Korea Xenophobic?

Haha. The Korean press and pols (politicians) are up in arms about a recent Financial Times article that slams Korea as displying (and I quote): “anti-foreigner sentiment” or “schizophrenic phenomenon”. (The article is in the premium area of FT's site, so if you pay you can read it.

Hmmmm....let's see. Is Korea anti-foreigner? Well, if anything Koreans (people and business) are, by and large (big exceptions in some cases) pro-foreigners and anti-foreigner in the same breath. Many seem to be in awe of Western culture and business practices (we came up with "best practices" while many Korean firms are still working out how to put together the words "corporate" and "governance" without coming up with "plutocracy" and "nepotism"). But, at the same time, many are also very nationalistic and (rightfully) proud of their heritage. Others go so far as to be jealous (only native speakers can speak like native speakers, stuff like that).

The recent problems with English (the language, not the country) teachers taking on hordes of Korean women as lovers reeks of this ideal: Korean gals see their expat boyfriends as a way to let loose in a tightly-strung culture and, perhaps, even be an exit strategy from whatever ails them in Korea. Korean men are (justifiably in many cases) pissed off that this introduction of a foreign body into their breeding arrangements is, to say the least, screwing things up. The gals, also, seem to be miffed that Camelot is not a place, but a feeling and just as quickly as it materializes (in the form of Joe the Teacher from Scotland, for example) it evaporates as they figure out that (i) he has other Korean girls, (ii) he is married or has a girlfriend back home, and/or (iii) the guy came to Korea because he's a big louse and cannot find gainful employment back home. (There are exceptions, but we all know that.)

Now, is Korea xenophobic? My best answer here is: it's just a phase. Remember when Korea was the Hermit Kingdom? Well, it is for good reason--foreigners have been raping, pillaging and basically destroying all things Korean for thousands of years. The latest was Japan's 1910-1945 occupation of the penninsula. Yes, occupation...as in put all the villagers in the church or town hall and burn it. As in outlaw the Korean language and replace it with Japanese. As in take all the major leaders and force them to work with Japan while holding their families hostage. As in make the last princess of the Chosun Dynasty marry the prince of Japan in order to destroy the blood line. Yes, as in screw over the whole country for about a third of a century. Not cool.

Back to this phase business (my best explanation of comparison between Korea and its Asian neighbors is that it is "out of phase", but that is another use of the word). Korea is, if anything, succeptible to fads, trends, hyperbole and boom/bust mindsets. When 2 girls were killed in June of 2002 (I believe) by an errantly-driven U.S. Army armored personnel carrier the country was up in arms over it. Protests of tens of thousands of people were staged (one set, it seems to remember the girls, the other to talk tough against the U.S.) and petitions signed. Then, so make matters worse, the U.S. Army court martial found them not guilty of criminal negligence. Whoa! Did the shiite hit the fan then! Now everything has died down.

Will the same happen with the backlash against teachers? Probably. Koreans still have an insatiable need to have their kids spend every waking (and sleeping) moment immersed in studying and this is unlikely to abate anytime soon. Since, as noted, only native speakers can speak like native speakers (and teach native speech...believe me, I've seen the results of non-native speakers teaching English...it's not pretty) there should always be a place for us foreigners in Korea. We may need a flack jacket to go to class, but there is a need.

Well, that's enough downloading to the ol' blog for now. Later.