19 radical, pro-#NorthKorea students (11 female) scale in to US Ambassador's residence. The police waited 40 min for female police b/c they were too afraid to touch fem. students–the police would get sued for sexual harassment & be personally liable. What kind of system is that? https://t.co/B5oAZsBY6Z
Unfortunately it looks like some foreign students in Seoul had to deal with a creepy ajushi:
A building superintendent has been booked for allegedly sexually harassing foreign residents in Seodaemun, northwestern Seoul, Seodaemun police said.
The suspect, in his 40s, allegedly verbally and physically harassed foreign women, most of whom are studying or on a temporary stay in Korea. The building is used as a dormitory for foreign students of a nearby university.
Police began their investigation after one of the alleged victims complained.
Police allege the suspect has been harassing foreign residents for a long time. The victims said they did not know how to deal with it.
“He tried to kiss me twice and grab my butt,” one victim told a local news outlet. “He would also ask me to sleep with him.”
English teachers in Korea got to experience recently “Don’t Molest Students” training and they did not like it:
A seminar on Oct. 20 in Icheon Art Hall for foreign teachers in Gyeonggi Province offers “Tips to Successful Life in Korea.” / Courtesy of Joe McPherson
Foreign English teachers across Gyeonggi Province woke up extra early on Saturday, Oct. 20, many before sunrise, to attend a seminar they were told was mandatory. The seminar, held in the remote provincial town Icheon, started at 8:30 a.m., requiring many teachers from the far-flung corners of the province to find their own way there, as they had to leave before public transportation opened.
Joe McPherson, a longtime resident of Korea on an F-5 permanent resident visa, was up at 6 a.m., leaving behind his Korean wife and children in Gimpo and driving his car to what he called the “Dirty Foreigner Seminar.”
“This isn’t about career enrichment,” said McPherson, a restaurateur and owner of a successful tourism company who teaches on the side to make ends meet. “It’s because of the stereotype that we’re all sexual deviants.” (…………………..)
Throughout the talks, attendees were reminded numerous times not to sexually harass students, although little instruction was given on what sexual harassment was and how to avoid it.
“This reinforces the stereotype that foreigners are by nature potential sexual predators and drug fiends,” McPherson said. “Do teachers really need to be told that molesting children is wrong?” [Korea Times]
You can read the rest at the link if you want a good laugh for the day.
A handout offering tips for foreign English teachers tells them “Nobody cares about your own loneliness. / Courtesy of Joe McPherson
Here is what unquestioning belief in any sexual harassment allegation has brought:
A growing number of Korean men fear being wrongfully accused of sexual harassment in crowded public places due to the new zero-tolerance policy for such offenses.
One woman posted an appeal on the Cheong Wa Dae website last Thursday claiming that her husband had been wrongfully accused of groping a woman in a busy restaurant and sentenced to six months behind bars.
Huh Yoon, an attorney, said, “In cases where the account of the victim is the only piece of evidence, courts have no choice but to take it into account.”
Last Saturday a group of men created a website seeking to help other men who have been wrongfully accused of sexual harassment. The website attracted more than 1,000 members in just four days. Some men said they make sure to put their hands in full view of others when they ride a crowded subway, while others keep their smartphones in their pockets so that they will not be suspected of taking upskirt pictures. [Chosun Ilbo]
This is something to keep in mind, in South Korea someone can accuse you of sexual harassment with no evidence and then demand money from you through the court system. If you don’t pay you could go to jail:
This closed circuit television footage shows the encounter inside a restaurant between a man and a woman after which the woman accused the man of grabbing her buttocks.
She said her husband had attended several court hearings until September without telling her. The plaintiff demanded the defendant pay 10 million won for settlement but he refused, trusting the court would acquit him.
The court’s ruling statement from Sept. 5 says the plaintiff “explained in a coherent manner how the defendant sexually harassed her” and that “the accused was not regretful of his wrongdoing and didn’t seem to want to seek forgiveness from the accuser.”
“I know the recent ‘#Metoo movement’ has made all sexually related issues very sensitive but, even as a woman, I cannot understand her and how she so easily turned an innocent man into a sexual harasser,” the wife said, criticizing Korean anti-sex crime laws that “lopsidedly supported women over men.” [Korea Times]
Here is an article about a teacher allegedly behaving badly in Busan:
An American professor at Pusan University fled the country after police started investigating sexual harassment allegations against him.
The university admitted Thursday that the professor allegedly verbally and sexually harassed several female students in front of a bar near the school on March 28.
He then allegedly kissed a student’s cheek and said inappropriate things, including sexual insults, to other students.
The students put up a hand-written poster about his behavior and remarks.
Some students wrote in protest, “I’m not going to have sex with you” on the blackboard before his lecture, following remarks he had made.
The school ordered him to appear at a disciplinary session but he fled the country after sending a resignation email. The school department fired him and his photo was removed from the faculty list. [Korea Times]
A group of students calls for a professor to resign over remarks accused of defaming the Me Too campaign during class at Dongduk Women’s University in Seoul on March 19, 2018. (Yonhap)
Here may be the beginnings of yet another nude photo scandal for the Pentagon:
A Dropbox folder containing hundreds of explicit photos of female U.S. service members is currently circulating online, VICE News has learned. The women in the photos, some topless, others entirely nude, are largely identifiable and appear to be from all branches of the U.S military.
The folder is the latest example of an ongoing problem with revenge porn and online harassment in the U.S. military, one that persists even a year after the revelation of thousands of nude photos of service members shared in a Facebook group called Marines United caused a major scandal. VICE News reported in February on the existence of dozens of informal military social media groups where members continue to share nude photos and make derogatory comments about women, often alongside more banal posts about military life.
The new Dropbox folder, called “Hoes Hoin’,” contains 267 images in all and three subfolders named for specific women. Some photos show the women’s faces, others show their dog tags, others show their uniforms and name tags. The vast majority of the photos feature military clothing.
Some of the photos are selfies, others are clearly taken by another person. Some show women performing sexual acts. A few are of service members fully clothed, in apparent attempt to shame or discredit them. Finally, some photos are crude collages showing a fully clothed service member in uniform on one side and a nude photo of the same woman on the other. [Vice News]
You can read more at the link, but according to the article many of the pictures are from the original Marines United webpage. What is not known if the people posting these pictures are even in the military. This may end up being a civilian law enforcement issue if the posters are non or ex-military. Regardless it is disgusting that people continue to do this.
Allegedly an English teacher was behaving badly in Cheongju:
Amid the spreading #MeToo movement, a native English-speaking teacher at a girls’ high school was recently fired over allegations of sexually molesting students and calling the East Sea the “Japan Sea.” It was the victimized students who told the school of his misbehavior.
According to Yonhap News, the instructor, who worked at the school in Cheongju, was booked without physical detention on suspicion of sexually molesting students. The school also terminated his contract.
The former instructor is from Western Europe and worked at the school for seven years.
The school became aware of his misbehavior in May last year and asked police to investigate.
The school confronted him with its findings and he admitted making unwanted physical contact with the students, and racial and sexually offensive remarks. [Korea Times]
Here is his most shocking crime:
He also allegedly told the students that Korea and Japan should share Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo rather than fighting over them.
He should be exiled to live out his life on Dokdo after making a statement like that! 😉
