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18 COMMUNITYWEDNESDAYFEBRUARY 20, 2008

Sungnyemun: Mournersstill gather by Sungnyemun gateto pay their r espects to the fallenmonument.

Legendary Korean musicianKim Duk-soo, the founder ofSamulNori, was at the ruinedgate on Sunday, performing abinari, a form of rural percus-sion music. Kim and his fellowmusicians wore traditionalKorean funeral att ire unusu-al for a binary, which is usuallyperformed to pray for prosperityand ha ppiness.

Cultural Heritage Admin-istration h ead You Hong-junehas already fallen on his swordto take responsibility for thefire. Now, it ap pear s th e CHAsplan to register Seoul with UN-ESCO as a Historic Town hastaken a hit.

The agency had initially planedto apply to UNESCO in 2010, fol-

lowing the restoration of Gwang-hwamun Gate in late 2009.

This would have been ap-proved during the UNESCOWorld Heritage GeneralAssembly in 2011. Now, howev-er, it appears the agency willhave to wait until restorationwork on Sungnyemun Gate iscomplete to apply.

Rebuilding SungnyemunGate is expected to take threeyears.

English in English: Englishclass will be taught in English!

Or at least once a week it willbe.

In Seoul.The Seoul Office of Education

has announced a plan to gradu-

ally get Korean English teach-ers to teach in, well, English.

From this year, at least oneone-hour class a week will betaught in English. Grammar, atleast for the time being, will betaught in Korean.

If all goes according to plan,elementary schools will be con-ducting their English classesin English only by 2011, andmiddle and high schools by2012.

According to office, some 60percent of Korean Englishteachers have the ability toteach in English.

Which is a good number, onesupposes, since a Ministry ofEducation survey taken in 2006revealed that nationwide, overhalf of all English teachers inKorea couldnt.

Oh, and fear not in order tokeep unqualified native speak-

ers of English from gettinghired, the Seoul Office ofEducation will tighten its screen-ing of academic credentials by re-ceiving official transcripts direct-ly from universities.

Drug-smuggling Englishteachers: The fondness of cer-tain segments of the Englishteacher community for mind-al-tering chemicals has been well-reported in the local press, butstill, its always n ice to put n um-bers to a phenomenon.

According to the Korea CustomsService, a full 10 percent of drugsmugglers caught last year wereforeign English t eachers.

Overall, 225 people werecaught trying to smuggle drugsin Korea in 2007 144 Koreans,18 Americans, 15 Chinese, 12Canadians a nd 12 Filipinos.

Some 22 of those, however,

were English teachers, whichincluded eight Americans, eightCanadians, four Britons andone hapless Australian.

Overall, methamphetaminewas th e drug of choice, account-ing for about half of the seizures,although one would imaginemarijuana accounted for most ofthe English teacher busts.

Oh, and international post ac-counted for the majority of drugseizures, so if youre thinking ofhaving a friend in (insert homecountry HERE) mail you a carepackage, you ma y wish to rethinkit the authorities are not thatstupid.

Robert is the editor-in-chief ofSEOUL magazine, and the ad-min istrator of The Marmots Hole blog (www.rjkoehler.com). Ed.

By David Smeaton

In photography these days,everyones ra ving about HDR. Wha ts the big dealwith HDR? Josh, Cheonju

One of the benefits of dig-ital photography, withoutdoubt, is that new tech-niques such as HDR photog-raphy are created.

HDR stands for HighDynamic Range imaging andit has become a very popularphotograph ic genre. Itswhere a photograph is com-posed to give the full range ofavailable light and color.

When composing a photo-graph, some areas will bedark, some light. Some colorswill be vibrant while othersare more dull. HDR imageshave all the best elementscombined into the one photo.This allows for a very dy-namic and colorful composi-tion, which is almost impossi-ble to achieve otherwise.

Usually, HDR photos arelandscape, cityscape orpanoramic photos that haveno moving subjects. Whenshooting an HDR photo-graph, you need to takethree identical images. Thisis where your tripod comesin handy. Each of the threeimages should ha ve a differ-ent exposure. One should beunderexposed, one shouldbe overexposed, one shouldbe a perfect exposure. Thethree photos used for HDRare a natural bi-product ofbracketing.

Even though two shots areover and underexposed, thosephotos still have a range ofvisible elements. An underex-posed image will have gooddetail from bright clouds orshining lights. The overex-posed image will reveal detailthat was hidden by shadow ordarkness. Those elements a recombined with the perfectlyexposed photo.

In post processing, useyour software to combinethe three images. Photoshophas a Merge to HDR toolwhich is quite good, butdoes have limitations whendealing with moving sub-jects. There are also a num-ber of plugins and toolsavailable for Photoshop andGimp. Most of these do agood job as well. Or, if youare keen, you can do it man-ually, by combining th e pho-tographs yourself.

