Misconceptions about Crimes by U.S Soldiers

Even though I was unable to attend the class for this weeks’ presentation I feel that the issue about “US soldier crimes” is something that needs to be addressed, because it is in some ways related to how most Koreans perceive foreigners in general. Now, I’m not American, so my opinion is completely unbiased. Okay, now, the fact that USA has been instrumental in preventing war & saving S. Korea is something the world has acknowledged. Now as grateful as the Koreans might be to their savior, it is irrational to imagine that they (or anyone sane for that matter), as an expression of gratitude, might overlook the heinous crimes committed by the army personnel.

Recently, I asked some of my friends to go and hang out in Itaewon, but they said that place is full of drug-addicted foreigners and U.S soldier criminals. I was rather surprised by what they had to say. Any group that predominately consists of 18-25 year old men is going to have violent criminals in its midst. When the violent crimes against Koreans inevitably occur, they serve as a beacon for anti-Americanism, and even anti-Foreignism. .

Let’s see what the real criminal statistics say about GI crimes in Korea. I got most of this information from reliable online news articles. USFK currently has approximately 27,500 soldiers stationed in Korea. This means that .00131% of the population of USFK service members in Korea are the ones causing trouble while the other 27,464 soldiers are minding their own business and respecting Korean law. When we talk about serious crimes; The Korean National Policy Agency considers Murder, Robbery, Rape, Violence, & Larceny as major crimes when compiling Korean crime statistics, of these five major categories USFK soldiers committed 23 cases of serious crime. When the USFK population is divided by this number, the ratio comes out to 1 serious crime for 1196 soldiers.

Now let’s see how this compares to Korean crime rates. The Korean National Police Agency has 2007 statistics for serious crimes committed by Koreans on their website. The KNPA has arrested 385,704 Koreans for serious crimes out of a population of 49 million Koreans. If the total Korean population of 49 million is divided by the number of serious criminal convictions, the ratio comes out to 1 serious crime for every 128 Koreans.

In another report, in 2010, the data shows, police around the country charged 1.8 million South Koreans with crimes, about 3.8% of the overall population of 48 million. By contrast, 33,586 non-Koreans were charged with crimes, about 2.7% of the country’s foreign population of 1.26 million.

So, if we look at the statistics, it’s much safer to be around a GI or a foreigner than to be around a local citizen. I think that they make a big deal every time a foreigner does something bad, while, not much attention is given when the locals are committing crime, even at a much higher rate. While I also find the occasional crimes committed by GI's embarrassing, I think it does not make those few bad soldiers your ambassadors to the world. One of my close friends, who used to be a G.I and is now a primary school teacher said that he loves Korea, but thinks the U.S army, should leave. According to him, they don't get much for the billions they spend to defend the Koreans.

Smoking Pot in Korea

As the presenter mentioned, marijuana is actually much less hazardous to the body than cigarettes or strong liquor and personally, I find the attitude that "if it is illegal, it should be illegal" completely senseless and self-defeating- which seems to be the case here. I, for one, believe mature adults should have the right to put whatever they want into their bodies- and to pay the consequences, in a way it’s quite same as euthanasia.

However, I do not trumpet this opinion in Korea, nor do I lecture my friends here. If asked, I simply explain the difference between cultures and what is considered acceptable, despite its questionable legality.

In my opinion, between the risks and penalties and the way Koreans think about drug use, combined with the way drug use is so often associated with foreigners, it just isn't worth it to use drugs while you're in Korea. Don't do it, don't look for it, just stay out of that mess. I've actually met people who came to Korea to successfully clean up, and get off the ganja, and they succeeded. Korea's good for that. Korea's not a good place to get high, unless your drug preference is either alcohol, or really spicy food. Pot is a big problem here, and if someone resents that marijuana is legally or practically decriminalized in most parts of Europe and especially in the Netherlands, but it's still very illegal here, then it’s better to smoke it when you go to places like Glasgow, Liverpool, Amsterdam, or Berlin.

I respect the laws of Korea as an exchange student. I would expect the same of Koreans living in other countries.

The dark side of loan sharks in South Korea

I was quite aware that loan sharks in Korea was widespread because it’s not unusual to get a text message from 현대 capital(apparently it is a private lender that uses 현대’s name without permission) every now and then, but I knew very little about the fact that it also involves a lot of risks. There are thousands of small lenders operating on the fringes of the law that target people desperate for money.

The presenter said that these loan sharks usually target households which are spending more than they earn and their ability to pay off debt is weak. If interest rates rise and debt grows, this will pose problems for their financial state and even their safety.

I heard that they account for about 85 percent of the country’s troubled debtors who are seriously behind in payments or on the brink of bankruptcy.

In a recent news article, I heard that earlier this year, South Korean media was saturated with the story of a young women who borrowed about 2,500 000 won to pay college tuition and was charged with illegal fees that put her interest rate at almost 350 percent, forcing her to take out more loans. The lender then forced the woman into prostitution to pay off her debt. Her father was dragged into the mess and also fell into debt. He ended up killing his daughter and then committed suicide. This is only one of many other horror stories surrounding Korea’s loan sharks.

Usually borrowers knew the risks involved when they borrow from loan sharks but did so because they were desperate for money. This is causing serious problems and I feel that the government should set up loan policies for people with low income and take severe measures in order to prevent such happenings.

