A considerable number of foreign visitors to Korea experience discrimination from Koreans, but the Koreans are not even fully aware of this. This calls for changes in the Korean peoples awareness.

With the World Cup just around the corner, the Korean government is busy preparing to accommodate tourists from around the world, upgrading the pavements, cleaning up the public restrooms, increasing the number of clean buses that run on natural gas in the host cities, and so on. It has also launched nationwide campaigns to get Korean people to wear the Korean national teams uniform, stop littering, obey traffic regulations, and the list goes on.

However, many foreigners still point out that public places are not clean enough, restaurants do not pay enough attention to sanitation, and Koreans are not friendly enough. At first glance, the complaint about friendliness may seem like a hospitality issue, but the fact that the majority of the complaints come from visitors from Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa proves that many Koreans discriminate against foreigners based on skin color and national wealth.

Thais and Malaysians are ignored by taxi drivers or humiliated in department stores, and Africans are called all sorts of names by uncouth Koreans who see black people for the first time in their lives. Africans actually say that they have never faced such severe discrimination in any other country. In contrast, Caucasians from so-called advanced nations such as the US or European countries are given royal treatment that borders on the absurd even in the eyes of the Caucasians themselves. It is ironic and also disgraceful that Koreans, so sensitive to the discrimination they suffer as the ethnic minority in the West, are so used to discriminating against foreigners at home.

The other face of racism is cowardice Right after the Korean War, the boys in my village used to run after the American soldiers begging for tidbits. When they see a white man theyd wave and say thank you, but when they see a black man theyd shake their fists and say fuck you. (a housewife in her late fifties living in Seoul)

Korean peoples racism is not only based on skin color but is also closely related to disdain of poor countries. Foreign visitors to Korea point out that the Koreans prejudice and discrimination against different cultures and ethnic groups borders on the irrational. <photograph by Min Won-ki>

Caroline (aged 31), who came to study in Korea in the mid-nineties, says, The Koreans I met were really kind to me and so I thought that they were considerate towards all foreigners. But before long, I realized I was wrong, because of the way they (Koreans) treated Chinese or Thai people. Caroline dryly points out, From the way Koreans treat whites, as if the whites know more or have superior qualities, it seems that the Koreans all suffer from some strange sort of inferiority complex.

Korean peoples racism is not only based on skin color but is also closely related to disdain of poor countries. Afro-Americans and African nationals receive completely different treatment in Korea despite having the same skin color, and people from Japan and the Philippines face very different attitudes even though they are the same Asians.

Japanese tourist Mi Young (aged 25, her Korean name) says, I was quite worried before coming to Korea because I had heard that Koreans dislike
Japan, but now Im confused because they all treat me so well. In contrast, people from Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and
Bangladesh often become cowering sinners for no reason once they set foot on Korean territory.

Park (aged 33), who is married to a Nepalese man, says, I married my husband out of love and we even have a child now, but everyone around us, from my relatives to my friends, still look down on him because he comes from a poor country. Park is sick and tired of being regarded as a poor thing for having a Southeast Asian husband. Park complains that when she brings her child to the hospital, they snub her when she writes down her husbands name as the childs guardian. She adds, I wouldnt have married him if I had known that the discrimination would be this bad. Recently, a high-ranking officer of a Thai television network traveled to Korea with his family, only to be mistaken for illegal immigrants and denied entry into Korea. This sparked off vehement articles in the Thai press appealing to the public to boycott Korea as a tourist destination. The incident is only one example of the Koreans discrimination against Southeast Asians. The attitude of Korean airport officers who snatch away foreigners passports
and shout, Shut your mouth! is not limited to Thai nationals alone.

This discrimination against people from poor countries, coupled with gender discrimination pervasive in Korean society, produce numerous cases of sexual harassment and sexual violence against foreign women. Especially with the recent trend of women from the Philippines and Russia entering Korea on entertainer visas to work as nightclub hostesses, the sexual violence and human rights violations faced by these women have become a serious problem.
Liz (aged 27), a Canadian working as an English teacher in a language school in Korea, points out, I dont face discrimination in Korea, but it is still dangerous for me to go around town at night. She explains that this is because when Korean men come across a blonde woman, they assume that is a Russian hostess and call her a prostitute and try to compromise her.

One wonders how foreigners regard Koreans, who return from their travels to Europe angrily lamenting that Europeans treat Japanese and Koreans differently and report cases of racial discrimination they suffer in advanced countries like the US, New Zealand and Australia where they immigrated to.
Lizs advice to Koreans who harbor intolerable prejudice and discrimination against foreigners based on color and national income is, Koreans need to be educated from young to have a more open-minded understanding of the outside world. Her advice proves that despite the fanfare in Korea over joining the age of globalization, Koreans are still very much like frogs in a well. It is our ignorance that breeds racism.

<Reported by Cho Lee Yeu-wool cognate@womennews.co.kr >

Professor Yoon claims at symposium, More than half the 40-odd paintings on exhibition today suspected as fakes.

As Korean artist Na Hye Seoks works began to receive more critical acclaim in recent years, not a few fakes have appeared on the artistic scene, giving rise to an intensifying genuine or fake debate.

