I was prompted by a post and comments on another blog to finally get pro-active about a topic that comes up in Korea from time to time -- expats - especially GIs - being turned away from businesses for being a soldier, looking like a soldier, an American, or just for being a foreigner.

Another factor motivating for this post is the hypocrisy of the Korean government's semi-affiliated Human Rights Commission.

They do some good work in Korea. They have fought for the rights of "3D Workers" ---- usually immigrants from poor nations who come to Korea to work the Dirty, Difficult, and Dangerous jobs Koreans won't -- and they have fought for the rights of handicapped Koreans. But, they also have some huge problems.

They find they can attack the US for Iraq War II and the detainees in Cuba, but they can't seem to find a way to criticize North Korea for human rights violations!!! They can demand to interrogate USFK MPs in 2002 for "human rights violactions" against "reporters" --- when two "citizen journalists" working for the popular anti-US website www.voiceofpeople.org worked with about a dozen other activists in a violent US base protest to cut through the fence then rush on base to get into a physical confrontation with GIs and MPs --- and when USFK refused to turn over the MPs for interrogation, the HRC issued a non-binding "fine" against the US ----- But when it comes to voting in the UN on a resolution condemning North Korea's brutality, South Korea skips the vote, and the Human Rights Commission can't find a way to mention North Korea by name as a human rights violator on the UN floor.

So, a few Korea related bloggers are trying to set up a loose system by which cases of discrimination against GIs and other expats can be verified and submitted to the Human Rights Commission for investigation.

We understand GIs are usually the primary targets of such discrimination. (I was never turned away, but I didn't look like a GI). And we understand GIs might not want to get in trouble with their superiors by pushing a hot button issue in Korea by filing a complaint.

So, we want soldiers who have specific cases to contact us. usinkorea@hotmail.com. Be specific about the name of the business or site, its location, and what happened. If you can get pictures, that would be great.

Above all, don't get into a confrontation!! (Which recently happened in Inchon with a lone GI who was arrested for it).

Contact us, and we will try to find a willing expat to check out the location for us who can file a complaint.

We are also looking for other expats who would be willing to donate an afternoon or evening every once in a blue moon to stop by a place where discrimination has been claimed to check out if it will refuse you service too.

Right now, there are only a small handful of us working on this project --- but we just got it started.

Hopefully within 6 months or so, we will have 1 or 2 willing individuals located strategically throughout Korea in cities like Seoul, Osan, Kwangju, Pusan, Kangnung and so on.

If we can accomplish that, it should not take much effort to verify claims as they come in.

The benefits of such a project can be several --

1. It has a chance of getting places that descriminate to stop.
2. It will publicize a problem that is not rampant in Korean society but that does happen and is usually ignored.
3. It will force the Human Rights Commission to be less hypocritical.

Believe me, South Korean society doesn't want to touch stuff like this. Look at this case of a huge, bloody brawl in Itaewan that the police didn't want to get involved in.

As a long time worker in the meat grinder of the hakwon language industry, I can also tell you from firsthand experience the labor boards and immigration also don't want to deal with the headache of complaints by Americans and expats from "rich, developed nations."

We can attempt to do something about these things, and this project I've described above is an effort to do something about the discrimination against primarily GIs but other expats too in some Korean businesses.

If you have a beef you want to report and get information out about, or you want to volunteer an occasional day to check out claims of discrimination, let me know about it.

I will do my best to get the claim checked out.

(And such checking is necessary, because there are some incredible a-holes in ther world. A few years ago on Dave's ESL Cafe, one of them posted a fake report about a gangrape then posted a couple of times under different names claiming to have verified the information. It took myself and a few other expats calling around the Pusan area to verify it was a lie (with me making international calls to the police and base MPs and USFK and emailing groups).

We hope we can get this project functioning well within a short period of time....

Overall, in my years in Korea, especially outside of Seoul, I found I was actually treated better than Korean customers, because Koreans outside the big cities don't run across foreigners much and are happy to meet them.

I didn't look like a GI, however.

And I was white. (It is a different ballgame for black people).

But, discrimination does occur not too infrequently to GIs and GI looking foreigners. And it happens more frequently during periods of sharp rise in anti-US activity.

Why not give a little effort to try to do something about it?

Ok, not to be rude at all but i thought i would add my two cents for what they are worth. I am an American but I am tired of Americans believing that we deserve any sort of hospitality of courtesy just in lue of the fact that we are Americans. This is Korea if some Koreans dont like Americans thats ok. Thats their own perogative. Furthermore, if you want to see a real violation of human rights step foot into one club in a camp town. Better yet take a look at the apartment of the girls from any of the clubs. Try 12 people sleeping on the floor in a cramped 2 room apartment and treated like prisoners. Now thats a human rights violation. Also if you want to see discrimination and racial profile or profiling based of ethnicity open your eyes. I walk on base with my wife or downtown with my wife, who is a filipina and she and I constantly have to deal with the stereotype that is passed amongst many GIs. Fact is America as a country needs an ego check. We dont deserve anything from anyone just because we are Americans

So that is what you're pinning yourself down to?

GIs discriminate, so it's fine to discrimnate against them or people who look like them?

Women from poor Asian nations are treated as slaves by Koreans, so Americans or Canadians mistaken for Americans, or blacks of any nation, should be thankful they are just not allowed in a restaurant or shop?

Asking for whites or blacks or hispanics not to be discriminated against is full of sh*t because I'm American. Asking for that is a sign of my American arrogance....

