What Is the Cause of Racism In Korea?

The Korea Herald has an editorial published that attempts to explain racism in Korea:

“We apologize, but due to Ebola virus we are not accepting Africans at the moment.”

This is what a bar in Itaewon, a popular area for expats and tourists in Seoul, publicly posted in front of its property last month.

The statement triggered thousands of angry comments online, both from expats and locals ― especially after the public learned of reports that the bar admitted a white person from South Africa, while banning almost all dark-skinned individuals, regardless of their nationalities.

The incident is likely to get attention from Mutuma Ruteere, the U.N. special rapporteur on racism. Ruteere is scheduled to visit Seoul later this month to monitor the situation of racial discrimination and xenophobia in Korea and will file a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council next year.

The incident is one of the growing number of racism cases in the country ― Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, a key manufacturing powerhouse in the region, as well as the producer of hallyu.

While the nation’s immigrant population continues to rise, Korean racism ― both structural and internalized ― is becoming a growing concern to the international community.

Complex nature of racism in Korea

Korean racism, however, must be understood differently from its Western cousin, experts say.

It is a complex product of the country’s colonial history, postwar American influence and military presence, rapid economic development as well as patriotism that takes a special pride in its “ethnic homogeneity,” according to professor Kim Hyun-mee from Yonsei University.  [Korea Herald]

You can read the rest at the link, but first of all I find it interesting with everything else going on in the world that the UN is going to send someone to investigate racism in Korea and actually issue a human rights report?  Korea definitely has some racism issues, but it has definitely improved over the years as Korea has become more globalized.  If this UN investigator wants to see really bad racism then he should head north of the border to North Korea.

Secondly in my opinion much of the remaining racism in Korea has to do with ignorance and perpetuating stereotypes than true hatred of someone of another race.  Really true hatred of someone of another race is mostly limited to the Japanese, if they can even be considered another race.  But maybe I am wrong and I look forward to other opinions on racism in Korea.