Short Thought on Today's Obamacare Ruling

Today was a fun day to be a law nerd.

The Korean has said this from Day 1 of this dreadful litigation:  if Obamacare was structured as a single-payer public insurance program, complemented by private insurance companies like the majority of advanced nations, ALL this could have been avoided. There would have been no individual mandate, and no constitutionality issue since it would have been exactly like Social Security or Medicare.

Wanna see a successful single-payer system that creates very little administrative delay and a $5 doctor visit? Here is an old post about Korea's healthcare system.

Got a question or a comment about the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Business Lunch for Koreans?

Dear Korean,

I work at a company that will be hosting quite a few business meetings in Houston, TX. Our guests are from Korea and we will be serving lunch for them. I plan on not serving them Korean food as I know it would not be to their standard, as well as when I travel I want to experience new things. Are there foods that I should avoid, like items that would be considered an insult to serve? Are there non-Korean foods that are preferred by most? Are there certain items that should be made available like salt and pepper for most Americans?

Robert T.

First of all, do not be afraid to cater Korean food from local Korean restaurants. It is true that the quality of Korean food in the U.S. may not be as good, and that business travelers would like to try new things. But truth is, few things in America are truly new to Koreans, as most American staple dishes -- burgers, pizza, etc. -- are widely available in Korea. (They may exist in bastardized forms in Korea to fit the local tastes, but at least the concept is familiar to Koreans.) 


Serving Korean food for lunch can be a solid gesture of friendship. Especially in case of Korean businesspeople on a long business trip, it could be a welcome relief. If you are having several days of meetings with your Korean business partners, throwing in a Korean-style lunch at least once would be a great idea. 

When it comes to serving non-Korean food, here are some pointers:

- Go with hot food:  Here is an observation -- Americans like everything a little bit colder than Koreans. This applies to room temperature, drinking water, and most certainly to food. Vast majority of Korean cuisine is very warm, and a significant portion of Korean cuisine is sizzling hot. This means that for many Koreans, a meal that is not hot (or at least warm) is very unsatisfying. If you have salad, try and have hot soup accompanying it. Go for hot sandwiches rather than cold.

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! News: Pew Center Study on Asian Americans

Is here. A helpful summary of findings in graphics is here. Graphics focused on Korean Americans are here.

One tidbit that caught the Korean's eyes:  82% of Asian Americans report that they are satisfied with life, higher than the national average (which was 75%.) But Tiger Parents totally raise unhappy children who commit suicide, right?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

How to, Like, Totally Win K-Pop Star

Dear Korean,

I'm going to be auditioning for SM, and JYP what are some things that will get them to respect and take me seriously?

Lizzy L.

This is another breed of stupid questions that the Korean has been receiving a lot lately. Here is the Korean's answer:  sing really, really well, then cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Yes, this anonymous blogger totally knows how to crack this thing.
(source)

To people who keep sending this type of question -- seriously, what the hell did you expect when you sent your question? That this random anonymous blogger has the nuclear launch code that would fast-track you into JYP's heart?

Yes, if you are not Korean, your chances are lower if only because you are not Korean. So what? Did you think you would be considered an automatic finalist if you were Korean? Does it make sense to complain that, in a lottery with a trillion tickets outstanding, you were given eight tickets instead of ten?

If you are auditioning for a TV show, what you are going for is a moonshot. If you are into taking moonshots, please, don't let anyone stop you. But if you are scared away from taking a moonshot just because the moonshot has 0.0000000001% chance instead of 0.0000000002% chance, maybe you should not be in the business of taking moonshots at all.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean. Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Media Strike in Korea

Dear Korean,

Could you expound a bit on the background of the labour strikes at KBS and, particularly, MBC? I'm given to understand that there's been some kind of political meddling, but as you've intimated before, English-language Korean news sources seem to be lacking in a number of ways.

Charlie

This question is long overdue, as the strike has been going on since January. In fact, KBS union ended its strike last week. In the spirit of better late than never, the Korean is picking up this question for a few reasons, to wit:  a lot of Korea-lovers rely on TV shows, and it would be helpful to know why a lot of their favorite shows. And like a lot of Korean history, the background of the media strike is an interesting story of rough-and-tumble intrigue.

Also, the media strike is indirectly responsible for this racist MBC "expose" on interracial relationships in Korea, which can be roughly summarized as:  "Dey terk er weemin!" As the regular news staff of MBC has been on strike nearly six months, MBC has been filling its lineup with a lot of crap that are produced by outside production companies. One of the results is that a completely beyond-the-pale program like this one goes through the filters.

(Aside:  The Korean really does not have much to add on this whole thing without repeating what others have already said. It was racist, misogynistic and shitty. Even Koreans in Korea have overwhelmingly called this program out as racist, misogynistic and shitty.

The Korean would like to point out one thing though: only 17 people showed up in the protest in front of MBC. Seventeen. Even though the Facebook group denouncing the program has nearly 9,000 members. You want things to change? It's not going to happen with clicking a few things on Facebook.)

First of all, a quick background about TV stations in Korea. The biggest thing you have to remember as you read through the history of TV stations in Korea is that as recently as 1987, Korea was a fascist dictatorship much like a lot of countries in South America were at the same time. Because controlling the media has always been essential to the life of a dictatorship, Korea's TV stations were under the thumb of the government for a very long time. Because of the remnants of those times, Korea's TV stations are still under a huge degree of government control, to a degree that may appear ludicrously unbefitting to a robust democracy.

