Dear Jonathan,

I have edited the following. Thanks for your help and support.  

Sincerely, 




Dana
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Abuse by the Korean Government of Legal Foreign Workers!

I accuse the government of Korea for allowing and abetting the abuse of foreign
teachers and other foreigners legally working in Korea.

Korean officials know it is near-impossible for a foreign teacher of limited
financial means to receive justice in a Korean Court of Law.

Many Korean employers acknowledge privately that a Korean "contract" is merely
window-dressing to gain an entry visa. "Verbal agreements are, culturally, the
norm in Korea" is the way this injustice is explained.

Korean government programs to hire foreign English teachers are well-known for
abuses, as witnessed at a United States Embassy meeting for KORETTA and EPIK
teachers. To disguise the problem, the program's name constantly changes:
KORETTA, EPIK, and now  KEEPCO.

Korean Labor Laws are enforced arbitrarily. Illegal contracts are read and
accepted by Korean counsels around the world as trusting teachers apply for
visas to accept such contracts to teach in Korea. According to the Labor Laws,
when a contract contradicts the Korean Labor Laws, it is null and void - yet
visas are issued based on such null and void contracts.

Many Korean lawyers, prosecutors, judges are aware of the situation, as are
police officers, having benefited from the periodic Nazi-like cleansing,
round-up of "illegal foreign teachers", their heavy fines, and eventual
deportation.  Many of these teachers came to Korea legally and were forced into
working illegally because their Korean employers broke their contracts. Knowing
that the legal system would favor the employer, many ignored the laws to
survive.

I was one of the few - if not the only one - to pursue my case for two and a
half years and can thus testify and provide proof to my allegations. The
Pangbae Labor Office in Seoul appears to have accepted a bribe when offering me
an illegal settlement which penalized me two million won for quitting (unfair
dismissal is not "quitting").  Yet this same office refused my right to appeal.

The Eastern Seoul Labor Office found in my favor, fined MOON CHANG HO of SISA
and former part-owner of SYLVAN-SEOUL, only to allow a signed piece of paper,
undated, and purposely vague, and signed with a false signature, state he had
already paid me the very small fine.

Because of his arrogant boast:  "I don't have to obey any law," I have been
energized to continue this fight.  At the same time, my nephew was in the
United States Army, stationed by the DMZ, protecting Korea and Koreans.

I have been able to remain in Korea because I worked illegally and have two
passports - one of which was inaccessible to MOON.

I have spent more than US$2-3,000 and two and a half years of my life seeking
justice and financial compensation.  MOON CHANG HO of SISA/SYLVAN-SEOUL/VICE
PRESIDENT OF SEOUL'S HOGWON ASSOCIATION was found guilty by a labor office, by
a criminal court, and now, by the Seoul Small Claims Court, whic took *nine*
months to reach a decision. What did MOON CHANG HO have to pay? For the
criminal case, a one million won fee (US$1,200) to the government. The Small
Claims Court Judge said he should pay me a  "termination fee" that MOON claimed
he had already paid.

The judge refused to tell me the amount of that fee.

The judge refused to tell me his name.  (Han Keun Kim, presiding in the Seoul
Small Claims Court in Seoul, in Room 358).

The judge refused to consider that the paper MOON said was a receipt for this
"termination fee" was the same undated "receipt" he told the Labor Office was
the receipt for the Labor Office fine he was suppose to have paid me.  How can
one piece of paper cover so many expenses, especially when signed "Alice Under
Duress Walker," with the intention of making the paper legally null and void?

Local Koreans are shocked that I as a foreigner ever expected any justice from
the corrupt Korean legal system.

Korean schools, IMHO, should be banned from posting job openings on the
Internet because of their systematic and government protected human rights
abuses of foreigners.  I have filed a Human Rights Complaint with the USA
Embassy in Seoul.

Because the Korean government is so rife with corruption, I will institute a
class-action case against the government of Korea for intentional human rights
abuses. Please email me your stories: ad@walker.org



Ms. Alice Dana Walker
International Affairs Director, POSTECH, Pohang Korea
http://AD.Walker.org - for detailed
information on the case