Drunken, Ugly Koreans Go Abroad...

[george]

Drunken Misconduct Abroad Gives Rise to the 'Ugly Korean'

Airport lobby packed with people leaving Korea for trips abroad

Late last year, the Korean Embassy in Manila sent an official request asking Korean Air and Asiana to "excercise self-restraint in serving alcohol to passengers." This is because heavy-drinking Korean passengers were causing disturbances on planes. Last Feb. 3, a dead-drunk Korean passenger caused such a disturbance upon arriving at Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport -- he went so far as to take off his pants in the airport -- that within an hour, he was put on plane straight back to Korea. According to an airport official, "He was drunk and caused quite a commotion, pounding on the glass door of the VIP lounge."

On Feb. 6, another Korean, who was completely plastered, was arrested in Cebu for assaulting two waiters in a hotel karaoke club.

Local police said that while they were escorting the man to the station, he kicked the police car's door and screamed in Korean. Recently, in the Angeles City area, a Korean professional golfer, Chun Ho-sang, was shot dead by bar employees.

Korean expatriates in the Philippines pointed out that "As far as the incidents and accidents involving Koreans are concerned, there are many cases of unseeming behavior by Koreans becoming problems."

The United Korean Community Association, a group concerned with the Korean community in the Philippines, has started a sticker campaign, posting such slogans as "Let's Preserve our Dignity as Koreans" and "Let's Become Good Koreans" on businesses run by the expatriate Korean community. Recently, four Korean golfers were sent to an immigration detention center on charges of committing "dangerous acts" against a local at a golf course in the Angeles City area. It's known that in the Angeles City area, where Koreans are flocking in droves, anti-Korean sentiment among locals has reached a serious level.

In Southeast Asia, the outrageous behavior of Korean tourists isn't confined to the golf course. According to Jay, a 44 year old operator of a golf tour business in the Philippines, "90 percent of the tourists, once they finish golfing, ask if the can experience the local 'night culture.'" On Tuesday, the Korean Embassy in Manilla warned, "Thoughtless acts by our citizens are likely to cause unnecessary friction with Filipinos, and they can cause damage to the prestige of both they entire Korean community in the Philippines and the Korean nation."

In late 2001, in the middle of Indonesia's Ramadhan holiday season, Koreans at a karaoke club in Jakarta, after getting smashed on boilermakers, tried to coerce the club's female workers to engage in sexual relations with them. When they were refused, the ensuing riot was widely broadcast on local news. According to an employee of a private school specializing in study-abroad programs in the Philippines, "It's a common occurrence for Korean golfers to drink and then curse at caddies or throw tips in their faces." He said during matches, Koreans speak to local caddies in really coarse Korean, saying things like, "Hey, you @#$*, can't you find the ball?"

In addition, local guides say many Korean tourists come prepared with 1.5 liter bottles of soju brought from home. A guide for a travel agency specializing in tours to Bangkok, Thailand, said, "There are quite a few male tourists who, when riding buses, drink from start to finish and scream boisterously." During the day, they snore away sleeping in their buses -- red faced, of course -- and at night, they patrol the local bars and karaoke clubs. This is their basic pattern of behavior, said the guide.

There are those pointing out that unseeming behavior on the part of Korean businesses in Southeast Asia is also provoking bad feelings amongst the locals. According to the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Asia was the largest recipient of overseas Korean investment from 1968, when such investment began, to 2003. When you look at number of investments, excluding China, the United States, and Japan, the next largest targets were all Southeast Asian countries -- the Philippines (3.4 percent), Indonesia (3.2 percent), Vietnam (2.2 percent), Malaysia (1.5 percent), and Thailand (1.4 percent). That's how involved Korean businesses are in the region.

Recently, the owner of a bag making business in Sri Lanka secretly fled the country overnight after bankrupting the company to finance his gambling habit. The furious local workers kidnapped and confined the remaining Korean employees and flocked to the Korean Embassy in protest. This is a prototypic example of what the Labor Ministry, Foreign Ministry, International Labor Foundation, Korean Employers Federation, and Federation of Korean Trade Unions found during a join study on labor conditions of Korean business in Sri Lanka.

According to a white paper on human rights conditions of Korean businesses abroad, published by the Korean House for International Solidarity, hundreds of employees at a sewing shop in Indonesia launched a protest in front of the Korean Embassy in Jakarta when the Korean boss fled without paying them 3 billion rupiah (about W500 million) in salaries. At a handbag factory in Vietnam, the Korean vice president of the company brutally assaulted a door-keeper because the company's door was not closed properly. Authorities confiscated his passport. At another factory in Vietnam, a Korean manager slapped the cheeks of female workers with a shoe for making small talk in the factory. He was deported from the country.

