“We apologize, but due to Ebola virus we are not accepting Africans at the moment.”
This is what a bar in Itaewon, a popular area for expats and tourists in Seoul, publicly posted in front of its property last month.
The statement triggered thousands of angry comments online, both from expats and locals ― especially after the public learned of reports that the bar admitted a white person from South Africa, while banning almost all dark-skinned individuals, regardless of their nationalities……
…..Korean racism, however, must be understood differently from its Western cousin, experts say.
It is a complex product of the country’s colonial history, postwar American influence and military presence, rapid economic development as well as patriotism that takes a special pride in its “ethnic homogeneity,” according to professor Kim Hyun-mee from Yonsei University.
Unlike racism in the West, Korean racism is mostly targeted against those from other Asian nations, she noted. As of this year, more than 80 percent of immigrants residing in South Korea are from countries in Asia, the largest number coming from China and Vietnam…..
…Korea also has a discriminatory policy against those who wish to immigrate to the country from specific countries, including China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Thailand, the NGO noted. Only citizens from the seven particular countries must complete a special educational program on international marriages in order to obtain the F-6 visa, a visa given to foreign spouses who married Korean nationals.
“The government says it is because citizens from these specific countries move to Korea by marrying Koreans the most,” Han Gook-yum from the NGO said in a racism-related forum in Seoul last month. “But Korea also gets a large number of people from the U.S. and Japan, who move to the country by marrying Korean nationals.”….
……The key to combating racism in Korea is to introduce public education that encourages to respect different cultures and ethnicities, activists said.
“Victims (of racism) educate themselves about the concept of discrimination and intolerance, and they often learn by their experiences. But the general public, especially those who belong to the mainstream, often do not get that education,” said Emile Kim, a former pastor and anti-racism activist who spent more than 20 years in the U.S.
“It is equally important to educate the general Korean public about other cultures and the concept of tolerance (as much as it is to educate immigrants).”
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