military but on the thousands of English teachers working all over Korea. What is puzzling is the depth of the hatred felt for many esl teachers. Why us they cry? And why now?

Part of the answer lies in the media. A quick scan of the local dailies will reveal a media, and a culture, obsessed with itself. Civic groups, local government, and on and off-line communities react fast to any perceived sleight on Korea. The BBC car show, ‘Top Gear’, received criticism from Korean manufacturing groups after lampooning Korean cars as ‘fridge like’ in their design. The popular US TV show ‘Lost’ was also heavily criticised here, accused of perpetrating negative stereotypes of Korean men. Even Oprah Winfrey couldn’t escape criticism after she accused Korean women of being obsessed with plastic surgery. When incidents like this happen, hordes of angry young ‘netizens’ get to work, calling for boycotts, backlashes and action. Notoriously thin-skinned and prone to over reaction, these web-users only ever react when a foreign hand is seen to be responsible. When six South Korean navy personnel were killed in 2002 by the North Korean navy, there was nothing, not even a murmur of protest. A year earlier when an American service-man was caught dumping toxic waste into the Han river, there were protests in the street.

So what does this all mean for Korea? The number of non-Asian visitors to Korea is dropping. So too are the amount of businesses investing in Korea. That is as much down to the weakened won as it is to Korea’s less-than-welcoming reputation. But with xenophobia on the rise, things do not bode well for the future. Today’s twenty-something English teacher is tomorrow’s tourist, business man or investor.
One European embassy official told me that Korea had “no chance” of emulating the regional powerhouses of Hong Kong or Singapore in terms of attracting foreign investment. The reason? “Who in their right mind would want to live here?” While that comment may have been tongue-in-cheek, there are many now who are asking the same question.