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47 tHE tHrEE wisE monKEys: tHE most dangErous Expats in KorEa Though English news is a big business in Korea, its revenue is sourced from Korean readership, meaning that stories are tailored for Korean consumers. The consequence of this setup is that for a long time there were few or no options for the growing foreign population to learn about local news — that is, until The Three Wise Monkeys website came along. The independent media outlet began publishing stories online in 2010 and gathered a large following with their breaking news stories that the English Korean publications had missed or ignored. tHE mEnacE of ‘forEign pEril’ mEdia In May 2012, a major Korean network ran a TV report titled “The shocking reality of relationships with foreigners.” The program accused foreign men of being creeps, and Korean women of being too easily seduced by foreign cads. A blogger posted the video along with English subtitles to his site Scroozle.com, and within one month he had garnered 8,000 angry supporters. Expats spoke out about what they felt was an inaccurate portrayal, seeking to contrast what they felt were biased claims on Korean TV. suicidE: mEdia must bE rEsponsiblE Media has a big role to play in a society’s stance on issues such as suicide, which is an especially sensitive topic in Korea. Research has shown that the more details that are reported on specifc suicides, the greater the chance that copycat acts will occur. Thirty years ago, Korea had a low suicide rate, and its growth in the decades since can be attributed to the country’s high expectations from its citizens resulting in ferce competition for jobs, honors and status. But as Daniel Tudor writes, “The Korean media is hardly innocent. … With the highest rate of suicide in the world, Korea should take extreme measures on how it is reported in the media.” can publish, and what people want to read, is actually quite narrow, considering their goal of selling “mass” media to a large population. Selling massive amounts of information to people does not involve deviating from the most commonly held notions by the target audience on the subject. So even though you might want more exposés on hookers and love motels, you won’t get them in the dailies because, at least at the time of writing, hook- ers and love motels aren’t part of any national narrative or trend. (Except at Groove Korea, which is all about hookers and love motels. We always have your interests at heart.) Korean media, save for Groove and a few others, aren’t targeting non-Koreans in Korea because it’s not a large enough group to be marketed to on a massive scale — and likely never will be. So what has changed in the last decade in Korea’s English media landscape? Groove exists, as does 10 and SEOUL magazines. For now. Those publications will only be around for as long as their editors want them to be, as Korean publishers have not pursued sustainable business models for newspapers or news magazines that make content just for Korea’s 100,000-plus English-speaking non-Koreans. The best English content on Korea is proba- bly delivered via non-profit-seekers: blogs like the Marmot’s Hole, Gusts of Popular Feeling, The Grand Narrative and many others. What they write about is largely what you won’t find on A1 in the dailies — sometimes you won’t find it anywhere. There are also some excellent independent media outlets in Korea, such as The Three Wise Monkeys and Asia Pundits. What non-Koreans want is news about Ko- rea — without the aforementioned bullshit, propaganda and advertorial distractions. Will someone ever deliver that in print in mass-scale? Don’t hold your breath. Story by Matthew Lamers, Insight editor / Photos by Dylan Goldby, Matthew Lamers and Todd Sharp / Sidebar by Emilee Jennings 02.2012 07.2012 09.2013