Foreigners take up more than two percents of the Korean population. They are from all over the world, but mostly from other Asian countries. Some people come to Korea to work, get paid, and send the money to their family back in their country. Others come to get married to Korean males and create a family. Basically, they come to Korea to make their life better and they work hard to achieve their goals. However, how do we treat them?
We stare at them when they get on the same subway as if they should not have. We stare at them when they are talking in their languages, as if they should be able to speak Korean as fluently as we can, and they should not be speaking in their languages. We bully them from schools, companies, and the entire society. Do we have the rights to discriminate them? Do we live our lives as hard as they do?
I always tell my Korean friends that we do not have to feel so small in front of white people because we speak English much better than how well they can speak their second languages. Also, it seems like most of Koreans live their lives harder than Western people do. Now, from the things that I said ealier, change “Koreans” to “foreigners in Korea” and “white people” to “Koreans.” I think it is just as logical as the previous sentences. What do you think?
♦ The writer’s view in this section can be different from Ewha Voice’s view.
Ewha Voice
evoice@ewha.ac.kr