High Divorce Rates In Korea

I find the presentation on Divorce Rate rather hard to agree with. Divorce rate cannot be considered out of context. High divorce rate does not mean the breakdown of social mores, nor does low divorce rate indicate a morally steadfast society. I do not have the figures on marriage on Korea and other countries, but it is probably safe to assume that a higher proportion of Koreans get married than people in the countries mentioned, where marriage is considered more `optional' than compulsory compared to Korea. .

The message is simple: marriage is compulsory. Not getting married means some can never become a full human being. After the age of 30, some of my Korean friends get bombarded with questions concerning their marriage plans almost on a daily basis, from acquaintances to people they’ve have met for only a few seconds. If someone expresses disinterest in the topic, the response is an immediate look of disbelief and subsequent condemnation, and on several occasions, their sexual orientation is obliquely questioned. But why is marriage compulsory? And does this kind of belief contribute to the rising divorce rate? Many of my female friends have expressed concerns on the need to get married before the age of 30, and the frequency of or request for blind dates increase with age and desperation. To avoid being left behind, it is not common to see people rushing into marriage with someone they barely know but with matching credentials.

Being the single one out is no trivial matter in Korean society where collective ideal still reigns at large. As the presenters mentioned, even when a couple feel that the marriage is a source of pain rather than happiness, divorce should not be on the agenda. I think this plays a major role for the rise in divorce rate and it’s something that I find difficult to understand.

Saving Amzon

Brazil is a land of remarkable beauty and unsurpassed biological diversity. For this reason, deforestation in the Amazon is especially troubling. Biodiversity makes life on Earth livable for our species. By extinguishing places rich in biodiversity like the Amazon rainforest, we are destroying a part of ourselves.

There is still time to save some of the most threatened species and ecosystems that have been pushed so close to extinction that they will perish unless we do something about it. Perhaps the best way to address deforestation in Brazil is developing new conservation policies based on the principle of sustainable use and development of rainforests.

Simply banning the timber trade or establishing reserves will not be enough to salvage the world's remaining tropical rainforests. In order for the forest to be preserved, the underlying social, economic, and political reasons for deforestation must be recognized and addressed. So how can we make a difference? Well, an easy thing to do is buy less things that have a demand for rainforest materials. Things like mahogany doors. If people don’t buy them then there won’t be a demand and people will stop logging trees. Something that may be considered harder is to vote for a government party that priorities the environment and rain forests. One last thing is to call off the massively growing debt for Brazil. This way, they won’t have to exploit the rain forests.

Conservation efforts and sustainable development programs are not going to be cost-free. Even countries that already get considerable aid from foreign donors have trouble effectively making such initiatives work in the long term. In conclusion, I think the Amazon rainforest should be saved as it is an important part of our lives and without it, we would be plunging into global warming into an even more alarming rate.

Students' Right to Dress Freely

Last week I had the opportunity to see a very interesting presentation about students’ rights. To me the most interesting thing was the debate on whether or not students have to wear school uniform.

In my opinion, students should be able to wear what they would like to wear. Students need to be comfortable and happy so that they may learn and enjoy their learning environment. However, I do acknowledge that some people choose to dress in ways which cross a reasonable boundary. For example, some girls will wear 2 inch miniskirts and try to pass them off as proper clothing. I also believe that shirts that say it’s cool to do drugs or shirts that have pornographic images on them should not be worn. However, alcohol and cigarette ad shirts aren’t as bad in my opinion because there are some nice looking t-shirts that advertise a type of liquor that are pretty cool looking.

Schools telling someone that they're not allowed to wear the clothing you wish to wear(with restrictions) is in violation of student’s rights. There are also instances in which a person attends a school which has no official dress code. Then, half way through the school year, that school chooses to enact and enforce a new official dress code which requires students to dress differently than they have been. In my opinion, that situation also violates the rights of students. But, I do NOT believe it violates a student's rights if that student registers for school and signs a document in which they acknowledge that they understand that they will be required to comply with an official dress code.

I think that school dress codes are unfair. You shouldn't be told what to wear if it’s your body. If the faculty has a problem with the way you dress tell them to go buy your clothes, Because most teens do buy their own clothes. If they bought them they should be able to wear them when they please.  

Problems Regarding Minimal Wage

Saturday, 22 October 2011

 

Problems Regarding Minimal Wage

After hearing last weeks’ presentation I found out that the single largest problem with minimum wage increases is that they result in job losses, because they increase labour costs for employers who respond by reducing the number of employees and/or the number of hours they work.

However I disagree with this because reasonably a minimum wage only has impact (negative or positive) at the same level that any price floor has an impact, that of above the natural market price. Then, the greater the market distortion the greater the impact. I suppose that it would be more precise to say that a meaningful minimum wage is a job killer, since anything below the market rate would be irrelevant (which is why lower income people are impacted the most).

So, to suggest that “a minimum wage” kills jobs doesn’t actually mean anything. What figure are we talking about? 1000won? Like so many arguments, there’s a built in assumption about where we are now that isn’t based on any sort of reality. Minimum wages have been chipped away at through inflation over the past few decades and there hasn’t been an appreciable rise in employment because of it.

I do however disagree with the whole idea of Big Mac index. So, it suggests that the minimum wage should at least be high enough to buy a Big Mac set, which is considered to be equivalent to a proper meal. But as far as I know the minimum wage in Korea is about 4100won, and that is sufficient to buy at least one meal(I’m not talking about fancy course dinners here).