That’s right!

We’re nearing episode #100, and we want to celebrate it with our listeners. So mark your calendars for June 19th and meet us at the rooftop of Roofers in Itaewon for alive show with a live audience (you, really).

In order to entice you there, the kind folks at Roofers have set up a deal where you can get a burger and beer for W10,000.

Stay tuned here and on our Facebook and Twitter pages for details as they arise.

Kushibo of Monster Island (Dig the new banner) has spoken to Peray via email (1, 2,3) and gets his side of the story while Brian points out that the only confirmation of movements (and not necessarily firings per se) come from Russian sources and a quick and ambiguous note in the Times itself.

It now seems that any shuffle at the top of the Korea Times may not necessarily have anything to do with the way Peray’s cartoons were received by the Russian Community in Korea (and at large). Then again, who knows.

In my previous post I drew attention to the possibility and quoted Pravda who called the moves at the Times a firing and largely linked one to the other, as probably did I.

If that’s not the case however, my point still stands. There has been a change of leadership, even if small, at The Korea Times and I think this would be a perfect opportunity to tell The Times where it needs to get off in relation to it’s bollocks towards Native English Speaker Teachers (E2 visa holders) and foreigners in general.

And as if you really need another reason to thank The Russian People anyway? Hello!? Borscht!?stolichnaya?

Dodgy statistics, misquotes and other, possibly nefarious, deeds from self styled “best reporters” have seen the daily English paper with a circulation of upward of 2 million copies monthly, become a target of ridicule from the expat community especially for basically not reporting the truth.

You’ll remember that the K-Times has also had a bit of a rough history with its syndication of a certain editorial cartoonist out of Thailand, who, on a number of occasions, has pushed the boundaries of good taste. It would seem that this time both the cartoonist and the Korea Times went a wee bit too far and have raised the hackles of The Russian community in Korea, and Russia as a whole:

The administration of The Korea Times, an influential newspaper published in the English language has been fired after the paper published disgusting cartoons mocking the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro. The publishers fired chief editors of the newspaper after the publication of the second cartoon.

Pravda

♫Ding Dong The Witch is Dead?♬

The cartoons are in pretty ad taste. The first and by far the worst is no longer online but the second one can be found here, along with various reactions by Russian readers both in English and in Russian. (Though it has to be said some of the reactions are just as ill advised).

Interestingly the Pravda piece above adds some useful insight which is worth repeating:

“This style of illustrations in South Korean newspapers is not rare. From time to tine the Korean newspapers publish specific cartoons on various disasters in third world countries. The newspaper published the column with the brown bear cartoon on April 2, when Moscow opened a large-scale festival of Korean culture to mark the 20^th anniversary since the beginning of the Russian-Korean diplomatic ties. The burning feeling of national pride is very typical of the Koreans. This feeling comes close to a very painful reaction to any similar attacks against Korea,”

You don’t say…

About 200 people were injured in a terrorist act in the subway of the city of Daegu (S.Korea) when a mentally unbalanced individual set a carriage on fire in February 2003. About 200 people were injured in the accident. If a Russian newspaper published a cartoon on the subject, the South Korean government would never leave it out of its attention.

You can imagine the “netizen” vitriol can’t you if that were to have happened.

The recent Metro attacks in Moscow were terrible and here’s hoping that the new K-Times editorial team sees it’s way to discontinuing the use of this particular cartoonist’s works.

However, I believe this situation presents a unique opportunity to expats in Korea (and those outside of Korea who maintain an interest *cough* Brian) to start petitioning the Korea Times the next instant something is quoted incorrectly, out of context or simply made up. Get out your pens keyboards the next time the likes of reporter Kang Shin-who write the sort of libelous rubbish he has been spouting for years and write to this new editorial team.

In fact write to the publisher. It seems that they are more than willing to turf out onto the street individuals who go about pissing off certain sectors of the community, and I put to you that threats to boycott the Korea Times to the Publisher will not fall on the same deaf ears of those of the editor and his ilk.

This is the kind of opportunity that doesn’t come about to often and I would encourage anyone, but especially those in the English Language portion of K-Blogland, many of whom are much better at stating these things than I am, to have a go – who know what’s going to come from it this time round, all things considered etc etc.

And so, if you’re an English teacher in Korea, the next time you see a Russian person, say thanks. In one fell swoop they have gone and done what we have been trying to do for ages. Lets see if we can’t scoot in on their coat tails and affect some change beneficial to another group in the community.

