Racism in Korea (Part 1)

While Korea is a wonderful country filled with some of the kindest people I have ever met, racism is still a very large problem here. Korea is a “homogeneous” nation. They are a nation of one race—Koreans. And while this certainly isn’t a bad thing, the idea of having a homogeneous nation creates racist attitudes towards non-Koreans.

This article was posted the other day. Koreans are very upset by this and have been calling Bali racist. This article, along with some other incidents that have started to bother me about Korea’s attitude towards foreigners made me want to write this post.

So why did I share a link about Koreans getting banned from establishments in Bali? Because this is the exact same thing that happens to foreigners here. Foreigners are well aware of bars that ban foreigners *cough* Ho Bar *cough*. But bars aren't the only ones that are guilty; clubs, restaurants, and taxis are just as guilty.

This video (not mine) was taken in Itaewon. Itaewon is (in)famously foreigner and English friendly. The fact that this video takes place in Itaewon is astounding. As more foreigners enter Korea (as part of the government’s plan to attract tourists and foreign business), the fact that this trend is increasing, rather than decreasing is simply disturbing.

When I first came to Korea, I witnessed very little racism. The worst things I saw were Hongdae bars banning American military and old men asking if I was Russian (aka, was I a prostitute). Yet in these last 2 years in Korea, I have seen a dramatic shift in attitudes towards foreigners by business establishments.

When I was living in Ulsan, my Korean and foreign friends and I went to go to a club. They let our Korean friends in, but refused to let us in because we were foreigner. After telling them off, we all left the club. A few weeks later, a Canadian friend and I were trying to buy 김밥 (gimbap) for an activity we were doing with our students. The store we went to was famous for having the best gimbap in the area, and as expected, it was very crowded. We order the gimbap and were told it would be about 20 minutes until we got out gimbap. 20 minutes passed and the restaurant still hadn’t made our gimbap. They were now making orders for Koreans who had ordered after us. I decided to go inside and ask why it was taking so long. When I went inside, I looked the prep station; it was organized so that the order receipts were at top so that the orders could easily be seen and made. Our receipt was till at the end…with the word 외국인 (“weigookin”, foreigner) written in large letters across the top. As each new order came in, our order would be moved to the back. I talked to the owner and told her to cancel our order because we didn’t want to eat there anymore. The owner threw a fit and demanded that we pay even though they had not even made our gimbap. After a while of arguments, they finally made the gimbap, but tried to charge us extra. Incidents like this are far from rare nor are they limited to places outside of Seoul.

It’s not unheard of for foreigners to be refused service by a taxi, or charged extra by them. Restaurants are guilty of this practice, too.  Clothe markets like in Dongdaemun will charge extra if you’re a foreigner. 

I will continue the rest of this topic in the next post.

**Disclaimer** Not all Koreans and Korean places are like this. Most Koreans are incredibly friendly and welcoming. Don't let the 5% change your view on other 95%.

Learning How to Swim

My first two times I came to Korea, I lived in Seoul, but now, for my third time in here, I am in Ulsan. The difference between these two cities is startling.

I knew that Ulsan would be different. With Seoul, it is a 24 hour city, something to do every hour of the day. In Seoul, it is easy to get around without knowing Korean. Almost every young resident speaks at least a little of it. Every older residents of Seoul have some knowledge of English. Ulsan is not the sprawling metropolis that Seoul is.

Here in Ulsan, there is no English. Thankfully, while not fluent in Korean, I am competent in it. Yet even this competency did not quite prepare me for Ulsan. I forgot how much I relied on English in Seoul; if I was uncomfortable speaking Korea, I could just speak English, and I would be mostly understood. Now, all of a sudden, I lack the crutch that I had in Seoul.

I find myself now thrown in to the deep end of a pool with no idea how to swim. I try to learn things about the University of Ulsan, but the staff is far from cooperative, something that I am not used to when it comes to Korean culture. Even when asking in Korean, staff members who are to help the foreign students brush me off. There is a complete lack of communication at the university. While I am used to a relative lack of communication in Korean culture, I am not used to it to this degree.

So now comes my true challenge—being by myself, in a foreign land, learning how to swim. Let’s hope that I learn how to stroke through the water quickly.