Odds And Ends

From The Marmot's Hole:

Odds and Ends: Jan 19, 2011


by Robert Koehler on January 19, 2011



- Can someone please tell me why there still any limits at all on South Korean missile ranges?



The accord, signed in 1979, was revised once before in 2001. It limits the range of South Korea’s ballistic missiles to 300 km and their payload weight to 500 kg, preventing Seoul from matching the range of missiles to those North Korea has been developing.



Seoul proposed the revision talks to Washington after the North tested a long-range ballistic missile in April 2009. But U.S. military leaders including U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp are against a revision.



North Korea has missiles with ranges of 3,000 to 4,000 km, while China has land-based and sub-launched ICBMs. South Korea’s missiles stop at 300 km, and somehow, Washington thinks this is a good thing.



- Honestly, I have mixed feelings about the ban on corporal punishment by some local offices of education, but I’m not entirely comfortable with what appears to be a Ministry of Education effort to subvert local authority:



The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) has announced an executive ordinance superior to the Student Human Rights Ordinance that permits indirect corporal punishment and school suspensions, the latter method having been abandoned in 1997. Accordingly, the guidelines regarding the Student Human Rights Ordinance and the ban on corporal punishment will need to be revised, while progressive school superintendents have issued strong protests.



The ordinance would also allow school principles to limit students’ exercise of their rights, in particular those regarding hair, clothing and cell phone use. Like I said, not that I’m opposed to limiting said rights, but I’d rather leave that up to the individual superintendents, who are, after all, elected to handle such matters.



Meanwhile, I’m trying to imagine Amy Chua as a Korean school superintendent.



- So, where did all of New York City’s Korean grocers go?



Similar stories have played out across New York over the past few decades. After the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened the door to consistent migration from South Korea, Korean greengrocers, with their neat stacks of canned goods and their “stoop line” (sidewalk) spreads of apples, oranges, and flowers, became ubiquitous in the city, particularly in blighted and dangerous neighborhoods lacking regular grocers. But more recently, these stores have been vanishing. The Korean Produce Association reports that it has 2,500 members in the New York–New Jersey area, down from 3,000 a few decades ago. Pyong Gap Min, a professor of sociology at Queens College and author of Ethnic Solidarity for Economic Survival: Korean Greengrocers in New York City, puts the number in the greater New York City area much lower, at fewer than 1,500. The drop has been even more pronounced in neighborhoods like Harlem and Flatbush, where Korean-owned groceries, fish stores, and produce stands once flourished.



What happened? There are two stories behind the Korean greengrocers’ disappearance. One involves a changing New York economy over the last 20 years. The other, a particularly Korean saga, is a story of how immigration can work in America—a testament to how far these new Americans have come in a single generation.



Good piece. (HT to reader)



- In an editorial, The Korea Times laments that Chinese students in Korea often head home with anti-Korean sentiment:



Students generally love the host country where they study. Many Chinese students have a positive attitude toward such countries as the United States and Japan where they have studied. The situation is different in Korea.



They came to Korea with a dream. Many local universities have been aggressive in accommodating as many Chinese students as possible. This is to offset a sharp reduction in Korean students. Universities accept the Chinese to supplement their budget. They have been lukewarm in devising curriculum, accommodation facilities and adjustment programs.



On arrival many Chinese students are disappointed with the poor services. This lack of preparation angers the guest students.



Some 60,000 out of 80,000 foreign students in Korea are Chinese. My question is whether other foreign students go home with anti-Korean sentiment? Besides, I’d think Chinese would go home feeling pretty good about the place, given that Korea is so nice that as far as I know, it deported only one student for this:





(Love the commentary from the white girl in this one)





(Appreciate the replays at the end)



- So, does the media generate “misunderstandings” between Korea and China? Huang Youfu, director of the Institute of Korean Studies at Minzu University of China, seems to think so:



South Korean media outlets ran many accusatory pieces on China after Beijing allowed North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to visit the country — not long after the Cheonan incident, which was blamed on North Korea.



China’s popular tabloid Global Times on May 12 said, “South Korean media creates anti-China sentiment.” But then the same Chinese newspaper on Dec. 23 ran an editorial, which said China should “teach South Korea a good lesson.” South Korean media responded by saying China was arrogant.



“The vicious cycle has generated a confrontational milieu between the peoples of the two countries,” said Huang.



I’m certainly not going to defend the Korean media’s frequent use of nationalist rhetoric, but come on, it’s not like China’s actions have helped boost its image in Korea. Or with anybody else in the region, for that matter.



- Also on the discrimination front, Southeast Asians apparently feel discriminated against. Or so suggests a poll of 333 foreign residents:



According to the research, 25.9 percent of Seoul residents from Southeast Asia experienced discrimination from both Koreans and foreigners from other countries.



The figure is far higher than 8.2 percent of foreigners from OECD member countries — including the U.S., Japan and European nations — who have experienced discrimination; and marginally above the 20 percent for Northeast Asian respondents, including Chinese and Taiwanese.



The research was conducted on 333 foreign residents in the capital last July and those surveyed said they were treated unequally in seeking jobs and engaging in economic activities.



Southeast Asians apparently ran into the most discrimination when finding housing. This was interesting, too:



When asked whether they have a sense of belonging as a Seoul citizen, 21.9 percent answered “not really” and 13.8 percent, “not at all.” Many of the surveyed said their home cultures were not respected in the capital.



Then again, given that most won’t be staying very long, I guess those numbers shouldn’t surprise me.



- The Chosun Ilbo ran an interview with former museum curator Shin Jeong-ah. Needless to say, she’s had quite the ride over the last couple of years.