Send David a message atdavid smeaton@gmail.com orvisit his website at www.-davidsmeaton.com. If youwant to be a part of the week-ly Photo Challenge, join theSeoul Photo Club group at flickr (flickr.com/ groups/-seoulphotoclub). Ed.

By Lairam Vapual

Just one day before a serious medicaloperation, Dan gets a call from the im-migration office, informing him of th e re- jection of his refugee application. He isalso told that a letter confirming the re-jection will be on the way t o the hospita l.Feeling hopeless and frustrated, Dan sitson the hospital bed, nervously ponderinghis uncertain an d unpredictable future,with a critical surgery just around thecorner.

Fleeing political and religious repres-sion and other human rights abusesback home, Dan took the risk to journeyto South Korea to take refuge, only tofind his refugee application rejected. Ittook the South Korean governmentmore than four years to come to its con-clusion.

He has had to make a living by work-ing at a factory because, as an asylumseeker, he could not get any financial aidor material support in any form, as is thecase with most asylum-seekers here. Iwish the immigrat ion office had mad e anearly decision on my application, not af-ter four years, complained the youngman.

Esther, a young Asian woman, is nolonger a stranger to the HwaseoImmigration Detention Center inGyeonggi Province. Having been coopedup there since August 2006, a year aftershe set foot on the Peninsula, she hasmanaged to make h erself at home amidthe abusive remarks that usually ac-company people in physical detention.This blunt, outspoken woman tries ha rdto fight against her long detention,many times not without frustration anddesperation, compounded by her long-drawn-out application for asylum sta-tus.

A woman of persevera nce, her biggestconcern is being deported to the countryshe has fled. Initially, she had legallystayed with a South Korean pastor andhis family for about one yea r; they facil-itated her entry into the country. Butabusive and embarrassing working con-ditions forced her to flee the past or, whokept her passport an d travel documents,forcing her into illegal conditions th at fi-nally led to her arrest. Even interven-tion by the United Nations HighCommission for Refugees, Amnesty

International Korea, and another non-profit NGO so far has not solved hercase, which has been in legal limbo tied up in bureaucratic red tape foryears.

This kind of situation is not hard toimagine for deprived, desperate peoplesearching not only a better life, but alsosafer living conditions in South Korea where they can exercise basic hu-man rights, and who otherwise wouldhave been met with violent su ppressionand imprisonment in their own coun-tries.

No wonder an increasing number ofrefugees, in search of security and pro-tection from different kinds of oppres-sion, flee to a democratic and open coun-try like South Korea,where they feel theirvoices will be heard.But the reality isthat South Korea hasnot yet been ready tolive up to interna-tional expectationsregarding the issueof refugees.

Statistics compiled by an AmnestyInternat ional Korea refugee teamshow that South Korea has seen asteady increase in the number of refugee applicants since 2002 whenonly 34 people applied for the status.That number more than doubled to 84in 2003, followed by 148 and 410 in2004 and 2005, respectively. In 2006,the number decreased to 278, only todrama tically skyrocket to 717 in 2007.According to the team, the total num-ber of refugee applicants as of Jan uary2008, since Korea first acceptedrefugee applications in 1994, is 1,804.

Though South Korea has so far tak-en in more than 10,000 people fromNorth Korea, and has given them ba-sic job training, healthcare servicesand financial subsidies, it has yet toshow the internat ional communitythat it is serious in recognizing atleast 100 non-North Korean people asrefugees.

According to the UNHCR Canada which is the seventh-largest economy inthe world and h as a populat ion of 33 mil-lion people that country has givenmore than 151,000 people refugee status.It is remarkable to see that, in 2006

alone, Canada resettled more than10,000 refugees. And, in 2007, it becameone of the top 10 donors to the UNHCR,with contributions totaling more than$35 million.

Australia, th e 17th-largest economy inthe world, with half the population ofSouth Korea, has taken in about 69,000people as officially recognized refugees.

But South Korea, the worlds 13th-biggest economy, with a population ofaround 50 m illion, has just over 60 legal-ly recognized refugees.

According to the Korea ImmigrationService, of the 717 people who a pplied in2007, only 13 were granted the status,and 111 were rejected. Approximately1,200 refugee applicants were currently

waiting for a decision on their fate as ofJan. 21, 2008.

Since South Korea became a signa toryto the United Nations ConventionRelating to the Status of Refugees in1992, the main international refugee-protection instrument, 66 people havebeen granted the status, 336 have beenrejected, and 53 have been given permis-sion to stay here on humanitariangrounds.