Who knew they were so good at correcting the media aye!? Aye!? (I kid, I kid!)

(Via Joe in the email)

Which is not to say there efforts aren’t well intentioned, and indeed the Travel in Korea’s (Is that the Korean Tourism Organisation – KTO??) attempt at an iPhone app is a good example of a balanced workable approach, albeit a little lacking in what is, the first iteration.

There are four separate apps available from the iTunes App store; Travel in Korea Metropolitan Areas, Travel in Korea Seoul, Travel in Korea Gyeonggi-do and Travel in Korea Gangwaon-do. (Search the app store). This post specifically looks at the Seoul version.

The Seoul version itself is separated further into North and south of the river and lists the places it covers in both the Gangbuk and Gangnam regions. Selecting one drills down to a further menu where you can view attractions by name:

The layout is clean and efficient for the iPhone and maintains the left to right User Interface element familiar to iPhone apps and web pages but is more colourful and not as sterile as the muted grey and blue of the standard iPhone UI palate. Choosing an attraction you are greeted by a brief description of your destination:

However few of the entries have any information o how to get there either by bus or Metro. Most places however have a website address but there is no click-thru to mobile Safari on the iPhone users having to remember a convoluted ~.go.kr address or presumably look it up on a PC and the same has to be said about the phone number. For an application on a phone you should really be able to call someone. You can’t even cut and paste these elements as the information is presented in HTML and text, rather it is an image file. Essentially the whole app is a glorified photo album.

That being said the images of various attractions and destinations in and around Seoul are pretty amazing looking on the iPhone’s screen and it is obvious that a great deal of work has been put into finding images that present these places in the best possible light. (No pun intended):

However where the app falls down the most is in providing a map for presumably tourists, to get to these places. The iPhone (and iPod Touch) takes great advantage of the Google Maps integration it has and GPS on the phone. The Travel in Korea Tourism App would be much better served by being able to bring up Google Maps from within the application to find a place rather than having users come up with this:

The most cluttered, lowest resolution map of Seoul in the world. which, in addition to it’s awkwardness can’t be zoomed in on.

Which is not to say that any of this can’t be improved in a subsequent 2.0 release. Admittedly these apps came out before Google had permission to use Korean mapping data, but even a clearer cached version of Google Maps like metro app Jihachul does, in an update would do wonders for this application and turn it into something more useful for tourists and expats alike. One of the things Google Maps on the iPhone lacks is the kind of Layers found in Google Earth and in it’s Android counterpart. An app providing some sort of Korean Tourism layer would be most useful indeed.

A good start but looking for those all important user iterations in a 2.0 Release.

Price: Free

Bimbo Rating: ★★ 2/5

Intelligent smartphones may end up rendered [sic] retarded by Korea’s crusty Internet regime.

In regards to the Financial Supervisory Service’s (FSS) insistance on using out dated unusable standards for security of smartphone related financial transactions.

The Hankyoreh has these words on the subject:

South Korea’s domestic accredited certificate system via Active X, however, has absolutely no possibility of expanding into the world market. This is because far from being competitive, it lacks basic compatibility and amplifies only user inconvenience in the mobile Internet era. This is a problem that results as the government, failing to understand the nature of the dynamic global technology market that is quickly transforming and creating new standards, designates a particular method as “the best technology” and forces it on everyone.

Active X – The ball and chain holding back development on the Korean Internet

Heehee! It might be a leftest rag at heart, but The Hanky rarely shys away from calling the government out when it is clearly wrong.

Thankfully more forward thinking heads seem to be prevailing at the Korea Communications Commission (perhaps they got iPhones for Sollal?).

Fortunately, in some government circles as of late, there are some noteworthy moves to change South Korea’s reality, which is far removed from the post-iPhone world. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on Feb. 16 (local time), Korea Communications Commission (KCC) Chairman Choi See-joong drew attention by saying that if South Korea’s domestic IT industry fails to respond well to the mobile revolution, it could fall behind in the world market

The Hanky article goes on to detail the success of PayPal in the US and ALiPay in China, both of which I have used, and the later of which is strongly backed by the Chinese Government. (BTW Good luck trying to use PayPal in Korea, you need a Korean resident number.) The Article laments the lack of ease of use in Korea as well as lack of profits that could be generated by such enterprises.

Things are looking up though with Cheong Wa Dae entering the fray:

The Presidential Council for Future and Vision also sent delegates from the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, Korea Communications Commission and Korea Internet & Security Agency together Friday to discuss solutions to resolve the current reality of the smartphone environment, that in South Korea mobile payments are not yet.

