Obama's win inspires hope for N. Koreans, immigrants in S. Korea

By Kim Hyun & Kim Boram
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- Barack Obama's election as the first black U.S.
president brought new hope for change an ocean away in South Korea on Wednesday,
inspiring migrant workers and North Koreans looking to make greater inroads into
this largely homogeneous society.

"African-Americans were once slaves and were called 'talking beasts' in the U.S.
Now one of them has become the U.S. president," said Pastor Park Cheon-eung, the
Korean head of the Ansan Migrant Workers Center in southern Seoul.
"In Korea, those who come from Southeast Asia are looked down upon because they
come from poorer countries and they are dark-skinned. I trust this historic event
will make a difference. Koreans will change, and migrant workers will have a
higher self-esteem."
Skin color deeply affects the way the one million migrant workers residing in
Korea are treated. Those from China, Vietnam, the Philippines and some African
countries generally hold low-paying, labor-intensive jobs in and around
industrial complexes and are looked down upon, while white North Americans are
usually welcomed as English teachers and business consultants.
"As a minority in Korea, I welcome Obama, a minority in the U.S.," said Maung
Zaw, 39, a Myanmarese democracy activist who recently received refugee status in
Korea.
"I don't think the U.S. and the world will change overnight after Obama comes to
power. But I trust this is a symbol, opening doors for minorities in the long
term."
Seeing Obama in the White House will also be an inspiration to the many North
Korean defectors for whom political representation is still a long way off.
A North Korean defector made the first-ever attempt among his compatriots to bid
for a parliamentary seat in April, but he failed to get candidacy as the
conservative Grand National Party picked a native South Korean rival.
The number of North Korean defectors recently reached 14,000. The Seoul
government provides them with subsidies and residential incentives, but many
continue to be treated as second-class citizens.
"My expectations from Obama are that...we North Koreans are a minority here but
some of us can also become lawmakers and politicians some day," said Kim
Yoon-hee, 30, a Hankuk University of Foreign Studies professor who defected from
North Korea in 2000. "Why shouldn't we? There's no law that prohibits us."
Obama has said he is willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in person,
and was generally seen as being more able to successfully help the reclusive state
rejoin the international community than his hardline Republican rival John McCain.
But McCain still enjoyed support from older North Korean defectors who perceived
Obama as too naive to handle Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship.
"When Obama comes to power, the U.S. will get closer to North Korea, and that
will give Kim Jong-il more time to revel in power," said Han Jong-gu, director of
the Federation of Artistic And Cultural Organizations of Korea, a group of North
Korean artist defectors in Seoul
"Our hope is Kim Jong-il's exit," he said, "So we don't like Obama winning the
election."
Korean optimism for Obama showed in a recent survey in which 47 percent approved
of the Democrat, compared to the 29 percent who supported McCain. Eight years of
conservative rule by the Bush administration has instilled negative sentiment
among many Koreans, and Seoul's controversial agreement in April to resume
imports of U.S. beef and the recent battle to manage the fallout of the U.S.-led
financial crisis have only stoked frustration.
"Like in the U.S., Bush was deeply unpopular in Korea," said Han Gui-young, head
researcher of the Korea Society Opinion Institute, a leading opinion research
center in Seoul that conducted the survey this week.
"Such repulsion against Bush streamed into support for Obama and a call for a
change in the U.S. administration."
hkim@yna.co.kr
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)
By Kim Hyun & Kim Boram
SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- Barack Obama's election as the first black U.S.
president brought new hope for change an ocean away in South Korea on Wednesday,
inspiring migrant workers and North Koreans looking to make greater inroads into
this largely homogeneous society.
"African-Americans were once slaves and were called 'talking beasts' in the U.S.
Now one of them has become the U.S. president," said Pastor Park Cheon-eung, the
Korean head of the Ansan Migrant Workers Center in southern Seoul.
"In Korea, those who come from Southeast Asia are looked down upon because they
come from poorer countries and they are dark-skinned. I trust this historic event
will make a difference. Koreans will change, and migrant workers will have a
higher self-esteem."
Skin color deeply affects the way the one million migrant workers residing in
Korea are treated. Those from China, Vietnam, the Philippines and some African
countries generally hold low-paying, labor-intensive jobs in and around
industrial complexes and are looked down upon, while white North Americans are
usually welcomed as English teachers and business consultants.
"As a minority in Korea, I welcome Obama, a minority in the U.S.," said Maung
Zaw, 39, a Myanmarese democracy activist who recently received refugee status in
Korea.
"I don't think the U.S. and the world will change overnight after Obama comes to
power. But I trust this is a symbol, opening doors for minorities in the long
term."
Seeing Obama in the White House will also be an inspiration to the many North
Korean defectors for whom political representation is still a long way off.
A North Korean defector made the first-ever attempt among his compatriots to bid
for a parliamentary seat in April, but he failed to get candidacy as the
conservative Grand National Party picked a native South Korean rival.
The number of North Korean defectors recently reached 14,000. The Seoul
government provides them with subsidies and residential incentives, but many
continue to be treated as second-class citizens.
"My expectations from Obama are that...we North Koreans are a minority here but
some of us can also become lawmakers and politicians some day," said Kim
Yoon-hee, 30, a Hankuk University of Foreign Studies professor who defected from
North Korea in 2000. "Why shouldn't we? There's no law that prohibits us."
Obama has said he is willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in person,
and was generally seen as being more able to successfully help the reclusive state
rejoin the international community than his hardline Republican rival John McCain.
But McCain still enjoyed support from older North Korean defectors who perceived
Obama as too naive to handle Pyongyang's nuclear brinkmanship.
"When Obama comes to power, the U.S. will get closer to North Korea, and that
will give Kim Jong-il more time to revel in power," said Han Jong-gu, director of
the Federation of Artistic And Cultural Organizations of Korea, a group of North
Korean artist defectors in Seoul
"Our hope is Kim Jong-il's exit," he said, "So we don't like Obama winning the
election."
Korean optimism for Obama showed in a recent survey in which 47 percent approved
of the Democrat, compared to the 29 percent who supported McCain. Eight years of
conservative rule by the Bush administration has instilled negative sentiment
among many Koreans, and Seoul's controversial agreement in April to resume
imports of U.S. beef and the recent battle to manage the fallout of the U.S.-led
financial crisis have only stoked frustration.
"Like in the U.S., Bush was deeply unpopular in Korea," said Han Gui-young, head
researcher of the Korea Society Opinion Institute, a leading opinion research
center in Seoul that conducted the survey this week.
"Such repulsion against Bush streamed into support for Obama and a call for a
change in the U.S. administration."
hkim@yna.co.kr
brk@yna.co.kr
(END)