By It will be interesting to see what becomes of this, my guess probably not a whole lot:
Human rights groups have launched a fact-finding team to investigate a claim by an Indian professor who has accused a Korean of humiliating him through abusive and racial language.
The move led by a group of NGOs comes after policemen allegedly sided with the Korean offender during questioning.
The incident is the first case of its kind to be reported to police, indicating that many more such claims could pop up in a nation where as many as 1.2 million are foreign residents.
According to Bonojit Hussain, 28, an Indian research professor at Sungkonghoe University, he was riding a bus with his Korean female friend in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, on July 10 at 9:15 p.m.
As the bus traveled toward Bucheon City Hall, a neatly dressed Korean man, who was sitting behind them yelled, “What a disgusting odor! You’re dirty.”
The Korean, later identified as Park, kept shouting, “You must be an Arab. It’s dirty. F*** you!”
Park continued using offensive language and hurling four-letter words at him in Korean and English for about a minute, Hussain told The Korea Times, Monday.
When Hussain asked him why he was treating him this way, Park answered in English, “You Arab, you Arab.”
The Korean even insulted his Korean female friend, saying “Are you Korean? Are you happy to date with a black man?” [Korea Times]
I’m sure no one would be surprised that the ajushi in question was drunk. Mr. Hussain took the guy to the police station, which of course the police took little interest in this incident.
Here is something interesting Mr. Hussain had to say:
“It was not my first time to be subject to racial abuse. I have had many similar experiences. But this time was serious,” he said. “It wouldn’t have happened to me if I were a white man.”
White guys get their fair share of crap from drunk ajushis as well. I was out in front of Jongmyo shrine when some drunk or crazy ajushi started shouting and grabbing me, but fortunately a guy working security at the Jongmyo front gate pulled him off of me. I have plenty of other incidents as well, but I would never get the police involved because that is just asking for more trouble than its worth.
6:54 pm on August 3rd, 2009 1
“It wouldn’t have happened to me if I were a white man.”? As a “white man”, I have a problem with that. Having spent seven years in asia, I have been denied service, requested to leave establishments and called a variety of names, because of my skin color. The number of times I hear disparaging remarks about my sex (male) and skin color (white) seems to grow every day. I think racial equality has a ways to go yet.
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7:15 pm on August 3rd, 2009 2
Yu will chime in shortly with Korea is the greatest country with no problems and tell you that you are wrong.
The fact is that the police don’t care, and frankly why would they. This is the kind of thing that the guy might be charged with Disorderly Conduct or something (in another country), but I’m sure every police department in the world has better things to do than worry about this stuff.
Especially in this country even an obvious case of assault where a husband beats a wife, or vice versa, you just hold them for 3 hours, make them apologize, and send them home. Verbal harassment doesn’t even show up on that scale.
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August 3rd, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Like I always tell everyone with situation like this in Korea it is best just to swallow your pride and walk away, or run if you have to:
http://rokdrop.com/2007/11/23/you-cannot-win/
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8:04 pm on August 3rd, 2009 3
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8:32 pm on August 3rd, 2009 4
yeah, i would say both whites and non-whites are equally as likely to be the subject of racism in korea, it’s just that these are separate and based on different prejudices. for non-whites, the racism is generally very traditional and is indicative of a general sense that A FEW koreans have that they are somehow superior to anyone with darker skin than them, including se asians, indians, africans, etc. for whites, being the object of racism in korea is generally the result of some form of han. it basically comes down to either a sense of insecurity or a resentment over a perceived past subjugation. the main difference i think is that whites are probably equally as likely to receive special treatment due to prejudice as negative treatment.
the most interesting aspect for both sides happens when korean women come into play, as it seems that women who pass time with darker skinned peoples are slumming it, and therefore shaming herself and others, while women who pass time with white foreigners are apparently selling out and bowing down to the white man i.e. the west, etc.
one more interesting thing that a korean co-worker described to me involved a hypothetical situation where both a white westerner and someone of darker complexion were both guilty of a crime, such as robbery, for example. my coworker claimed that koreans would be much more likely to forgive the latter, and not the former, due to the perception that the non-white probably came from a less privileged background, while the white offender was clearly trying to take advantage of lowly, stupid koreans (as the white person surely saw them).
i’m not going to say that korean racism is any worse than anywhere else, but it is certainly interesting for the different levels and forms that it takes.