Here’s Hoping.

Is it just me, or has there been a decided increase in sex crimes being committed, (or just reported?) over the last year or so?

Either way – Korea has a significant problem dealing with sex offenders, especially since people who commit crimes facing less than a 3 year prison sentence have their records wiped clean after 5 years on non-offending. I stand to be corrected on that one but bring it up in light of the fact that as a foreigner I have to produce my Criminal Record (or to the point, lack thereof) every five minutes, despite the fact that it wouldn’t prove if I was a sex offender or not.

So how many Foreigners have been found to be kiddie fiddlers in the last 3 years?

Two. (And even then, that’s in the category “Sexual Violence” which may or may not incorporate paedophilia.

How many Koreans?

Lots. There’s the Na-Young case, A 55 year old Mr Kim taking advantage of an ADHD elementary school student, A Mr Kim in Busan was found guilty of having sex with a teenage runaway, then there was the case of two dudes pimping out two middle school girls….The List, unfortunately, goes on.

So you will understand the proverbial spitting of the proverbial coffee all over the computer monitor when this evening I read this:

Foreign Pedophiles to Face Permanent Deportation

Surprisingly This one wasn’t penned by Kang Shin Who.

From the article:

The Ministry of Justice said Thursday it will revise immigration rules to ban foreigners found guilty of raping Korean children from re-entering Korea permanently.

All two of them.

Of course The Foreign Paedophiles are a greater threat than the home-grown Han-Kiddie Fiddlers, even the article says that right?

The government has announced a package of measures against sex offenders after the Supreme Court upheld a lower-than-expected prison term handed down to Cho Doo-soon, a 57-year-old man convicted of kidnapping and brutally raping a nine-year-old girl.

Cho, given a 12-year-term, is now in prison for class-A criminals in North Gyeongsang Province. The victim, widely known by her alias Na-young, suffered incurable physical and mental damage.

Of course, because every foreigner I know is likely to get drunk, molest a child and then disfigure her by sticking a broom handle permanently and only get 12 years.

Jeebus H. Christ Esq.!

But wait, here comes the head thumping moment, because, as you well know, not only is it foreigners, but specifically it is E2 visa holders that are the scourge of Korean Society and it’s children:

…Rep. Lee Joo-young of the ruling Grand National Party urged the ministry to tighten the rule on E-2 visa issuance, arguing it’s so lax that many convicted foreigners attempt to cross borders with legal residential status. The legislator did not disclose the exact number of foreigners caught for the violation.

Under the law, E-2 visa applicants are mandated to submit records on their criminal histories and health check-ups particularly on AIDS and drug use, which are issued by their country of origin.

All two of them.

I used to think a T-shirt, in Korean stating I was not American might go a long way to ingratiating me to my Korean hosts.

From now on I will just hand out copies of my Criminal Record Check and AIDS test results. (Neither of which go any way in proving that I’m not a paedophile, but you know, nothing like a bit of pragmatism.)

Thankfully a modicum of sense seems to be coming from the parliamentary opposition:

Earlier this month, a group of lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP) proposed a bill, which will make it impossible to reduce the punishment of sex offenders on the grounds that they were drunk at the time of the crime and thus unable to make sound judgement.

It also aims at removing the statute of limitations on rape cases. At present, it ranges from one to 25 years depending on the seriousness of the crime.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to clean up the bloody mess on the wall….

—-

BTW Korea Times it’s spelt “paedophile.”

It is a very small sample – though not restricted to E2 Visa holders it equates to about 1% of the 20000 Language teachers in Korea. Neither should it be taken as an impartial poll – the questions were not checked for bias before the survey started (and indeed some changed during the survey as well), and of course the subjects were self-selecting.

So as an instrument for data gathering it is flawed.

I think it does however give us an interesting snapshot about who we as a population group are, where we come from, what we do, and where we might be heading.

The data collected is thus presented here with out too much clarification or interpretation. You may use it / reproduce it if you wish under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.

First the more objective statistical type things:

Gender Breakdown

Age

Nationality

Length of Stay in Korea

Visa Status

Place of Work

So we might extrapolate that your average foreigner teacher in Korea is Male and aged between 26 and 30, hails from The United States, has been here 2 years, holds an E2 visa and Works at a Hakwon. (I think I skewed the results in terms of workplace by emailing all my fellow elementary school teachers and getting them to fill in the survey).

The second part of the survey asked less scientific questions. Nevertheless they provide some interesting results. The first Question asked:

Why did you come to Korea?

