…and all other things being equal, what would my concerns be?
I often talk with the wife about how Korean’s seem to be very good at working themselves up over minor issues, with the flimsiest of evidence to support their claims. At the same time, they seem to be amazingly successful at ignoring real problems in their society.
Koreans are doing an amazing job of protesting the imminent resumption of US beef imports. They also enjoy the odd paranoia induced crackdown and/or protest on English Teachers, migrant workers, and Japan. Usually, these protests are based on the rumour, hearsay, and fabricated or exaggerated evidence.
Recent examples include the beef fiasco, largely caused by insane statistics claiming that the Korean “race” are susceptible to mad cow disease, and (in the wildest of rumours) the US are covering up the Mad Cow epidemic in their country, and are planning to use the rogue Korean gene to wipe out the population. Genocide by mad cow, if you like.
The recent visa changes for foreign English instructors were instigated because an international manhunt uncovered a pedophile who was working in South Korea. The Koreans never noticed a thing, and he was reported to Interpol by other foreigners who recognised him by the picture. Despite the fact that he held a The South Korean government then decided to target E-2 visa holders (despite the suspect having a different class of visa). They wanted a drugs test from all E-2 visa holders, and a criminal record check. They only want this from E-2 visa holders, and not from any of the other migrant visa classes. They also want a criminal record check, as this will apparently keep out the pedophiles. Well… convicted pedophiles in most countries eligible for an E-2 visa are not able to leave their home country in most cases, and the root cause of these issues was a teacher who had no criminal record until his taste for young boys became known. He never committed a crime in Korea, and despite these new hoops to jump through, he could have easily gotten a visa.
(NOTE: I am not saying what this guy did was ok. It was most certainly NOT ok. That said, the reaction of South Korea was one of hysteria that has done nothing to correct the real issues.)
So… how would I be directing my energies in order to instigate change? I would probably focus on more tangible evidence that would make Korea a safer place.
1. Sort out the roads!
This information was taken from www.kosis.kr, the Korean statistics office website:
2001 – 2006 Death Rates:
|
ALL |
Traffic |
|
| 1-4 Years old | 4,816 | 21.39% |
| 5-9 Years old | 4,017 | 27.58% |
| 10-14 Years old | 3,241 | 15.86% |
| 15-19 Years old | 6,917 | 30.50% |
| 20-24 Years old | 11,424 | 25.77% |
| 25-29 Years old | 14,623 | 19.89% |
The roads in South Korea are a lawless place. The police rarely bother to prosecute for anything until a person is hurt. Unfortunately, this leaves motorcycles free to mount the sidewalk, buses to jump red lights at 40km/hr+, and all manner of insanity left unchecked. Kids are riding scooters 3 at a time, without helmet, and all of these infractions are ignored by a Police force that has become a laughing stock.
2. Sort out the education system!
The Korean education system is a joke. Students are taught to memorise, memorise, memorise, and many leave high school without any critical thinking ability. This in turn leads to problems where they all flock like sheep to the latest folk devil (English teachers, US beef, whatever). They rarely stop and think about the evidence presented to them, and so they are led away from the real issues.
There is a real pressure on students to perform well. The study long hours at school, with mandatory extra classes until 9pm once they get to high school. After the school day is over, many of them will then attend extra classes at a private academy, to make up for the inadequacies of the public school system.
16 hours a day of study, all in order to do well in the University entrance exam. Once they attend university, they are almost guaranteed a degree, regardless of ability. The job market is saturated with degree holders, and so students know that if they want to secure a well paying job after University, they must get into a good university. If they miss that one opportunity, they will attend a poor university where the thickest dipshit will be awarded the same degree as them.
Every year there are a rash of suicides as teenagers fail exams. The numbers then increase as the exams importance does, and once they realise that they are not a nation of geniuses, and can not all get the great job they have been told they will get, the suicide rates spike.
2001 – 2006 Death Rates
|
ALL |
Suicide |
|
| 1-4 Years old | 4,816 | 0.00% |
| 5-9 Years old | 4,017 | 0.20% |
| 10-14 Years old | 3,241 | 6.45% |
| 15-19 Years old | 6,917 | 18.87% |
| 20-24 Years old | 11,424 | 25.32% |
| 25-29 Years old | 14,623 | 25.83% |
At the moment, the kids are delusional. They are told they are geniuses as they always get a high grade on their ridiculously easy exams. They then get their degree, only to find that they have pissed away time and money on something that should be worthless. I say should be… the job market is so saturated with degree holders, the most mundane of tasks in Korea now requires that you graduated University. You will be unlikely to get a job working in a bar (a legitimate bar, not a glorified knocking shop) without one. The average income for a recent graduate in South Korea is 880,000w – a pittance!
3. Implement a “same law for all” policy!
I have already blogged about the ineptitude of the Korean Police. I have even mentioned it earlier in this piece. Whilst they are not blameless, they do tend to take a lot of flack for being the point of contact for public that is constantly laughed at by a very broken justice system.
In Korea, social status often determines guilt, and even when it does not, your guilt can often be pardoned if you have a large enough bank account. Large organisations are left to cheat and steal, and any wrong doing is often overlooked. When punishment is given to powerful people it is often minor when compared to the crimes. It is overlooked to the point that you can still be elected as president!
Even in the public school system, teachers are free to break the law. A Google search for Korean teacher gives plenty of examples of teachers free to beat students with impunity, despite it being illegal. Just this week, a young girl has tried to kill herself after a teacher subjected her to a vicious beating and followed it up with a rumour campaign. The teacher was free to continue teaching, though something may now be done after the students have found their voice. I only hope that this incident leads to more students fighting back against these brutal punishments. Whilst I have never witnessed something as bad as the incidents that are on the youtube link, or mentioned in the newspaper, I have seen a number of unwarranted beatings at my Public School. Unable to continue working in an environment where the Korean teachers feel they no longer need to keep these things from me, I am looking forward to the end of my notice period so that I may start working at a place where physical punishments are expressly forbidden.
