Comments on: 폭탄영어 #11 - Korean Visa Regulations

By: Harry

Harry — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 06:50:34 +0000

Peter,

What constitutes a genuine cultural experience in Korea? Going to a church for 10 hours where the congregation seems to think Jesus spoke English? Going to a red light district, getting drunk and naked and laid together with your coworkers on the company expense account? How about going to a jazz bar that openly discriminates against black people? Or having your female coworker called a “whore” for stopping and talking to you on the street?

You state that it’s a fact that white male teachers “misbehave” more than any other segment of the population, well could you site your sources? What statistics do you have to back that up? And what constitutes misbehavior? Prostitution is illegal in Korea, and yet 4% of the GDP is spent on prostitutes. Is that not misbehavior?

As far as male privilege goes, I’ve had several Korean women tell me they can’t stand gyopo men. They say that gyopo men are very arrogant about being bilingual and having dual-citizenship, and seem to think that Korean women should fall at their feet.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:40:34 +0000

And to clarify, I don’t mind providing a copy of my shot record. I’m happy to prove that I’m up to date on shots that prevent potentially fatal and *easily* communicable diseases (which HIV/AIDS is NOT!). This is not a burdensome requirement.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:46:17 +0000

But I wonder — was yours for immigration, or just for a work visa?

By: jeanjean72

jeanjean72 — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:58:54 +0000

hi!

i think most countries have similar requirements. I had done medical exam for hiv, tb, and vaccination for mmr, td, etc. i also had to swear not to have a baby within 3 months to have rubella shot which can cause deformation of baby.
for the criminal record, since i had lived in Philippines more than 6month, us immigration required police record from Phil. and Korea.

it’s incombursome to go through the u.s. visa process, but for now there is no way around it. hopefully things will get better.

By: Ilkyoung

Ilkyoung — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 11:50:50 +0000

I didn’t mean to justify my own fault with somebody else’s similar behaving. “Hey, that guy is doing this, too. What’s wrong with you?”

Right is right and wrong is wrong, in general.

Jennifer, as you mentioned, it is hard for Koreans to recognize what’s wrong and what’s getting worse with our system dealing with foreigners. So, I do believe it is valueable and thanksful advice of your guys as our friends. And, I believe you guys also understand my descriptions on the U.S. Immigration policies in that point of view.

Yes, the situation would be a bit less inconvenient for Koreans visiting the U.S. in short term. However, it won’t change the fundamental because a lot of Chinese or Malaysians still would be picked up arbiturary in the long waiting line of Immigration services at LAX or J.F.K. by the immigration detectives(?) and having hard times. Also, a lot of Vietnamies would be treated improperly by the Korean Immigration Officers.

Anyway, this is what I love this site. Deep conversation and a valiety of spectrum.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:56:42 +0000

I think it’s almost universal that since we don’t have to deal with our own home country’s immigration service, we often don’t know what people have to go through to visit or live there. Only as an outsider do we get to experience the . . .joy, shall we call it? of customs and immigration.
Korea too likes to fingerprint, mandatory for anyone entering for a year or more.
I wish for the sake of my friends and family here who go to the states that it were all easier for them when they visit America. I’m hoping the visa waver system will start and soon - one of the best ways of reducing the burden.

By: Ilkyoung

Ilkyoung — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:28:49 +0000

I’ve complained a lot on the U.S. visa and immigration system. It takes two to four weeks to process, costs a hundred US dollars, and I had to waste my time in the middle of long line to wait for my turn on the interview date.
And I had to register fingerprints of my two thum and index fingers when I get into the U.S. territory. Now they changed the regulation to register all the ten fingerprints of my fingers. Fingerprint registration is usually done to criminals in most countries.
I’m not talking about the standard procedure for working visa applicants or holders but any Koreans and Third World countries (for fingerprints, all the foreigners except green card holders) visiting the U.S.
If I try to get a working visa(usually, H visas in the U.S. visa system), it’s a some-months-to-a-year and some-thousand-dollars cost project. (The majority of the budget is for legal services, as I know.)

