[KS] Re: Anti-Americanism in Korea (in annoyingly practical detail)

[Michael Hurt]

Hello -

I've been a lurker here for some time, so I'll introduce myself 
quickly. My name is Michael Hurt from UC Berkeley, presently in Korea 
doing dissertation research related to national 
ideology/race/nationalism. For those working in similar areas, please 
drop me a line.

Regarding the Dr. Robinson's academic group visit to Korea, I concur 
with everything said on the list, although I would like to add a few 
things as a non-white Korean Studies guy working in Korea. Since I 
first came here in 1994, I've noticed that there are certain situations 
that are "high risk" for simple verbal harassment, which I think is as 
likely to happen as it has ever been, and obviously even more so with 
the recent wave of anti-Americanism. Still, my overall assessment is 
that you shouldn't even worry about the possibility of there being a 
physical altercation between a Korean and one of your visitors. It's 
much more likely that they'll be involved in a traffic accident than a 
scuffle over being a foreigner. Still, there are a few things that seem 
to increase one's chances of people taking (sometimes negative) notice 
of you.

1) Riding the #1 line at night, especially on the weekends. There seems 
to be an older crowd on this train, and more people in this group tend 
to be drunk at these times. Almost all the negative incidents I have 
experienced in Korea (from being verbally harassed to being chased off 
the platform) have occurred on the #1 line. It's a connector to a lot 
of more rural places, as well as the line many GI's use to get back and 
forth to other bases. In September, 3 soldiers were attacked (one 
kidnapped and forced to apologize for the US military's crimes); I 
wasn't at all surprised to hear that it was the #1 line they had been 
taking to base.

2) Traveling in groups and speaking English in closed spaces. Although 
not generally a problem, it definitely increases your visibility and 
grates on some people's ears. Speaking English at the same volume level 
as other Koreans in the same space still means you sound twice as loud. 
Alone, I'm generally never even talked to - just ignored. When I 
occasionally meet an American friend and are talking in public, I am 
quickly reminded of how much more noticeable this makes us. As a pair, 
I've had everything happen from people coming up and wanting to speak 
English with us, to an airline stewardess asking us to be quiet 
(although we were speaking no louder than any other person on the 
plane) because a passenger had complained about our loudness. When a 
large group of people speaking English is traveling around (and it 
doesn't look like a tour group), it will be quite noticeable when 
taking public transportation or walking in public places. I came to 
Korea as a Fulbright English teacher in 1994, and we would often go as 
a large group (around 30 people) to places for orientation, meetings 
and such. Everywhere we went, it caused quite a stir. Although it's 
2003 and there are more foreigners than there were then in Korea, large 
groups of foreigners walking around everyday parts of Korea are still 
unusual. I don't think it would be much different for, say, 10 people 
to get on a subway and be speaking English, having multiple 
conversations and such, than in 1994. People will inevitably talk to 
members of such a group, although I think that, with little exception, 
the conversation would be quite congenial. But just know that I have 
several colleagues and friends who have been slapped for no other 
reason than 1) being American, and/or 2) speaking English. Especially 
for Asian Americans (who may or may not be/look Korean American), this 
has been a problem. I regularly hear about not just the standard "taxi 
driver story" in which they admonish Korean Americans for not speaking 
Korean, but also about women especially who are verbally assaulted or 
slapped by older Korean men who see them as a "miguk-nyun." Even 
recently, a colleague of mine was told to "Speak Korean!" while talking 
with a friend on the subway. Again, I don't think it necessarily a 
problem for you, but I don't know your group. Forewarned is forearmed.

3) Looking like or being a GI, meaning being male, in good shape, 
relatively young, having a short haircut - or just being African 
American. Although I don't wish to stereotype academics (I'm one 
myself!), most of us don't meet most of the above criteria. If you do, 
there might be places that are just a bit more sensitive to you. Near 
the Hongik University area (Hongdae) there are still many places - 
mostly clubs and bars - that have signs that say "Due to unpleasant 
experience in the past, no GI's are allowed" or something to that 
effect ("No GI's!") Since Itaewon has been hooked into the Seoul subway 
system directly with Line #6, IGI's and their families have been much 
more inclined to travel outside Itaewon. Hongdae has become the #2 spot 
to be now, outside of Itaewon. Since 9/11 and recent anti-American and 
anti-military incidents (one officer was set upon by multiple attackers 
and stabbed with a 5-inch blade on the way back to his camp in 
December) a strict curfew has been in effect. MP's in Itaewon regularly 
patrol and strictly enforce the 1 AM (weekends) curfew to be back on 
base. So Hongdae has become an additional attractor for GI's who want 
to party bcs the MP's do not patrol in this area. Almost as soon as the 
verdict hit, the "no GI's" signs went up. But "normal" looking folks 
have no problem. It's all pretty subjective and questionable, I know. 
But know that individual businesses scattered around the city (and 
other places in Korea) made similar acts of discriminatory protest. 
Ever since the government has been trying to reign in the 
anti-Americanism (superficial as it is), I think you won't find many 
places outside of Hongdae that do this. But it's hard to account for 
everyone, so don't be surprised if you come across something like this 
or similar sentiments, especially if members of your group look GI-ish. 
But being in a large, diverse-looking group will tend to cancel this 
factor out. Just something to be aware of for individual members of 
your group, methinks.

