Published by the Gwangju International Center since 2001
This past September, the pseudo-surf-clothing chain Hollister had a grand opening in Korea, and they imported young American male models for the event. The models were soon making fun of their new Asian clients by giving the middle finger during photo ops, poking fun at Asian pronunciations of English on Twitter, and mocking Koreans with slanted-eye poses at Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was a bewildering display of ignorance and cultural insensitivity.
However, sometimes 8ball cannot help finding himself annoyed and mad at some… let’s call them “ugly Koreans”. Here are some examples:
Under normal circumstances when someone doesn’t pay back a loan, that person should be allowed to default on the debt and face the appropriate consequences. Such is not the case with the latest political drama between the ROK and DPRK governments.
In late May, Korean TV network MBC broadcast a short “news” piece titled “The Shocking Truth about Dating Foreigners”, a heavily biased, sensationalized report negatively portraying Westerners in Korea. It drew sharp criticism from the local expat community, with protest groups and petitions quickly appearing on and offline. Here Rachel Redfern contributes her own response to the video.
