By Here is a very interesting interview for all you English teachers out there that was on SBS Radio where they interviewed the Anti-English Spectrum stalker Lee Eun-ung. Here is an excerpt from the interview:
Anchor Seo Du-won:
Just how serious is the present situation of native speaking teacher sex crime?Lee Eun-ung:
I’ve looked into the seriousness of the native speaking teacher sex crime situation. There are a wide range of issues. The places where they commit sex crimes have included most places of education but also have not been well exposed. Also, the approach they take to committing sex crimes is to disguise its form as being educational, and the reason they can commit sex crimes is that the minors don’t easily feel it to be a sex crime. And when it comes to targets of sex crime, they don’t distinguish between preschoolers, male or female school students. For example, one native speaking teacher played a game where the students touched his genitals. It’s quite dangerous. [Gusts of Popular Feeling]
You can read the rest at the link, but the onslaught on English teachers in Korea continues. This guy actually does make a few good points, but he spouted a lot of nonsense and false statistics, which Popular Gusts points out, that totally detracts from any of the valid points he makes. I also find it interesting how the interviewer without question just accepts what this guy is saying. Not the finest hour for Korean journalism.
By the way it is interesting to note that a Korean elementary school principal in Uijongbu is being accused of constantly sexually harassing teachers.
She hasn’t seen...
12:37 pm on July 24th, 2010 1
"This guy actually does make a few good points, but he spouted a lot of nonsense and false statistics, which Popular Gusts points out, that totally detracts from any of the valid points he makes."
That's because his message is based on an appeal to fear. Any of the valid point he may have made are there to ensure his audience doesn't question his innuendo.
12:45 pm on July 24th, 2010 2
I am sick and tired of hearing about AES. I'm excepting GI Korea from the following comment, since he is not an English teacher who may be affected by the rules and regulations that may have resulted from bad press about the "profession" (neither am I), but it seems to me that so many bloggers would rather complain about this guy than do something about him and his hate group.
ATEK, in particular, thought it was a better idea to try to fight the guy with publicity stunts rather than anything effective.
As I wrote here, the best way to have prevented things like this appearance on SBS (and future appearances) is for people physically present in the ROK to discredit his organization as a hate group with petitions to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.
1:21 pm on July 24th, 2010 3
Seriously, this dude is mentally ill and he's on some kind of rampage against foreigners who happen to be teachers in Korea. But there are some who financially benefit from blackening the names of all foreign teachers. Face the facts, the bad hagwons, schools, and recruiters in Korea love the fact that the Korean media demonizes foreign teachers. The Korean public believes everything it reads and believes that all foreign teachers are bad. Why do this? Well, it helps to keep salaries down and limit the legal rights of foreign teachers in Korea. Because of the bad publicity, true or not, no elected officials in Korea, or the USA and Canada, will dare offer any assistance to the honest and legal foreign teachers in the form of strict enforcement of the legal requirements of health insurance and pension for full-time foreign teachers. Also, visa protability will not happen in the current atmosphere. It even impacts the training of public school teachers as these idiotic elected officials demand more lessons about kimchi and trips to Dokdo as part of "teacher training."
As long as someone in Korea finacially benefits from demonizing foreign teachers, wingnuts like Lee Eun-ung will have financial support and plenty of access to the Korean media.
1:29 pm on July 24th, 2010 4
So, archieb, these dastardly hagwon owners are so dastardly that they secretly promote bureaucratic hardships for themselves by giving money to some guy, in order to keep wages down?
Who?
1:31 pm on July 24th, 2010 5
In case anyone was wondering, all of those Korean media outlets are heavily invested in the hagwon industry through their own hagwon chains and those of their sponsors. It's in their financial self-interests to give Lee Eun-ung a platform to demonize foreign teachers in order to keep salaries low. Talk about a conflict of interest, but that's the way things are in the ESL industry in Korea.
1:33 pm on July 24th, 2010 6
#4, look at the BIG picture and follow the money. How do you think Lee Eun-ung gets the media attention he gets without the support of someone on the inside?
1:38 pm on July 24th, 2010 7
As for ATEK, there doesn't seem to be much thought about any type of strategy with regards to this AES organization or for any of the problems faced by legal foreign teachers in Korea. Someone on Dave's ESL posted that the ATEK leadership is "too comfortable to care" about the rest of the foreign teachers in Korea. It sure look like it.
1:39 pm on July 24th, 2010 8
archieb, I think you have an exaggerated notion of how much money it costs him to do what he does. It probably costs little more money than running a blog, and probably takes about as much time.
9:24 pm on July 24th, 2010 9
"The Korean public believes everything it reads and believes that all foreign teachers are bad."
That's just not true.
As for the rest of your argument…Maybe, but it's totally unnecessary because, ironically, as long as schools don't offer a competitive package, the only experienced teachers they'll attract are those who want really want to work in Korea and nowhere else.
9:26 pm on July 24th, 2010 10
Correction…those who really want to work…
10:17 pm on July 24th, 2010 11
Kushibo,
I didn't have much of a problem with ATEK and the way it started. However, nowadays it seems they're laying down arms in favor of F visa holders. You can tell by the weak response of ATEK's president(the one I read), to these latest lines of BS by Lee, Eun-ung.
Korean teachers who sexually assault, RAPE, and/or harass students especially love Lee, Eun-ung since he diverts attention away from them(the REAL problem) and towards Native English Teachers. Simply put, Korean media outlets work for Korean teachers, NOT native English teachers.