The debate was launched in earnest by Kyungwon University professor Yoon Bum Mo at the 5th Symposium on Discovering the Truth about Na Hye Seok. At the Symposium, organized by the Na Hye Seok Commemoration Committee (president Yoo Dong Jun) and held on April 27 (the eve of Na Hey Seoks 106th birthday) in the Gyeonggi-do Culture and Arts Center international conference hall, professor Yoon said, Out of the 40-odd paintings claimed to be the works of Na Hye Seok, more than half are suspected as fakes. The professor, who is also president of the Association of Korean Arts Connoisseurs, went on to add, Before we discuss the value of her paintings, we need to first verify that they are genuine. The paintings of Na Hye Seok, whose remarkable penmanship and artistic style was unparalleled by her male contemporaries, have not received due acclaim because of the fakes circulating among them. Yoon also revealed that he was involved in the project of weeding out the fakes based on Nas standard model (genuine
painting).

◀<Bamboo Bridge>, believed to be a genuine work by Na Hye Seok (currently owned by an individual collector).

Professor Yoon claims that most of the Na Hye Seok paintings currently on the market should be suspected as fakes. Yoon is currently carrying out a professional appraisal project based on sample extractions and analysis of penmanship and pictorial style.

Besides the presentation by Professor Yoon, other presentations at the Symposium reflecting the artistic and literary works, life and values of Na Hye Seok included The line of flow in Na Hye Seoks art (Prof. Kim Jeong Dong, Architecture, Mokwon Univ.) A study of Na Hye Seok as a character (Prof. So Hyun Sook, History, Sangmyung Univ.) The Imagery of light and water in Nas oems (Prof. Gu Myeong Sook, Humanities, Sookmyung Womens Univ.) Nas nationalism and nationalist movement (Prof. Hwang Min Ho, History, Soongsil Univ.) The political science of self-confession A re-examination of Nas divorce (Prof. So Hyun Sook, History, Sangmyung Univ.).

At 3 p.m. on the same day, a culture festival celebrating the 106th anniversary of the artists birth lined Na Hye Seok Street in Suwon city, with performing arts, Korean traditional marching band, Korean traditional requiem, demonstrations of totem pole carving, clay doll making, and more. The Suwon Art Museum will be holding an exhibition until May 9, entitled <Life and Works of Na Hye Seok.>

Who is Na Hye Seok?
- An eternal spark of feminism

Chastity is neither a moral value nor the law; it is nothing but a hobby. Just as playing with dolls brought me joy, I am a comforter that brings joy to my father as a daughter doll and to my husband as a wife doll. Dont blame me, daughter. Blame instead the social system and morality and laws and custom. Your mother is just another individual going through this period of transition, a sacrifice to fate.
These are not the words of a feminist in the 21st century. They are the words of Na Hye Seok, who lived from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, a period when the patriarchal system placed women at the lowest rungs of the social strata.

As a woman who was forever on the lips of lesser bigots for being far too ahead of her times, Na Hye Seoks outstanding talent as a literary and painter was never given the critical acclaim her due, and thus her life was burdened by an unhappy fate both as an artist and a woman. Her autobiographic novel <Kyonghee,> published in 1918, is considered the first feminist novel in Korea. At her debut exhibition in 1921, her paintings were sold out at very high prices. Possessed of remarkable talent both as a writer and an artist, Na was a truly influential figure in the cultural circle of her times. Her paintings were entered and awarded at the Chosun Arts Exhibition 11 times, and her numerous essays, novels and poems were published in various newspapers and magazines such as Maeil Shinbo, Donga Ilbo, Gaebyeok, Journal Mania, New Donga, Joongang, and so on.

Born in Suwon in 1896, Na was admitted to the Private Womens Academy of Fine Arts in Tokyo in 1915. She was active in the independence movement, getting imprisoned for joining the March First Uprising against Japanese colonial rule and being involved in the independence activist group Uiyeoldan. In 1920, at the age of 24, she married a widower named Kim Woo Young, but was sued and divorced by him in 1931 for falling in love with Choi Rin, a Catholic Duo sunt whom she had met while traveling in Europe with her husband. Then in 1934, she once again shocked the world with her essay Divorce Confession published in the magazine Samcholli. After her divorce, Na became more and more estranged from the secular world.
But she always carried 10 canvas sheets wherever she went, and survived on her writings. Nas stormy life finally came to an end on December 10, 1948. A wanderer without a place she could call home, she met her demise on the streets.
In 1995, people longing for a revival of the talent and spirit of Na Hye Seok, led by president Yoo Dong Jun, gathered to found the Na Hye Seok Commemoration Committee. Every year, the Committee holds the Symposium on Discovering the Truth about Na Hye Seok and the Na Hye Seok Women Artists Exhibition.

<Reported by Kim Ji-eun luna@womennews.co.kr >

- The first favorable agreement concluded among cases filed at the National Human Rights Commission

Ms. Lee Seon Woo, who had been denied a professorship because of her physical disability, had finally become a university professor. Lee Seong Jae, representative of the Institute for the Rights of the Disabled, had petitioned her case at the National Human Rights Commission. Thus on April 30, the Commission acted as mediator between the involved parties in a meeting, at which vice-president Cha In Jun of Inje University agreed to appoint Lee as a professor of the university. This is the first time that a case petitioned at the Human Rights Commission ended in an agreement between the parties involved.

Lee had applied for a professorship at the department of social welfare in Inje University. She passed the qualifications review and interview, and was notified of her successful candidacy status. However, the university changed its mind and withdrew the appointment, citing the reason that her twice weekly visits to the hospital for hemodialysis treatment as a chronic cardiac insufficiency patient would interfere with her professorial duties.

<Reported by Song Ahn Eun-a sea@womennews.co.kr >



(The Women's News http://www.womennews.co.kr)  

Articles condensed by Lee- In-hwa, translated by Cho Eung-joo.

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