Illegal Korean immigrants in those countries are causing problems both large and small. Because of this, on the bulletin boards of every Korean embassy in Southeast Asia, there are countless appeals like "We're looking for Mr. XXX, who conned us out of tons of money and fled" and "Please catch Mr. YYY, who embezzled our money and fled." On Feb. 2, 33 Koreans who were doing missionary work in the Philippines were barred from leaving Korea and kept in the an Immigration Department confinement cell when counterfeit immigration stamps were discovered in their passports.

On Feb. 5, the Korean Embassy in Manila warned, "If you think that entering the country illegally is expedient, there are limits to how much help we can offer if the local authorities find out." Consul General Jo Hui-yong said Wednesday, "the 'Korean Wave Craze' is spreading in Southeast Asia, but we mustn't allow some thoughtless tourists to ruin Korea's entire image." Expressing concern, he said, "Not just on the golf course, but at tourist sites, airports, and other places, incidents causing friction between Koreans and locals are continuing to occur."

-- Pak Min-seon, [email protected]

[tuky]

Dare Han Ming Gu!!!

ar...han byung der juseyo

coreasarum pabho

[Jimbo]

They sure sound like the English going on the piss in mainland Europe

[Axel]

Kam Hsam ni da.

It is disgusting, but than it sounds like the Germans in the 70.s going to Spain, they called them Neckermanns, following the name of a famous guy organizing the trip, or JAL-pak from Japan airlines pack.

Give them 2 more years and they will behave. And yes, I agree to Jimbo, so where is the problem, 2 years from now?

[Jimbo]

Well the Germans still have that reputation especially in places like Mallorca and in Greece and the English have had the reputation also for ages. I am not trying to point out one nationality but I just try to point out that these things dont dissapear that easily. I guess it will be the same with the Korean. They are obviously enjoying themselves although at other people expense but I guess it will keep on happening. It seems that it is somehow rooted in their upbringing or culture and guess it will be tough to turn them into ideal son in laws

[tuky]

I have only seen the one side of Korea, the shipyards.

Those guys can work, long hours for little reward.

I am great friends with a couple of Korean guys (Mr Kim and Mr Park, I like Mr Lee too ) and from i know about them and their life I can understand them letting their hair down when they are on holiday. Of course this is no excuse for terrible behaviour, but have you walked the streets of lets say Koje-do? or visited a couple of room salons? It is a very different life.

Soju warriors go abroad!

[tuky]

'Ugly Korean'

Let me just add, the second most beautiful woman I have ever seen is Korean, of course the first is my wife.

Without the drunken part, they aren't too bad.

[NedKelly]

Cant handle the piss that lot. Life in Korea is very restircted so when they can get away they may let go years and years of pent up srtess. The only koreans I know oftengets completely smashed whenthey drink and always want to do rediculous stuff. Bit of a worry.

[camel_jockey]

Anyone go to Bali in the 80/90's talk about some ugly Aussies!

[cdnvic]

I'll have to say that Korea was the most unfriendly country I've ever been in. Looking and talking like an American I'm sure did not help. The upside is that when one of them actually smiles at you you feel like you've been knighted.

On the other hand, I find that when you actually befriend them, they are very loyal friends indeed, and by geez they can cook!

cv

[Bluecat]

I'll have to say that Korea was the most unfriendly country I've ever been in. Looking and talking like an American I'm sure did not help. The upside is that when one of them actually smiles at you you feel like you've been knighted.

One of them smiled to you?

Congratulations, you must have spent a lot of time in Korea to reach such a lofty achievement,...

Thailand is not at all nationalistic compared to Korea and the Korean have less subte ways to show it,...

But as it is the case in Thailand, your second remark is also very true.

On the other hand, I find that when you actually befriend them, they are very loyal friends indeed, and by geez they can cook!

[cdnvic]

Thailand is not at all nationalistic compared to Korea and the Korean have less subte ways to show it,...

They do tend to have a completely unfounded sense of superiority.

And if they hate the fact that I look/sound American, well too bad. One of my uncles is in a wheel chair (since 1952) from trying to save their butts. One thinks they've forgotten how small that Pusan perimiter was....

cv