4) Seeming unsympathetic to US military crimes. A small factor, and one 
that you probably won't have to think about at all, since the major 
protests are over and there are now few college students maintaining 
booths and handing out flyers in subways and on major streets. But it's 
something to think about. The 3 GI men who got into trouble were a 
convergence of several of the above factors: they were traveling in a 
small group on the #1 line at night - AND THEN got into trouble when 
they refused (perhaps angrily?) a flyer from an activist. Given the 
language difference, the graphic photos used, and the strong feelings 
on both sides of the issue, I doubt it was taken by either side as a 
friendly exchange of ideas. I've been handed flyers on the street, I 
think sometimes being singled out bcs I looked American, but I always 
neutrally accepted the material and walked away. When I have spoken 
with these people, they were always more than willing (usually very 
much so!) to "fill me in." Just know that this isn't a matter of debate 
or even an analysis of pertinent facts with many people here. I can't 
blame people directly as much as the willfully irresponsible media 
here, which misreported or simply didn't report certain things to 
people here, especially in the matter of public apologies made, 
compensation given, the fact that Korea is in SOFA agreements with 
several other countries, or even that this was not a deliberate act of 
murder, at the most extreme. In any case, the misconduct of the 
military - in the way many people here understand it from the news 
they've been getting - is simply an article of faith for many people. 
If you don't speak Korean and don't know the person well, I wouldn't 
even broach the topic, to be quite honest. If someone does ask you 
"what you think as an American", I suggest you be really up on the fine 
points of this incident and plan to have some time to get into it. If 
you want to have pleasant dinner conversation, I'd suggest talking 
about something else.

5) Walking around as an Asian female/non-Asian male pair. This greatly 
increases your chances of people at least looking askance at you. 
Especially in this time or relatively heightened tension, grumbling 
over the recent James Bond film, and the general distaste that many 
Korean men express towards foreign men taking "their" women, this is 
something to keep in mind. Even when walking around with a female 
friend being completely and consciously platonic, people stare. Since 
they hear that we converse in Korean, it's generally a non-issue. But 
in many other cases I know of, as well as observing people's reaction 
to such "couples", I know that this can be a major trouble attractor, 
possibly as great as all of the above ones but together. I've heard of 
a taxi driver taking a couple and dropping them off way outside of 
their destination out of spite, a Korean female adoptee who had her 
Caucasian father visit and when they expressed normal familial 
affection caused serious social scandal around them, women being 
verbally accosted in Korean (the Korean man assuming the foreign man 
doesn't understand), ad nauseum. The general reaction to an obvious 
couple - especially if the man is not white - is barely-concealed 
distaste and snickering. This is even more so if the couple is 
conversing in English in public. Then some of the issues described 
above (the woman being a "miguk-nyun", English attracting attention) 
are additional factors. Some people might disagree with this 
description, but I've seen this reaction a LOT. Just be aware of it if 
members of your group fit this demographic and decide to go on a day 
trip together. This is the closest I think any situation will bring 
members of your group to the possibility of having an unpleasant 
experience, but even still, I don't think it will actually cause any 
real problems.

6) Being black, or otherwise racially marked. In my total of three 
years spent living in Korea, I've seen an African American friend be 
called "nigger" (yes, in English) exactly once, but it turned out (as 
the police came after he near attacked my friend) that he had been 
living in LA for the past ten years, and had obviously brought some 
baggage with him that can't be declared at customs. In Korean (and most 
people don't assume I speak it), I've been called "kkamdungi" exactly 
twice. Once in passing as a man wondered to his friend what a kkamdungi 
was doing on Cheju Island in 1994, and once by a kid at a wedding who 
asked his immensely-embarrassed mom if I was really a kkamdungi or not. 
As you can see, this sort of stuff is rare, unintentional, and 
relatively innocuous. I say this because the American term "nigger" has 
different historically-specific and heavily loaded impact than its 
Korean "equivalent" that roughly means "blackie." In terms of other 
ethnic backgrounds, know that in general, South Asian laborers are not 
looked upon too highly here, although I wouldn't say there is active 
popular resentment that people tend to act out individually. Still, I 
find that many of these people seem to be sort of socially invisible, 
it seems. But take that as my subjective and relatively uninformed 
opinion in that regard.

Don't let this mini-list deter you. Just writing about the above points 
makes the issue seem much larger than it is. For the most part, the 
most interaction your group will have with ordinary Koreans they don't 
know will be limited to passersby or passengers asking where they are 
from, why they came to Korea, did they watch the World Cup, etc. I 
would be quite surprised if anything untoward happened to your group. 
Even if something uncomfortable were to take place, I think it would be 
limited to the random yell from afar. And even in the RARE event of 
something serious taking place, like being verbally or physically 
accosted, 1) speaking Korean almost instantly defuses the situation, 
and 2) a conscientious Korean will likely intervene on the behalf of 
the hapless foreign visitor who is being harassed by a drunk ajussi. I 
think many Koreans who actually witness such an out-and-out, unprovoked 
attack on a foreign visitor would take this as an embarrassment to the 
country.

I've never seen an entire group of people encounter outright hostility 
here, and I would bet money that your experience won't be any 
different. Just watch out more for individual members of the group, 
while keeping the above things in mind and using a little caution with 
the entire group when you are out and about in public. And as an 
organizer, if you are the main worrier, then your guests don't have to 
be. Just watch out for them a bit as you have your groups's likely 
QUITE enjoyable stay in Korea!

-----
Michael Hurt
Korea-American Educational Commission
Fulbright Building
168-15 Yomni-dong, Mapo-gu
Seoul 121-874, Korea
011-822-702-6734 (h)
011-8216-512-9665 (c)

"Criticism, in short, is more than a right; it is an act of patriotism 
– a higher form of patriotism, I believe, than the familiar rituals and 
national adulation."

                                        - J. William Fulbright