I haven’t paid attention to the Korean visa system simply because I am a Korean. It’s first time to get to know the details thanks to this episode. Oops, it’s getting closer to the American system. Does it mean that Korea is getting bigger and stronger enough?

Basically, I totally agree with Mike’s and Jennifer’s points of view and I appreciate pointing that out. That stupid visa system would be of disbenifit to this country and people eventually.
Moreover, there are other groups of foreigners (and non-officially but historically presumed gyopos) from China, CIS, and South East Asian countries who could not even get the visas for completely ridiculous, regulation-breakning, ignorant, racistic reasons.
Shame on the bureaucracy, idiot government officials, and citizens supporting them.

Mike,
I know you are writing on OhMyNews. I wonder if you have an idea to write an article on this issue. If you would, I’m willing to help you do the job.

By: Pauline

Pauline — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:15:42 +0000

I do wholeheartedly agree with the police checks. In many western countries you have to have police clereances to secure employment,why should it be any different in sth korea. If that keeps out 50% of the undesirables,then good.

By: Pauline

Pauline — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:51:14 +0000

To Jennifer and anyone else that cares to read this;
as an agent I find the new visa laws have done nothing but cause a lot of people to become extremly frustrated and “give up” before even getting going. Many people now choose teaching english as a profession and travel the world doing this job. But you can forget about going into Sth korea from any country but your own. The only thing this part of the law does,will keep people teaching in korea,instead of moving on. It will not raise the salary as quickly as some of you hoped,this just isnt how things are done in Sth Korea,you may see a difference in about 5 years when it’s realised there’s not enough teachers coming in.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:10:17 +0000

I have to say, especially for people working with children, I have no objection to requiring some kind of criminal background check. I think it’s probably a good idea, and it’s perfectly legit to point out we require them at home for many jobs. The problem here is not the requirement itself, but the implementation - by ignoring or not investigating how checks are preformed in the home countries of the teachers they’re trying to recruit the government here has made a major mistake. A little consultation ahead of time or a listening to people like the American and Canadian embassy staff in the immediate aftermath probably could have found a solution that would have satisfied everybody. In particular, some problems could be solved by making the visa sponsor request the background check instead of making the applicant supply it. As Jim pointed out, getting a criminal background check can take quite some time, and the wait isn’t getting any shorter.
Other than fixing (not eliminating) the criminal background check problem, I think the big changes need to be:
elimination of the interview at the consulate - this is a big time and money waster for everyone. The applicant may be traveling hundreds of miles to get an interview with an already overworked consular official, who has no real interest or reason to evaluate the applicant (and for what purpose has never been clear - to see if they actually speak English? To see if they have good hygiene? To check and make sure they know all the words to “She’s Gone” before letting them work with teenage boys?)
switching to transcripts instead of diplomas - diplomas are big, heavy, easy to fake, and of no real value besides ceremonial. Giving them as proof of educational attainment is like asking someone to hand over their wedding ring to prove they’re married. Make the switch to official transcripts (lightweight, hard to fake, and with much more complete information about the holder’s education - by golly, they could even use it to evaluate whether the person has sufficient background in English to teach it!)
Although I totally understand the anger at the ridiculous assumption that all foreign teachers are drug users, it’s pretty common in most of our home nations to require basic drug screening before getting hired for certain jobs . . . like, say, teaching small children. And while I think the problem of drug use among foreign teachers has been grossly exaggerated, I don’t have any real beef with the requirement. But I haven’t heard any evidence that conversation instructors are a major vector for HIV being brought into Korea, mostly likely because . . .well, they’re not. That makes it just plain invasive.
I’m happy to see Korea trying to find ways to ensure the quality of the people they’re bringing here to teach - I just wish they hadn’t gone about it the way they did. The method they chose did nothing but piss off a bunch of people and keep other people away. Not, I’d say, the intended consequence.