There are a n umber of healthy reasonswhy South Korea should open its doorswider to refugees, as most other devel-oped countries have, inst ead of imposingtougher rules and regulations to admitthem. First, as an important attr ibute ofa mature and democratic country, and asa prosperous and highly educated na-tion, it has a responsibility to help peoplecoming from countries less fortunatethan itself. In so doing, this countrywould further show its real commitmentto the prosperity an d development of oth-er nations.

Secondly, South Korea has played anincreasingly pivotal role on the worldsstage. It has an active global role at theUnited Nations, and in war-torn regionssuch as Iraq and Afghanistan, and hastaken a lead role in regional develop-

ment pr ograms in Asia and Africa. But itis ironic and parad oxical that , once thoserefugees find their way t o South Koreasshores, the country fails to demonstratethe same commitment.

Thirdly, as one of the leading innova-tors in the field of information technol-ogy, and the home to some of thebiggest corporations on the planet,South Korea boasts r elatively high liv-ing standards. With this high statuscomes a responsibility to share itswealth with developing countries. Sofar, healthcare services, financial assis-tance and educational programs arevirtually non-existent for the 66 offi-cially registered refugees, let alone t herest of the hundreds of non-North

Korean refugee applicants. It would notbe a waste of wealth for South Korea,one of the four Asian Tigers, to usesome of its resources to help these peo-ple. Rather, it would be seen by the in-ternational community as symbol ofgenuine care for people who suffer po-litical, social and economic deprivation the same bitter experience thatSouth Korea itself endured not so longago.

NGOs in South Korea have done agood job so far in helping refugees andasylum -seekers . Now its up to the gov-ernment, which has the final say onproviding security, protection and oth-er assis tance, in accord with therefugee Convention, to aliens on itsown soil.

These refugees ventured here, fleeingthe same political, social, economic andreligious repression which South Korearooted out not longer than two decadesago.

The writer is a foreign resident inGyeonggi Province. His e-mail address isind ochina77 7@yahoo.com. All names ofrefugees in this report have been changed for their protection. Ed.

Robert Koehleron Talking PointsSurely, if schools offered

the immersion experiencewithout the n eed for leavingthe countr y, it would be ben-eficial. By their statements,this is exactly the issue thatPresident-elect Lee and hisCabinet are trying to ad-dress.

Contrary to South Africa,where teachers from alleleven language groups areeducated in colleges anduniversities, and can thusprovide mother-tongue edu-cation in any of the officiallanguages, Korean teachersare educated in Korean.Even teachers of Englishare educated using theg r a m m a r - t r a n s l a t i o nmethod, and so their knowl-edge of English as a subjectis good, but their skill atpresenting this subject inEnglish is limited.

Outside the classroom,there is no incentive or op-portunity to engage inEnglish conversation or use.In South Africa, a child whois taught English as a sec-ond language finds herselfsurrounded by the lan-guage. It is in the m ovies, ontelevision, on the radio, inthe streets, and he willknow at least one child,probably more, who speak itas a mother tongue. It is thelanguage of commerce andadvertising, of interactionacross race and tribe, and soit takes a child less than ayear to become a speaker ofthe language, even if notwholly fluent. There is nosimilar situation in Korea.

Unless English is made anofficial language, wherethere is a real need to use thelanguage and understand it,all the educational stra tegieswill struggle with the factthat, without practice, no flu-ency will develop. Even ifEnglish is adopted as a sec-ond official langu age, the factthat Korea is homogenous asfar as language is concernedwill still hamper conversa-tional opportunities.

Before further debate is un-dertaken, the question aboutwho needs to learn Englishand why should be answered.

And, if education doesneed to be reformed, theplace to start would betraining centers for futureteachers, to prepare them asbilingual individuals whocan then go and teach thefuture generation.

Most importantly, make bet-ter use of the skills of Englishspeaking teachers in schoolsby allowing them to conductclasses solely in English.

At least this, while notideal, will provide childrenwith the challenge of havingto understand the languagefor at least one hour a week.

Leonie Overbeek is anEnglish teacher in a GyeonggiProvince middle school. Ed.

UNESCO dreams up in flames? In focus:HDR

explained

More should be done for refugees

English-only

in classrooms

Australia has taken in about 69,000 people as refugees. But

South Korea, the worlds 13th-biggest economy, with a population

of around 50 million, has just over 60 legally recognized refugees.

PHOTO CHALLENGE (open to all entries) Taken at Namdaemun gate, at around 11p.m.Feb. 10, this shot captures the intensi-ty of being a firefighter, and also the sad-ness and loss for the Korean people.

Paul Walker/ www.flickr.com/photos/pwalks

Expat living is a page dedicatedto the issues that affect foreigners'daily lives. It is your page,where you can share stories aboutyour life in Korea. Send storyideas to Matthew Lamers

at mattlamers@heraldm.com

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