Whenever my Korean classmates ask me how Filipinos in the Philippines view Koreans in general, I oftentimes tell them that it’s almost always negative. When they ask why, I of course tell them that our views are based on how we see them in the Philippines. The Koreans I’ve met and interact with here are not as “rude” as we perceived them back home. In fact, they are very hospitable and I could say that more hospitable than we tout ourselves to be. (Sometimes sickeningly hospitable and every recipient of that hospitality would know what I’m talking about.)
Anyway, articles like the one published in Korea Times yesterday doesn’t help to the image of Koreans back home. The title read “Kidnappings of Koreans in Manila Under Investigation” and at first glance it would give you an impression that the Filipinos are kidnapping Koreans when in fact, the Koreans themselves are the ones doing the crime against their own.
Here’s an excerpt of the news article written by Bae Ji Sook:
A Korean male “sex tourist” in the Philippines was abducted by local gangsters and released seven days later after paying 50 million won ($36,000) in ransom, police said. Police suspect the case is among an increasing number of crimes involving local Korean gangs using the Internet.
One of my friends here in South Korea whose brother is a policeman in the Philippines told us that Korean gangsters indeed are the perpetrators of crimes against their own countrymen. There are about 100,000 Korean residents in the Philippines, according to news report.
It should be “Kidnappings of Koreans by K-gangsters in Manila.” When I talk to “my friends” both Americans and Filipinos about having a Korean friend or going to Korea, they have same reactions. They would often ask “Why in Korea?” and “What’s with Koreans that you like?”<—sarcastic Hmmm… Is there something I’m missing or is there something I don’t know that I should know?
Either way… I still love Koreans. hehehe
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the negative image of koreans in the philippines was brought about by koreans themselves….sometimes they act like they own the philippines……that action frustrates me(and my husband) a lot.
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naku,
lots’a untold stories… 🙂 tsk!
who knows koreans better than koreans themselves nga naman di ba? 😀
one Korean word just crossed my mind ‘ë¼ë¦¬ë¼ë¦¬’ hehe
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never knew about this kidnapping, whats teh current status about this kidnapping?
koreans give a negative impression to the philippines based on what they do with their fellow countrymen. haaayyyy… pathetic naman
As sad as this is, I have to say this is not an unique occurrence. Crimes similar to this happen everywhere where there is immigration – be it Mexico and USA or Poland and UK – new immigrants are taken advantage of by their own countrymen, one way or the other. It might be a simple fraud, it might be violent, but one thing is the same – it’s not the locals that exploit the newcomers.
koreans are treated bad by whites in america.
Most of them do laundry, and own small shops.
koreans are insecure because they are looked down
on.
Korean Kidnapping are planned by alsotheir fellow Koreans, who have stayed longer in the Philippines and have long failed their life, to live, they have to sell their feloow to the police or immigration officers..
I know lots of them who struggles to live a life but are ruined by their fellow, I think this is the same way in our country…
In general, koreans are polite and accommodating in their country. I slightly like their Government systemmuch far from the Philippines governance..tsk..tsk!