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Ask a Korean! Wiki: Natural Style Deodorants

What do you do when you don't have time to answer questions? Have other people answer them! Cue the question:

Dear Korean,
 
I was wondering if you knew much about "natural" style deodorants' availability in Korea (i.e Tom's of Maine and JASON brands, or comparable brands). I unwisely didn't pack a long-term supply of deodorant when I came here, and now I'm running out. I don't want to use antiperspirant and would like to avoid deodorants laced with a bunch of synthetic chemicals.

Scott in Chungju

Sorry, Scott in Chungju, you are speaking to a guy who has never bought a stick of deodorant in his life. And it is not because the Korean is gross. Asians generally have significantly less apocrine sweat glands in their armpits, making them less susceptible to armpit stench. Either that or the Korean has a bad sense of smell, and everyone around him in his whole life has been exceedingly polite.

At any rate, deodorant always has been a sticking point with the expat population in Korea. So weigh in, folks. Have you been able to find a fru-fru, "natural" style deodorant in Korea?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

After a long period of relatively low tide at the Korean's day job, the tide has turned completely and is swallowing him up. The Korean knows you guys want to talk about a lot of things, like that racist MBC segment, attack of the creationists, etc., but the Korean simply needs to keep his day job, sorry. The Korean hopes to resume updates next week.

Military Draft Quandary

Dear Korean,

I'm the 23 year old son of two Korean parents who were both and raised in South Korea and just recently denounced their Korean citizenship (about 5 years ago). They immigrated to the US before I was born and gave birth to me while they were still Korean citizens in the process of becoming U.S. citizens. They forgot to however claim me on their forms in South Korea as their son after I was born and just assumed everything was okay. Finally about a week ago they stated that I was not allowed back into Korea or else I would have to serve in the military because I was born before they became U.S. citizens and so technically I am still a Korean citizen and I hold dual citizenship.

Do I hold dual citizenship because my parents were still Korean citizens when I was born?

Paul

Before we begin, the Korean must give the usual caveat:  The Korean is not an immigration attorney of Korea. This post is for broad informational purposes only. Do NOT ask him about your specific situation, because he cannot possibly give a competent answer that fits your situation. Immigration law and conscription law of Korea are complicated things, and you must consult an attorney if you are seriously worried about your situation. 

Having said that...

Paul's is a situation that has been happening a lot lately. Although Paul's email did not ask this question directly, the natural follow-up question is: "Will I be drafted into Korean military? What steps can I take to avoid getting drafted if I visit Korea?" It may sound absurd that someone like Paul, who was born and raised in the U.S., may be conscripted into Korean military. But because of an odd and unintended combination of Korean laws, this is a distinct possibility.

Military service in Korea has always been an extremely sensitive social issue. Like the Social Security in the U.S., it may as well be called one of Korea's "third rail issue" -- touch it, and you die. Particularly among Korean men, there is a (justifiably) huge sense of sacrifice for devoting two to three years of the prime of youth to serve the country. Accordingly, the consequences for draft-dodgers are swift and harsh.

This issue began its course a decade ago. In 2002, popular singer/rapper Yoo Seung-Joon very publicly pledged that he would serve his military duty, then suddenly went back on his word. As a dual citizen between Korea and U.S., Yoo renounced his Korean citizenship to avoid getting drafted. Huge public uproar ensued, destroying Yoo's career and rendering him essentially a persona non grata in Korea. Finally in 2005, Korea's National Assembly passed a law that prohibited dual citizenship holders who were over 18 years plus three months of age (and therefore draft-eligible) from renouncing Korean citizenship. (The previous rule was that the dual citizen automatically lost his citizenship if he did not elect to stay as a Korean citizen before the age of 22.) There was a Constitutional Court challenge against this law, but the court found the law to be constitutional.

If you are dealing with this issue, you can blame this guy
(source)

This much was not too onerous, actually. In 2005, all dual citizens in Korea knew who they were -- if you were born as a dual citizen, that fact is rather hard to miss. In order to avoid Korea's draft, a male dual citizen simply had to renounce their Korean citizenship before turning 18 years and 3 months old.

The real problem began in 2010. In 2010, in an attempt to liberalize citizenship laws and make the lives easier for diaspora Koreans, the National Assembly began allowing dual citizenship. One condition for having a dual citizenship was that a dual citizenship holder must fulfill all his duties as a Korean citizen, and may not exercise the privileges afforded to non-Korean citizens. For our purpose, this means -- he must report to the draft, and cannot give the excuse that he is not a Korean citizen.

The unintended consequence of the 2010 law that, all of a sudden, it created a large number of Korean dual citizenship holders who did not even know that they were dual citizens. If you are a draft-eligible age, and you realized only recently that you were in fact a dual citizen, you cannot even renounce your Korean citizenship because of the 2005 law. The result:  we have a messed up situation in which diaspora Koreans, who may have never visited Korea and not speak a lick of Korean, may be draft eligible for Korean military. He can enter Korea freely, but may get stopped at the airport on his way out of Korea, like all other draft-eligible male Korean citizens.

Unfortunately, there is no good way out of this. However unintended, this is how the law is today. If you have a non-Korean passport, you may simply be able to avoid detection and travel to Korea. But that will be more difficult to do if you, for example, stay in Korea for more than a month and attend a school or get a job. The only likely way this will change is through litigation, especially because it would be a political suicide for a Korean legislator to touch this issue. Until the situation is resolved differently, if you are a male between the ages of 18 and 37, born to parents who are/were Korean citizens, the Korean would highly recommend speaking with an attorney in Korea before you make a mid- to long-term stay in Korea.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.