Ruminations in Korea

While I am on the subject of the horrible state of journalism in Korea, I did want to point out a surprising and refreshing bit of writing from Yahoo Korea. I wanted to mention it earlier, but the article came out on the same day as the start of the Blog Block. It got put on the back burner, but now is as good a time as any to dust it off.

About six weeks ago I wrote about the rediculously racist and sensationalilzing headline, “Pak Kyoung Lim Returns to Korea with White Boyfriend!”. The post generated 75 comments so far. A great many of them telling me that I was being too sensitive, that it wasn’t racist, that nothing was wrong with it. If this doesn’t ring any bells, perhaps this image will refresh you mind:

Anyway, on June 24, 2004, yahoo carried a story headlined, “Irritating ‘Pak Kyoung Lim’s White Boyfriend reports’”. In the article, the writer blasts a certain sports newspaper for carrying the headline, ‘박경림, 19세 백인 남친과 동반 입국’ (Pak Kyoung Lim Enters Korea Together With Her 19 Year Old White Boyfriend). The writer calls the headling unacceptable yellow journalism for contain four sensational words, “19 year-old,” “White,” “Boyfriend,” and “Together”.

She starts off by mentioning that the only reason his age was mentioned is because he was only 19 years old and it is implied that it is a taboo relationship with someone who is barely old enough to legally watch adult movies.

She criticizes the use of the word “white.” She questions why the headline couldn’t have said, “American” or “Foreigner.”

The writer goes on to point out that the headline was vastly different from the content of the article. According to the article, they were just school friends and they were actually coming with several of the guys friends.

She concludes by suggesting that the headline ‘박경림, 뉴욕 친구들과 방학맞아 일시 귀국’ (Pak Kyoung Lim and Her Friends From New York Come to Korea for Vacation) She ends with a call for people grasp the situation accurately and to report accurately.

I couldn’t agree more.