English Teaching Visa Procedures in Korea Now Require Fingerprinting, Drug Test, HIV Test : Japan Probe:
"The Justice Ministry has announced that starting in less than two weeks foreigners who teach English will be required to provide their criminal record and undergo a medical checkup to renew or receive a visa. In many cases, the new requirements will force English teachers to return to their home country to get the criminal record check. Many embassies here have already announced they cannot or will not conduct such a service.
...The US and Canadian embassies have already informed the South Korean government they cannot carry out criminal background checks, creating a very difficult situation for Americans and Canadians currently teaching in Korea to renew their visas should they want to stay. Those applying for new visas will also have to go through an interview at a South Korean consulate in their country before having their visa applications approved (this is in addition to their criminal background and disease tests).
...Korea blogger Michael Hurt has posted harsh criticism of the new rules, which he believes were enacted because of xenophobic fears spread by exaggerated media reports of criminal English teachers... "Treat all foreign teachers like criminals, and force them to produce these documents every time they apply for or even RENEW a visa. So, now the hagwons and schools will be more apt to hire the many more foreigners working here illegally on tourist visas, while the number of the vast majority of completely non-child molester, non-drug runner foreigners willing to put up with an extended life of being treated like a child-molesting, AIDS-ridden, drug abusing criminal will surely decrease.""
perhaps an overreaction but if you were a gov't official who learned your country had employed a pedophile for 3-4 years, who exposed his deeds on the internet, used your country as a home base for further exploitation of vulnerable children, and was the focus of an international man hunt, you may think some kind of response was warranted.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.interpol.int/Public/THB/vico/Default.asp
Yes, of course. The importance of doing "something." As opposed to the importance of doing something intelligent. Or reasonable. Or well thought out.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, CP Neil had no prior criminal record, so these specific changes would have had zero, say it with me again, zero effect on ever preventing what he did or capturing him after the fact.
The importance of "doing something." The poorly thought out justification for everything from the Patriot Act to No Child Left Behind to the WWII Japanese Internments. Cause see, we HAVE to do SOMETHING. For the children. Of course.
Bonus points for a policy that once again finds a way to treat whole groups of amazingly different people as one homogeneous evil entity.
Super special bonus points for finding yet more ways to immerse people in amazingly fucked up bureacratic nonsense.
And finally, though it rings true for every clime and place, we can get the special superstar culturally stupid no whammie bonus, as an Asian culture, in having the appearance of an effective policy, vice actually having an effective policy.
Just treat 'em all like criminals... who cares... they're just foreigners.
Ah, I see.
ReplyDeleteUnless one plans to run for political office, then one can't criticize an absurd and hugely xenophobic overreaction.
[Insert any country name here]... love it or leave it! [Or shut up!]
...nice ad hominem, btw.
On a more serious note, I've no interest in political office and think the whole system of power games upon which it's based is basically goofy.
What's more, I've laid no claim to a "well-thought out plan," other than the fact as I get older, the increased nanny state "safety at any cost" mentality to the continued abrogation of personal liberty, quite frankly, makes me slightly ill.
I've no "better" plan for Korea, because quite frankly, there probably isn't a real problem there. One high profile case, that the immigration system isn't even designed to catch is in no way indicative of any kind of systemic problem.
But instead of honestly saying to its own people "There is no system anywhere, ever, that can provide 100% security" or that, "Sadly, there will always be some criminals, no matter what," instead they contrive this huge bureaucratic smoke and mirrors parade.
"If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom." - Dwight D. Eisenhower