Those considering coming to Korea would do well to keep in mind the following: while Korea elects most politicians, it is not a true democracy, the rule of law does not exist in Korea, and laws are selectively enforced, sometimes on a xenophobic or racist basis. Truth is not a defense against libel or slander, and immigrants face a host of extra-judicial penalties that authorities can impose arbitrarily. This is not to say that Koreans are not nice people - most of them really are - but simple tenants of democracy are of little importance to the vast majority of Koreans, especially if it doesn't concern them directly.
Recently Busan Immigration has started denying visa renewals to westerners who participated in an amateur play that made fun of Korean Immigration's general incompetence, to conclude a case that has highlighted the lact of freedom of expression expected in any country considering itself a democracy. If any foreigners who really value satire and irony are reading this, beware of Korea. And if any 한국 사람 are, shame on you. You have no idea how bad things like this make your country look, and how actions like this seriously hurt Korea's image - far more than a group of random strangers poking fun at something Korean does.
Thanks for this I have been considering going to SK to teach English. Can you tell me more about the arbitrary extra-udicail penalties? I have heard (from an ex-teacher) that Koreans are very aggressive, particularly towards westerners. is this true?
It really depends on the employer. I don't face any aggression at my current workplace, but at my last one I was incredibly disappointed with my boss in so many respects. As for extra-judicial penalties, yes, there are many things Koreans could throw at you. For instance, your employer could sue you for slander or libel (and this has happened to a number of teachers) and / or have you charged with a trumped up offence and prevent you from leaving the country while denying you employment and withholding pay. Mind you, there are many things a foreigner could do to screw things up at a language academy, too. The biggest problem for foreigners on an E2 visa is that one are not allowed to get another job without one's previous employer's permission. If foreign teachers could simply cancel their visas and get a new one with a new employer academies simply could not screw teachers over the way they do. This is the reason why so many foreigners start off in Korea and after a matter of months end up in Japan, Taiwan, or China.
Then there are the political issues as well. Recently a university instructor was denied continuation of his employment because of research he was posting on the Internet about the Laincourt Rocks, tiny islands that are at the centre of a dispute between Japan and Korea. Imagine if a visiting professor from America were denied continuation of employment in England for expressing the view that Northern Ireland should not be part of the UK. Just think of the political fall-out that would ensue. Well, that's essentially what happened here and it seems no one in Korea cares enough about free speech to do anything about it, and Koreans can get a teacher ousted from his job just by complaining about it. A good example of this would be VANK -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VANK - a network of Korean netizens who try to target and harrass anything they think is disagreeable to Korea, not realising that in the process they're really just making Koreans look like immature fascists.
Of course, such things often never effect many foreign teachers who go merrily on their way teaching and partying it up while still saving money, but anyone coming to Korea should be very careful about how they use freedom of speech. Koreans, it seems, are incapable of handling it.
Topic: Note: Korea is not a democracy and free speech does not always exist (Read 872 times)