Where do you get most of your information on happenings in Korea?

(People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.)

It is no real surprise that K-Blogland features greatly in how people get their info about what’s going on in Korea such as events, festivals and news etc.

Which, if any, of these blogs / sites have you visited in the last month?

(People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.)

List any Korean related magazines you read.

Along with the usual sources the survey also looked at other media – in particular Magazines that are based in and are about Korea. It pretty much confirmed what I already thought – in that GROOVE and the more recent 10 Magazine are popular sources of information, and there is a niche being filled in Daegu and Busan with Daegu Pockets and Busan Haps respectively, there are obviously a number of other – probably smaller print run magazines out there that people are reading.

Two questions asked survey participants to rank the sense of “community” the feel as an expat in Korea.

(1 – no community, 5 – a super connected community.)

And also to rank the adequacy of services available to them as expats in Korea:

(1 – inadequate, 5 – more than adequate)

When it comes to potential activities that Expats would like to get involved in with other Expats it seems there is an untapped market in Korean movies with English subtitles (despite the best efforts of Paul at Hub of Sparkle.)

Finally survey participants were asked for suggestions on what services they missed, weren’t available to them or could be improved. A number stand out including:

An English version of Naver.com, and related to that the extension of the Korean Real Name System to Expats. (i.e. getting your Alien Number to work when registering for Korean sites).

A centralised “clearing house” for government information, forms and procedures in English. While these things are available, in English, they are often wide spread across The Internet. And in a similar vein:

“Clear legal advice, particularly related to visas, assistance setting up basic accounts and financial transactions, greater compliance with international standards for internet and telecom”

Which is a running theme among all the comments left along with better access to Korean Language classes. But apparently things are better than they have been:

Things are SOOO much better than when I first came here, but still don’t compare to the services Koreans could enjoy if they traveled to Western countries…

and

Other than being an ugly white guy who can now f**k model-quality Korean chicks, not too much.

There’s always one isn’t there.

Suicide booths

Ok – there’s always one, or two, isn’t there.

Another theme seems to be better access to legal advice in English. Predictably about labour related issues, but also things like trusts, investments and wills

So there you have it. An interesting snapshot of our “Community” at one point in time. Like I say it is not the most perfect instrument of data collection, but in lieu of a Government Census, which foreigners seemed to be left out of anyway, it’s a start.

Now for those in the know to put some of this data to work….

As such we are still looking for some information by from you!

Your honest answers in the Survey would be appreciated and all your details will be kept safe and not sold on to people hawking Viagra or various other members of Nigerian Royalty.

It’s only 10 questions and will only take a couple of minutes – so go on, Give it a go!

You can take the survey here.

The paper notes that the government continues to encourage increased personal hygiene practices. (Who woulda thought you’d need to tell people to wash their hands? But then 1 minute in a mens room in Korea and the number of people who leave without washing their hands might change your mind.)

In addition the mighty Chosun notes that these just aren’t enough and comes to the seemingly obvious conclusion that if you have a healthy diet you less likely to get sick. (Who woulda thought you’d need to tell people to…never mind!)

Once the virus invades the body, strengthening the immune system is the best way to fight back. People with strong immune systems are less likely to develop serious symptoms when they are infected.

It then lists five different foods and the reasons that they fight H1N1 and will improve you’re diet:

1) Kiwifruit.

The sometime neglected Antipodean fruit is a rich source of Vitamin C, and indeed one Kiwifruit contains a day’s recommended vitamin C intake. Good for fighting off not just H1N1 but the common Cold too.

2) Ginger

Another personal favourite – Ginger and it’s active ingredient Gingerol is both an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory.

3) Oysters and Beef. (And Beans and Squid)

There have apparently been studies that show zinc, if taken within 24 hours of flu onset, will alleviate symptoms. Oysters, beef, beans and squid are all rich sources of the compound.

4) Red Snow Crab

Chitosan [Abundant in Red Snow Crab] is recognized by the Korea Food and Drug Administration as a healthy substance which strengthens the immune system

Who knew the Korean FDA was on the “Eat this – it will increase your ‘Stamina’” crowd?!

5) Mackerel (Omega-3 Fatty Acid)

Fish! Fish! The family dish!

A good anti-inflammatory The Chosun recommends 2-4g/day. (That’s a lot of Mackerel!)

I would note that these are some pretty pricey ingredients. I don’t think I will be holding an H1N1 buffet any time soon.

At least not without a sneeze guard.