For Foreigners In Korea...Life Takes A New Visa

There's been uproar in the online community here in South Korea...particularly for the expats who teach English in this country.

Not too long ago, a Canadian named Christopher Paul Neil was arrested in Thailand last October on child molestation charges. This guy also taught in Korea for a while too, but this guy would make trips to SE Asia and do some very wicked things to people, and adding insult to injury he would put it on the Net. Soon, cops were his tail like white on rice, and soon enough, they busted his tail and hauled him off. Case closed.

However, slowly and slowly, the news trickled back to Korea that this guy who got arrested revealed that he was a former teacher in Jeollanam-do Province, which is on the southwest edge of this nation. The media fallout that followed this arrest had some really tough reprocussions.

Keep in mind foreigners are not viewed with the best of intentions in this country. Whether they are here to fill dirty jobs that Koreans will not work (many migrant workers from South or Southeast Asia), or to teach the wonderful language of English in the many private academies (hagwons) or public schools, foreigners are welcomed, but are perceived with stereotypes and misunderstandings. Of course, this problems is in every country that receives foreigners, especially my own, where stereotypes remain supreme based on class and race, especially outsiders.

Long story short, the Korean government made some new reforms of how the Korean schools recruit foreigners for English programs. The Visa that most foreigners get today is called an E-2, or language instruction visa. In the past, many programs and schools recruited people from the major six nations that are deemed major English speaking nations: the USA, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The process depended on each school, but being in the public school program, I had to submit a local criminal check to let them know I'm not a hoodlum out to drop bows on my students. I also did a health checkup to verify that I'm kicking it and not kicking buckets, and I submitted a verified copy of my diploma so they know I'm legit and not forging it.

The Korean government is now trying to track down those who come and go out of this country illegally, and trying to reform a system of just bringing English-speaking goofs who "cause social turmoil" in this nation, which is the charge in the new legislation.

In many ways, I think reform is necessary. There is an adverse selection problem when it comes to recruiting some teachers: some schools, especially the private academies, sometimes recruit socially or culturally insensitive people who are here just to make a buck but have no interest in Korean people and their culture. They just binge drink and keep to themselves without making efforts to make their experience more worth it.

But the way the Korean government wants to reform is just wrong. They are now requiring teachers to get criminal background checks at the central government level, and America simply does not do that, because most checks are done at a state level. If you want an FBI background check, it will require a good 6 months to get down and dirty on a person, but the job seeker and recruiter alike don't have that time to do that, neither does the school. Korea's demand to globalize and learn English cannot simply put up with a new bureacratic nightmare that faces the applicant when he or she has to rock several state criminal checks just to show they are legit.

Many expats in this country call these policies racist, and in many ways, they already dampen the worse reputation foreigners have to put up with in this nation. What reputation? Foreigners are portrayed in the media as money grubbing, womanizing, and ill-qualified teachers. Yet for the reforms, to me the major issue is what is Korea doing now to improve itself to be a major world player, a globalized nation ready to receive more visitors? This is not the way to do it.

Policies like this will make expats here have more to put up with...as Korean people might see from the fallout of the Canadian pedophile's case to stereotype the many who are doing the right thing here in this country and trying to earn a decent living while trying to enjoy life in East Asia.

So, foreigners have to get the same visa to keep teaching, but now in tougher circumstances. Its going to be a difficult pill for many to swallow, but I think the losers on this one is the Korean community. The more they view foreigners as just commodities (for English-speaking skills or cheap labor), and the more the Korean government discourages the labor pool by putting policies that restrict applicants, it could be just another wide turn towards more ignorance.

Its reality though, and I think it will give more foreigners a fresh new challenge to overcome before Korean society realizes how much they need us for a mutual friendship, and not just for each other's benefit.