Friday, March 08, 2013

"If they're white, it's okay?" Lots of English instructor frauds...

The 2005 English Spectrum Incident

Part 1: English Spectrum and 'Ask The Playboy'
Part 2: The Kimchiland where it’s easy to sleep with women and make money
Part 3: English Spectrum shuts down as Anti-English Spectrum is created
Part 4: How to hunt foreign women
Part 5: Did the foreigners who denigrated Korean women throw a secret party?
Part 6: The 'Ask The Playboy' sexy costume party
Part 7: Stir over ‘lewd party’ involving foreigners and Korean women
Part 8: The 2003 post that tarred foreign English teachers as child molesters
Part 9: Netizens shocked by foreign instructor site introducing how to harass Korean children
Part 10: 'Recruit a Yankee strike force!'
Part 11: The Daum signature campaign: 'Let's kick out low quality foreign instructors!'
Part 12: Movement to expel foreign teachers who denigrated Korean women
Part 13: "Middle school girls will do anything"
Part 14: Netizens propose 'Yankee counter strike force'
Part 15: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 1
Part 16: Segye Ilbo interview with the women from the party, part 2
Part 17: Web messages draw Koreans’ wrath
Part 18: Thai female laborers and white English instructors
Part 19: KBS Morning Newstime: 'I can also suffer from the two faces of the internet'
Part 20: AES: Grandfather Dangun is wailing in his grave!
Part 21: 'Regret' over the scandal caused by confessions of foreign instructors
Part 22: "Korean men have no excuse"
Part 23: "Unfit foreign instructors should be a 'social issue'"
Part 24: Growing dispute over foreign English instructor qualifications
Part 25: 'Clamor' at foreigner English education site
Part 26: Foreign instructor: "I want to apologize"
Part 27: No putting brakes on 'Internet human rights violations'
Part 28: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 1
Part 29: "They branded us as whores, yanggongju and pimps," part 2
Part 30: Don't Imagine
Part 31: Anti-English Spectrum founder's statement
Part 32: 'Foreign instructor' takes third place
Part 33: Art From Outsider's Point of View
Part 34: U.S. Embassy warns Americans of threats near colleges
Part 35: Internet real name system debated
Part 36: Dirty Korean women who have brought shame to the country?
Part 37: Invasion of Privacy Degrades Korean Women Twice Over
Part 38: 60 unqualified native speaking instructors hired for English instruction
Part 39: The rising tide of unqualified foreign instructors
Part 40: Warrant for Canadian English instructor who molested hagwon owner
Part 41: MBC Sisa Magazine 2580: "Korea is a paradise"
Part 42: Foreign instructor: "In two years I slept with 20 Korean women."
Part 43: Viewers shocked by shameless acts of unqualified foreign instructors.
Part 44: Warrant for the arrest of a man in his 30s for breaking into home of foreign instructors
Part 45: [Cultural criticism] Hongdae club day lewd party incident
Part 46: Unqualified English instructors seen as major problem here
Part 47: Investigation of the realities of 'foreign instructors' methods for luring Korean women'
Part 48: Broadcast announcement: 'For foreign instructors, is Korea a paradise for women?'
Part 49: To white English instructors, the Republic of Korea is a paradise

Part 50: "If they're white, it's okay?" Lots of English instructor frauds...


Fifty posts! I never imagined that when I started this a year ago...

On February 17, the Donga Ilbo published the following story:
"If they're white, it's okay?" Lots of English instructor frauds...


If you attend a hagwon there are foreign instructors who display terrible ability. Recently there was controversy over foreign instructors' moral qualifications after the post 'How to lure Korean women' was posted at a foreign English instructor internet site.

On the 19th at 10:55 pm, SBS's 'I want to know that' will deal with the actual conditions of foreign English instructors' illegal employment.

Foreign English instructors' qualification conditions are that they be citizens of a country which uses English as its native tongue and graduates of a 4 year university. They must receive a work visa and be invited by a hagwon, and instruction outside of the relevant hagwon is illegal.

However, the supply of white instructors cannot catch up to the demand for them, which mass produces illegal instructors. Hagwons pay 1.5 million to brokers and hire white instructors illegally. This fee is the main reason for the rise in tuition.

People who are unqualified are hired as instructors. The production crew confirms that there are foreign instructors who openly teach on tourist or student visas or who have only graduated from high school or a two year college and have forged university degrees. If they pay $100 or $200 they can get a forged degree from a famous American university at internet fake diploma websites. In addition to their income from the hagwon, there are instructors who also teach illegal private lessons and make between 50,000 won and 70,000 won per hour. They easily earn money and then go travel in southeast Asia.

Producers also plan to put out informants' testimony about instructors who sexually assault students or offer marijuana to students.

PD Jang Gyeong-su said, "I hope this will be a chance to take a look at the dark aspects of our society caused by our obsession with English education and the racism which prefers white instructors, and the authorities' careless supervision system."
On February 18, the Kyunghyang Sinmun listed the upcoming show in its TV coverage:
[Noteworthy programs] February 19, 20
Behind the obsession with English education and the preference for white people
▲ I want to know that, SBS, 10:55pm

Photos of whites mixing with Korean women posted at a foreign English instructor job site at the end of last year, followed by the post ''How to lure little Korean girls,' shocked many people. However such a thing has actually happened at some English hagwons. By looking at the actual situation of unqualified foreign instructors, [the program] reports on the dark aspects of our society spawned by our obsession with English education and preference for white people.
Also on February 18, the Hanguk Ilbo also drew attention to the show in its TV coverage, placing it at the top of its list of shows to watch that night:
Accusing foreign instructors of criminal acts
[Channel choices, Jan.[sic] 19]
I want to know that (SBS, 10:55pm)

Not long ago, the post 'How to lure little Korean girls' was put up at a foreign English instructor site and caused controversy. The report finds that at some hagwons, this has actually happened. It accuses foreign instructors of actual misdeeds such as offering marijuana to students or sexually assaulting a middle school student.
 Beware the 'Ugly white teacher,' indeed. It's interesting that, of the four articles mentioning the show prior to it airing, three mention 'white' in the title.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just wondering...whats' the purpose of posting all this stuff again? This is 8-9 years old.

matt said...

Again? Other than several paragraphs translated and articles summarized at the Marmot's Hole at the time, translations of the vast majority of these articles have never been posted. As for the purpose, this is where the media began to turn against foreign English teachers and treat them as they'd been treating GIs for decades. It also led to to the formation of Anti English Spectrum, who successfully lobbied the government for drug and HIV tests for E-2s, drug tests that have now been expanded to half a million foreign workers. Despite this, it wasn't a monolithic process, and the articles show that there was criticism of AES and media coverage of this event by Koreans as well.