Tejaswini
I heard through one of my friend that Koreans doesn't like the foreigners. Is it true?
Jul 18, 2014 5:49 AM
Comments · 7
4

I am not sure how the discussion immediately became related to university entrance policies.

 

I tend to agree with Mark about the exaggerated claims because I am also caucasian.  However, I the unfortunate experience of witnessing my own Korean friends expressing racist sentiments during my four years in Korea.  My social group there was composed of public school teachers and university instructors (an educated sample) and while they were usually very positive about caucasian people, they had very different feelings about every other group.

 

Take, for instance, when I was introducing my replacement to my colleagues at a school.  My replacement was from South Africa.  They literally gasped when he walked in and stopped looking at him.  Then, they proceded to whisper things in Korean such as '진짜 검은색이네'.  I was ashamed to have felt so close to them.

 

This is in no way an isolated incident:

 

http://www.vice.com/read/south-koreas-not-so-subtle-racist-hiring-practices-0000313-v21n5

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/world/asia/02race.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgTwlB3J81U

July 25, 2014
3

I am not sure how I should interpret the thumbs down on my response...

 

Racism exists everywhere and no one is particularly keen on discussing it.  If someone where asking this question about my country, the USA, I would want to be as honest as possible about the real prejudice and bigotry that people experience here every day.

July 25, 2014
2

I think this is extremely exaggerated. Heard similar stories before I came to Korea, people saying koreans are xenophobic etc.

 

From my personal experience I would say this is far from the truth. Yes, you will feel like "the foreigner" at times, and it might indeed be very hard to fully integrate. I would say this is very understandable for a homogenic nation like Korea. Unless you want to move there permanantly, I wouldnt say there is any problem, as confrontational negative sentiments against foreigners seem rare. To be honest, I find it a little tiring when people try to put a "racist" label on everything. A little respect goes a long way :)

 

Disclaimer: This could possibly be different for non-westerners.

 

As for studying, it seems that foreigners actually have an easier time getting in, like Shao mentioned. That does seem a little unfair, given the educational competitiveness for native koreans. Guess this was lucky for me though ;)

July 25, 2014
2

What you are claiming is not clear. Do you think native Koreans comes first in going to any groups in Korea? Then, you're mistaken. There are additional room for foreign students in universities such as special entrance system for foreigners(called 외국인특별전형). At least it doesn't do any harm to native Korean students, but the requirements for those foreign students are really low compared to native Korean students who lived in Korea all along. When there's group projects native students eschew to become partner with a foreign student because their low knowledge of Korean and major subject are burdens and not helpful for the project. When Korean students want to enter 4 year universities within Seoul, just being above 4% of all students are not enough, but when foreigners want to enter there, they just need third grade of TOPIK or TOEFL(PBT550, CBT213, iBT 80). These requirements are certainly low compared to native Korean students. When universities offer native Korean students a special entrance system for English, they require at least 850 PBT score for TOEFL, and the third grade for TOPIK? The first grade of university entrance exam is for students within 4%, the second is those between 4% and 11%, and the third is between 11% and 23%. 

July 18, 2014
2

It depends on who they are. People like kind and thoughtful people. That goes for foreigners too. But things are different if they just got benefit just because of they are foreigners for example when they are in prestigious school or organization with special entrance system without any special telent, native Koreans in the school or organization who fairly competed to get to there would be disapprove of them. 

July 18, 2014
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