Ok, I understand your point but what I was getting at is this: Suppose I, as an American walk into a japanese resteraunt in Seoul. When I walk in I am approached by a Korean man who says, "No! Opso Miguk yogeo!" (Forgive my Hangul, I dont speak korean very well). Ok, so I cant eat in his resteraunt. Its his country, his resteraunt. Life goes on. I walk outside and choose from a myriad of other resteraunts. (This is a true story; try walking around the block from the American embassy to a Japanese resteraunt and see what happens.) But its ok, why be offended? That event did not effect my life one bit. I merely walked out and found another place to eat. Who am I to tell him, "You will let me eat here!" Just because in America we dont discriminate against races and ethnicities doesnt mean we have any right to impose our believes, regardless if they are right or not, upon any other culture. The world is a big place with many different cultures. Regardless of where we go in this world we will see things that are contrary to our own believes but sometimes we have to pick our battles. Does it really effect the quality of human life that I am not allowed to eat in that resteraunt or John Doe cant shop in that store? Is it really as big of a deal as we sometimes make it? Or are we just being over sensitive?

You're viewpoint will be accepted by countless educated people in the West these days, so I don't feel it should cause you much discomfort if I say it is a sign of something I really don't like in our education today.

By extension, you are arguing that the Filipina and other foreign women abused as sex slaves once they come to Korea should remain a neutral issue in the non-Korean mind. "Who are we to say....."

If the Korean government wants to keep giving E-6 or other visas to these women even though it knows what is going on.....if the Korean police and prosecutors do not want to enforce Korean law (which has discrimination codes too) against prostitution or sex slavery.......if Korean men (and GIs) want to frequent those places and the women even though they know what is gong on ---------- non-Koreans have no business complaining about it, because it isn't our country. We can't force our value system on their culture.

I have this voice echoing in the back of my head that comes up every once in awhile when I hear this topic come up.

It's something a very bright, scholarship wielding Korean-American (mixed) graduate student in the US said after listening to a panel discussion about North Korea's nukes and US policy.

I overheard this intelligent young woman saying, "Who are we to say Juche doesn't work?"
.....who are we......who are we.....who are we.......juche.........juche......doesn't work...............echo........echo...

It still amazes me....

I do not want to live in a world where outsiders do not have the moral or ethical authority to say North Korea's leadership has turned their nation in a shithole for the poor masses of its citizens who have to live under such tyranny.

I agree with you that in the broad scheme of things, some Korean telling me or any foreigner (a Pakistani perhaps) they are not allowed in a business is not remotely close to the sex slavery issue or the nature of North Korea's regime.....

....but, discriination based on race is recognized as a bad thing widely enough ----- by enough of the world's people ------ that outsiders can complain about it without becoming cultural imperialists.

And as a last note ---- I never was turned away at any place in Korea or treated in such a way that I felt I was getting special negative attention based on being white or possibly a soldier ---- but I never looked like a soldier in Korea either.

I usually found I got better service than Korean customers in places outside of Seoul because I was white/a foreigner and the workers or especially owners were happy to get a chance to talk to someone like me since they didn't see many foreigners around.

I had about 1 run in a year with a Korean with a chip on his shoulder (usually a drunk person between the ages of 25-35) who clearly picked me out based on race, but that is different than turning people away from bars or restaurants.

I only had one time close to that. It was during one of the peaks of the 2002 tank accident, and I happened to be in the Paju area doing some site-seeing/research, and the caretaker at a small historical place I went to spent several minutes (twice) screaming at me in Korea red faced and hoping I'd pick it up too.

But, earlier that day, one of the guys at the Paju city tourism office (I think the head guy) spent a couple of hours with me maping out a route for me to take to see all the places I wanted to get photos of. He went above and beyond the call of duty for his office, and I doubt he would have gotten such treatment as a tourist in a city in the US the size of Paju.

Maybe there is a yin and yang to life, but I see no problem complaining about the negative part. The caretaker in Paju was an ass.

Yes, I agree completely. Balance, the ying and yang theory, is essential. There will always be things that spark a flames of reform, atleast in our individual worlds. But, as I said our strategies and tactics must be extremely careful in picking the battles that we will pursue. I think that ignoring North Korea's plight or ignoring the human trafficking issues would fall beyond that realm of choice as those situations effect the quality of human life.
Just for the value of thought:
I have to ask myself, what motivates the owners of certain establishments to no allow American patrons or patrons of other races? Is it due to a bad experience? Or is it due to the current events around korea? AE Humphreys, Yongsan etc. And if it is due to the current events, is it wrong at all? Perhaps that is a Koreans individual silent protest to what he believes. I dont know. I am not sure that I can intellectually call that wrong. Perhaps he knows he cant change much but he can make his point. I am not saying its right but I am not sure i can call it wrong either. JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT....I DONT KNOW EITHER WAY

I am an American, and have lived here several years. Yes, I agree that Koreans unfairly discriminate against Americans, sometimes (as evidenced by that photo, of which I have seen others like it before). I also know that several non-Americans here are called "Americans" just becuase they look white. It drives them nuts. Especially the Canadians (which makes me snicker). Overall, it's a very bad thing.

Anyway, until the US Military starts treating others equally, there should not be many complaints. Why is it, for example, that we make a big hubub out of stopping prostitution in Seoul (Korean hookers) but allow it right in the base's backyard at Songtan (Philipinas)?

The message is loud and clear: Treat Koreans better because it has more potential to backfire locally, yet allow filipinas to be trafficked and prostituted because they don't have a voice. I'm tired of the lipservice being given to human trafficking being "Allegal" (What the heck does Allegal mean, anway???) while it goes on in Songtan right under their very eyes.

The US Military can't preach human rights with any responsibility until this issue is addressed.