10:43 pm on July 24th, 2010 12
Kushibo,
I'd bet you were against the E-2 teachers filing complaints with the Human Rights Commission against Immigration and/or Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education(SMOE) for the discriminatory HIV tests so why should anyone file complaints against Lee, Eun-ung/AES.
Regardless of HRC's decision on the above matter(and so-called education/training for Immigration/SMOE officials), Immigration is still requiring HIV tests. NOTE: Korean Immigration Service says a positive result won't mean anything(yeah right), and/or will not result in deportation.
12:07 am on July 25th, 2010 13
"he diverts attention away from them(the REAL problem)"
Don't really agree with the rest of your argument, but this is a very compelling point. He diverts attention from the real problem, which, I believe, is the educational system itself, not just one of its minor elements.
12:12 am on July 25th, 2010 14
Tbonetyler wrote:
I’d bet you were against the E-2 teachers filing complaints with the Human Rights Commission against Immigration and/or Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education(SMOE) for the discriminatory HIV tests
I was indeed against that, but not for the reasons you state. First, I take the very un-PC view that HIV and AIDS are a public health issue that, for historical reasons related to stigma caused by homophobia, has typically been instead treated primarily as a human rights issue and I think that puts the public at great risk and hobbles our chances to eradicate this deadly illness.
Secondly, it is not discriminatory because ROK nationals are routinely tested for HIV at various stages, particularly men. South Korea is being dragged in the wrong direction by AIDS activists and people who co-opt their agenda, like ATEK.
Thirdly, in the big picture, it is not E2 (or even F-series) visa holders who are discriminated against, but Korean nationals, who must go through so many difficult hoops to get their teaching positions, particularly in the school system, that E2 and F-series English teachers do not. This includes teaching credential certification and military service, none of which the E2 and F-series teachers are subject to, simply because of their national origin. Isn't that discriminatory? Where are the complaints about that?
so why should anyone file complaints against Lee, Eun-ung/AES.
Your statement is utterly devoid of logic or sense. You think I'm wrong about (a), therefore I must automatically be wrong about the unconnected and unrelated matter of (b).
So if I was wrong (in your mind) that people should not file complaints about discrimination related to HIV testing, then I must be wrong that people should file complaints to a completely different agency about a completely different matter, AES being a hate group.
That makes no sense.
12:18 am on July 25th, 2010 15
Tbonetylr wrote:
Korean teachers who sexually assault, RAPE, and/or harass students especially love Lee, Eun-ung since he diverts attention away from them(the REAL problem) and towards Native English Teachers. Simply put, Korean media outlets work for Korean teachers, NOT native English teachers.
Where your contention falls apart is that the average or typical KoKo (native Koreans) is well aware of the myriad cases of sexual assault (including rape) and harassment that end up in the Korean-language papers and does not form this notion that NSETs do this and Korean teachers do not. Korean teachers' reputation has been under siege for quite some time (in fact, the cruel and even sexually abusive teacher has become a mainstay character of Korean cinema).
If "the media outlets work for Korean teachers," as you say, how is it that the public reads a regular stream of stories about KoKo teachers who conduct abuse?
You suffer from the same distortion that is created by the English-language K-blogs in that news stories involving NSETs are highlighted while news stories that involve KoKo teachers (who make up a far higher number) do not. When you do discover them, it seems to you as if they're a hidden secret you've stumbled across.
12:27 am on July 25th, 2010 16
83% of male elementary school teachers in Korea engage in some kind of sexual activity with students.
63% of Korean students have been sexually assaulted or raped by their Korean teachers.
56% of High School age Korean girls who have abortions were impregnated by one of their teachers.
No statistict about NETs would surprise me.
12:39 am on July 25th, 2010 17
Gotta source for that one, Lemmy? Did a Chinese person tell you that?
3:34 am on July 25th, 2010 18
"This includes teaching credential certification and military service, none of which the E2 and F-series teachers are subject to…"
Well, most of my colleagues and I would qualify (actually, those of us who served volunteered knowing we might be deployed in a combat area (a couple of us are combat veterans), so that sad song gets no sympathy from me).
11:57 am on July 25th, 2010 19
"So if I was wrong (in your mind) that people should not file complaints about discrimination related to HIV testing, then I must be wrong that people should file complaints to a completely different agency about a completely different matter"
What's wrong with you? HRC is the agency E-2 teachers filed complaints with and the HRC is the agency you suggested people file complaints. You must have your butt on backwards today.
"Thirdly, in the big picture, it is not E2 (or even F-series) visa holders who are discriminated against, but Korean nationals, who must go through so many difficult hoops to get their teaching positions, particularly in the school system, that E2 and F-series English teachers do not."
Are Korean teachers blamed for spreading HIV/AIDS to students? NO!!! Do Korean teachers have to submit yearly HIV/AIDS tests to anyone? NO!!!
Are ALL other Native English Teachers and Kyopo's required to submit HIV/AIDS tests? NO!!!
Are ALL E-2 teachers required to do this? YES!!!
You wouldn't see/feel discrimination if it hit you in the butt!
5:59 pm on July 25th, 2010 20
83% of male elementary school teachers in Korea engage in some kind of sexual activity with students.
63% of Korean students have been sexually assaulted or raped by their Korean teachers.
56% of High School age Korean girls who have abortions were impregnated by one of their teachers.
No statistict about NETs would surprise me.
Lemmy – We need a reference on this one! Those numbers seem grossly high!
6:40 pm on July 25th, 2010 21
#20,
Sadly, his sources are as reliable as those stated in the above article.