London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

History of scapegoating English teachers

English language teachers are never out of the press for long. Most recently there’s the Canadian paedophile who was teaching in Korea, and then a fairly familiar story about teachers being busted for smoking cannabis. The thing that struck me most about the cannabis story is the price. I knew that English teaching in Korea is meant to be relatively well-paid, but this guy seemed to be rolling in it:

The teacher is said to have smoked the drug five to six times a week. The teacher also allegedly bought from W2 million to W30 million worth of hashish, enough for 20 uses, and resold or gave it to other instructors and his Korean girlfriend.

I’m assuming that there’s a stray zero in the above quote. Otherwise, doing the maths, if he’s smoking the good stuff, he’s spending up to $7,500 a week on his recreation. Even at $750 per week, that’s one expensive habit1.

Anyway, in another outstanding post over at Popular Gusts – a 9,000+ word essay – Matt gives you A brief history of scapegoating English teachers in Korea.

See also: Foreign English Teachers = Criminals over at the Party Pooper

  1. A bit of research into the UK street prices reveals a cost of up to $150 an ounce, which according to one online resource, at half a gram per joint, and there being 28 grams in an ounce, would give you say 50 smokes. Other sources are more generous with the stuff, suggesting 1-2 grams per smoke, ie an ounce should give you at least 10 smokes. Whatever way you look at it, getting high is expensive in Korea []

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