[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR]Biased standards in media

I am dismayed at how the Korean media seems to take delight in presenting articles decidedly anti-Western in opinion. Not long ago in a TV report about the woes of Korean people getting fat, the conclusion was it is the result of evil American fast food. Film footage exclusively showed McDonald’s.
No mention of Korean habits of their children sitting for hours in front of the TV or computer screen. No mention of Lotteria and its french fries and other grease-filled food. Not one mention of ddokpokki, fried vegetables, sausages or any of the other fatty foods found on the street vendors’ cart. No, blame McDonald’s for all the woes.
In the article regarding the “bellhop” turned professor, the media have had a wonderful time trying to out-do each other in slamming the foreign community. This paper gave us his name, his age, his employment place and much more. Another newspaper told us of marijuana abuse. It failed to mention that he probably ran a brothel, is a practicing Illuminati member and might be implicated in the JFK assassination.
Compare this to an article appearing in your newspaper today of a Korean man being charged: “The other group was organized by a 22-year-old man who has been working in Gangneung City Hall in lieu of military duty, the prosecutors said. Conspiring with 15 friends, the man allegedly made fraudulent auto insurance claims totaling nearly 140 million won.” He is Korean and so we must consider his situation here in Korea. I know. I have heard it all before.
I am in no way supporting the fake professor and he deserves punishment for what he has done. My difficulty lies with the Korean news media’s application of fairness to all communities in this country.

by David Woelke