People Caring for People
By Mark A. Grubbs
05-29-2008 17:47
My first year in Seoul I worked in a ``hagwon.'' I do not take illegal drugs, have not committed any crimes, and do not have HIV/AIDS. What I learned in 2000 in Seoul was that most Korean adults did not demonstrate care for me.
When I began teaching at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in 2001, it was clear that 99 percent of the foreign faculty from over 15 nations were treated as second-class citizens and teachers. None of us was cared for in the least of expectations.
Since 2001, I have learned the meaning of being a minority in a dominant culture; I have learned the meaning of not being cared about in society. I have learned that foreigners are second-class people (just read the daily papers in Korea), that Koreans prefer the ``pure-blooded" Korean over others, that Koreans expect foreigners to love every single thing about Korea, and that differing points of view should not be discussed. I have learned never to speak ill of North Korea. I have learned that promises are empty. I have learned that begging for release from personal responsibility is normal, especially in education. I have learned that Korean and foreign women are in constant danger from Korean men (gender-segregated subway cars, for example). I have learned that no matter how much Korean language or culture I know, I will not be accepted as a full participant in society. In all of these lessons, I ask, ``Where are people caring for others?"
A dark tragedy revealing what I see as a societal lack of care, reported on in the May 22nd edition of The Korea Times, ``Death in Sauna Shrouded in Mystery,'' in which a 14-year-old boy died in a ``jjimjilbang," causes my soul to cry out. I wonder what it takes to make a Korean group or individual care about another human being's life enough to stand up for it and do something to protect it. It seems pretty clear from the article just mentioned that many people did absolutely nothing in the sauna while this boy was in dire need of attention (``Michael had allegedly been coughing and dry retching ― without anyone inside the sauna offering assistance ― for some time, the autopsy added"). The people around him did not care. Now this boy is dead because of it. He is dead due to lack of a basic human right _ to live. He is dead because of social negligence to take responsibility for this basic human right. And there are no apologies. The apologies that Koreans so often demand of foreigners are not forthcoming as far as I can tell.
For me, this sort of social negligence of people, especially in this incident (not the first of its kind here) of a boy having died ― this sort of negligence is nothing less than inhuman. Where is the care for the victim from the Korean community? Is this incident not one of respecting a basic human right, caring about the basic well-being of another? Shouldn't the bedrock of all societies ― especially ones in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ― be this basic human right, even if it is only a testimony to the worth and dignity of human beings?
Many people in many nations neglect this basic human right in such horrible ways; however, should they not be brought to justice when they do it? This incident was no accident. Someone, or some group, is criminally liable. Where is the justice? Apparently, the justice lies in making sure that no one gets upset, except the victim of the crime. Is preserving ``harmony" more important than a person's life?
Again, Korea is not the only society that ignores such basic human rights. Myanmar does it in denying worldwide help to millions of dying people. Even in countries that have a Good Samaritan law (unlike America and Europe, where there is the Good Samaritan Law, which imposes no blame when a person dies while receiving emergency treatment from someone attempting to help, in Korea a person who helps can be held liable for the death.), people still neglect basic human rights. Koreans are not guiltier than any others in the world, but neither are they any less guilty. Still, as an OECD member and civilized nation, its society should be held accountable for practicing basic care for a human being.
Where is the justice in Korea when basic human rights are ignored? In America, we usually call this sort of negligence ``depraved indifference," and it is in the broad category of murder, in the law. When people are caught in this sort of negligence, where life is lost, usually their crime falls under ``manslaughter" of some kind. It carries with it no less than usually five years in prison, and can be up to 25 years.
If I die here in Korea, I do not want it to be due to negligence. I do not want my tombstone to read, ``With those who did chide, he tried, he cried, he died." I would rather it read, ``With those who cared, he was paired, his life was shared, and in his death they were aware."
People should care about people. The writer is full-time lecturer at Hanyang University. He can be reached at grubbsmarkallen@yahoo.com |
