Thursday, July 19, 2012

"Charged with a crime, but whatever"... If they look white, it's OK?

NoCut News's July 2012 war on white men and foreign instructors

Prologue:
Part A: Foreign instructor lives a double life… Caught red-handed with dozens of ‘Hidden Camera Sex’ tapes
Part B: Yongsan police begin investigation of 'Foreign instructor who secretly filmed sex'
Part C: 'Foreign instructor who secretly filmed sex' 'expelled' from his university

"The Reality and Twisted Values of Some White Men" Series:
Part 1: 'Chris who appeared on Superstar K'... inquiring into what happened [Korean]
Part 2: Internet awash with 'ways to seduce Korean women'
Part 3: What is the reason elementary school native speaking instructors get their hands on drugs?
Part 4: 'Korean women are beautiful, have a drink with me" - the night streets of Itaewon (scroll down)
Part 5: 'Unqualified foreign instructors' can't help but abound.
Part 6: "Charged with a crime, but whatever"... If they look white, it's OK?
Part 7: A foreign English instructor: "Secretly recorded sex? That's really disgusting."
Part 8: After the 'hidden camera sex' report... victim hurt again through 'comment terror'
Part 9: The 'Hidden camera sex video' could spread... anxious police, idle university

Part 6: "Charged with a crime, but whatever"... If they look white, it's OK?

NoCut News published two more installments to their "The Reality and Twisted Values of Some White Men" series on Tuesday (and another today), all focusing on foreign instructors. The second one relies on the hypothetical and doesn't even present a single example to suggest that police should have different policies when investigating foreign instructors.
"Charged with a crime, but whatever"... If they look white, it's OK?
[The Reality and Twisted Values of Some White Men, part 6] Even charged with/suspected of a crime, they can openly teach... loopholes in the native speaking instructor system

CBS NoCut News exclusively reported on the issue of the native speaking English instructor working at a well known private university's language hagwon who secretly filmed sex with Korean women and is keeping around 20 videos.

After the report went out, Police immediately launched an investigation and the school immediately fired the native speaking instructor. With this incident CBS NoCut News has taken the opportunity to trace back the realities and twisted values of some white men who are representative of native speaking instructors.

On the 18th, the seventh article will look into the world of native speaking instructors charged with/suspected of crimes who teach English classes openly. [Editor's note]

After a CBS report made it known that A (30), a native speaking instructor working at a language hagwon affiliated with a private university in Seoul, had videoed sex with his girlfriends and kept the files, the university removed him from the classroom on July 12.

A university official said, "Once the facts of the sex crime were brought up, the instructor's lectures were stopped." "There is one month left in his contract period, but we can terminate it," he said.

In truth, what made it possible for the university to take this measure was because A's crime was made known. However in most cases, even though a native speaking instructor is being investigated on suspicion of committing a crime, if they are not arrested they can continue to teach.

This is because police cannot alert hagwons or schools to the fact that they are suspects. An official at the Seoul metropolitan police international crime investigation division said, "We don't notify private hagwons or private universities that aren't national institutions or national public universities (of the fact of an investigation)."

As well, though one cannot teach if one's workplace learns of an investigation, one can move to another hagwon to work.

B, a native speaking instructor working at an English hagwon in Seoul, said, "Because there are so many English hagwons around, demand for native speaking instructors far outstrips supply."

Even worse, there are not a few places which will unconditionally hire those without any qualifications as long as they are white and just speak English.

An official from native speaking instructor recruiting company C said, "Checks can be lax when places like gyoseupso (institutes), which cannot hire native speakers, hire without checking qualifications as long as they are a foreigner, and at hagwons as well when the owners hire through people that they know."

As well, though punishment of native speaking instructors who have been charged with crimes may have been decided upon, if they receive fines of less than 3 million won, they can be advised to leave the country, but cannot be deported. Though punishment may have been decided on, if they want to they can work again as instructors.

According to the hagwon industry, the supply of native speaking instructors throughout the country is over 30,000, but at the end of last year the number of English instructors legally here on E-2 visas was only 25,000.

In the end, there are around 5000 native speaking instructors who did not come by there place here legally, and voices are being raised saying that this environment in which those who have committed crimes can openly teach children should urgently be improved.
So, not a single example is presented, only hypothetical situations which suggest that foreign instructors could be a threat. As well, one imagines these policies of not telling hagwons of investigations also applies to Korean instructors or owners, who are far more numerous than foreign instructors and statistically more likely to be a threat. But, of course, "The Reality and Twisted Values of Some White Men" series needs content, and so content it shall have, even if it has to be made up.

For example: "According to the hagwon industry, the supply of native speaking instructors throughout the country is over 30,000". I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to call someone and put the name of a source, or at least refer to "an official from ___." Lacking this, I can only imagine it's made up. As for there being 25,000 E-2 visa holders at the end of last year, the other NoCut News article published the same day stated the the correct figure, saying, "As of the end of last year, the number of native speaking instructors (those who have been issued E-2 conversation instruction visas) living in Korea was 22,541." This mistake would also suggest the writer of this article pulled these figures out of his or her ass. Also forgotten is that around 8,000 or 9,000 of those on E-2 visas work in public schools (which means there must be 15,000 illegal hagwon instructors! Oh no!). In March KBS reported that
Currently there are 15,400 native speaking instructors at hagwons in Korea.

Among these, 10% or 1,500 people are overseas Korean F-4 visa holders who do not need to submit criminal record checks which include a drug test certificate.
While no authority is cited, if you add those numbers to 9,000 or so foreign teachers in public schools, they add up pretty well. While I'm sure there might be some foreigners on tourist visas (or other visas other than E-2 or F visas) working in hagwons, I have my doubts there would be that many. It's been years since I've met anyone working on a tourist visa doing privates or hagwon work, so I don't think it's anywhere near as common as it was, say, around the time of the English Spectrum incident in 2005.

And yes, there is more coming in that series, but with NoCut News now having put out 10 articles in one week on the evils of white men or foreign English teachers, we have a new series on our hands. And just for fun, the headline of the above article ("Charged with a crime, but whatever"... If they look white, it's OK?) echoes the headline of a Kyunghyang Sinmun article from the 2005 incident: '"If they have blue eyes, OK." The rising tide of unqualified foreign instructors.' The more things change...

One piece of information in the article worth noting (if it's true) is that the amount of a fine received that will get you deported has risen from 2 million won to 3 million won.

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