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8:47 pm on August 3rd, 2009 5
Pedudice against people, will have to be re-taught, and relearned for the next thousand years. If I learned nothing else in my 61 years, it was that it will not be conquered in one generation.
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2:28 am on August 4th, 2009 6
Koreans are, pound for pound, some of the most racist people in the world. Not to say I didn’t have a good time there, but knowing the language and overhearing things put things into perspective.
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3:08 am on August 4th, 2009 7
“The move led by a group of NGOs comes after policemen allegedly sided with the Korean offender during questioning.”
I’d be suing the cops, too (it can and has been done).
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5:22 am on August 4th, 2009 8
I’m glad I don’t have the same problem as so many. I just get into the persons face, look down on them and call them a Fin Piece of S Punk Ka Seki. Then I punch them right in the middle of their mouth. Though I’ve only had to do this once, it seemed to work very effectively. I have to recommend everyone do the same.
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August 4th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I think “sometimes” you are right and a punch in the mouth gives the correct and proper attitude adjustment (that in no other way could be delivered) to the perpetrator. Just be careful. Not wise if you are outnumbered or much smaller.
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9:27 am on August 4th, 2009 9
He sounds like an arab to me.
By the way. What was the insult? Saying he was dirty? It was most likely true and the guy was dirty and stinky. How is that racist?
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August 4th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Did you read the article? If he was just dirty and smelly then what was the point of saying that he was Arab? If it was some white guy, then do you think he would have said, “You must be an American. It’s dirty. F*** you!” I would doubt it.
Besides, have you even been to Germany? People don’t wear deodorant there. I’m even good friends with a guy from Berlin, with whom I went to college, and deodorant there just isn’t their thing.
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August 4th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Been to Germany and yes, there are a few (no pun intended) who do not wash. They are a small minority.
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August 4th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
So you are saying that if I call somebody dirty then its racism. Americans get insulted in Korea all the time. Again show me the racism. By the way, your comments about Germans does sound like racism. Funny how a racist like you seems to ignore his own racism.
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August 4th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
No, I said “I have been to Germany and yes, there are a few (no pun intended)who do not wash. They are a small minority.” I did not say you were racist (nor imply it). I did not try to show you “racism”. My comment is from my own experience, you can take it or leave it. I’m of French ancestry, and am talking about Germany. I’ve been to France as well. You should ask me what I think about the French. Methinks you find whatever you want to find. No offense.
August 4th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
When I first came to Korea many years ago, there was a term used by all GIs which was “kimchi breath.” The reek was near intolerable to most Americans and near inescapable. You struggled to find safe distance but you didn’t publicly berate someone because of it. Like being a non-smoker in a country where everyone smoked. Since then, most urban Koreans tend to brush their teeth after a heavy kimchi meal or maybe I have adjusted to it. I just don’t notice it anymore.
I will still see Americans moving off to another car of the train when a group of students get on and they all have a packet of oh-jing-uh; fried squid.
Richard Pryor had a funny routine about the first time he went to Africa. He was in a taxi with an African driver. He had to put his head out the taxi window because he couldn’t stand the African’s body order. At the same time he notice the African driver had his head out the driver’s side window because the African couldn’t stand his smell. He imagined the African thinking, “Oh god! These Americans, with their colognes and deodorants.”
One person’s pheromones is another person’s stink.
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September 2nd, 2009 at 11:45 am
Well If you read the follow up news in Korean newspaper recently … the Indian guy was at least 8 feet away from the Korean man who abused him. I wonder how you can smell someones body odor from 8 feet distance. And most importantly the offender(the Korean man)has already admitted during prosecutor’s cross-examination that he did abused the Indian guy ‘cos he couldn’t stand the fact that the dark skinned was with a Korean women.
I don’t think its difficult to find “where is the racism”
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11:49 am on September 2nd, 2009 10
And did you also read that the Korean man (the alleged offender) abused the Korean women who was with the Indian guy by saying that “You Korean Bitch, how does it feel to date a black guy” ….. If you still don’t see racism in it then its your problem.
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