Note: Please understand that I am providing this to you from my perspective to the best of my ability. I have included links to newspaper articles on the information presented here. I highly encourage you to read them for yourself to avoid any misunderstanding in this regard.

We are sending this mail to bring to our members attention information about an anti-English teacher group operating in Korea. This group goes by the name of Anti-English Spectrum. This group has been in existence for some time now and has been noted for various activities including:

1. Stalking English Teachers. In some cases they have followed a single teacher or group of teachers for up to 3 months at a time. Their goal is to catch this person(s) in an illegal act. They then contact immigration and have them deported.
2. Maintaining a cafe style forum on Naver.com. On this website they post pictures and other information about teachers they are 'following'.

You can read more about this group in Korean Herald articles here:

Systematically stigmatizing foreign English teachers
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/11/20/200911200005.asp
Blurring line between hate, free speech
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/11/20/200911200006.asp


ATEK considers AES to be a racist hate group. Why? In addition to the above they also place information on their forum about:

1. The foreign teacher plan to spread AIDS to as many Korean women as possible through rape or forced sex.
2. The foreign teacher plan to sexually molest as many children and teenagers in our care as possible.
3. Posters depicting foreign teachers as 'black pigs'.
4. Diagrams of foreign teachers brains portrayed to depict us as sexual predators.

Korea Times article on this here:
English Teachers Fight Naver Over Racial Blog
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/11/117_55532.html

Many would think that a group of this nature would be in a marginalized part of society. In this case that is not true. Here's some examples:

AES:
1. Has received awards from the National Police Service for their work in 'exposing' foreigner teacher crime in Korea.
2. Is invited to high level government meetings with senior members of various ministries.

AES has been proven to provide false statistics about foreign teachers to the government. An example of this is the recent (2007) changes to E-2 visa regulations requiring drug and disease testing. 

In early 2007 the head of AES was invited to a high level meeting of leaders in the Immigration office. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the visa regulations for foreigners. It was at this meeting the AES provided statistics to Immigration purporting to show that 80% of foreigners tested at the Incheon AIDS/HIV testing clinic in 2006 were positive. Based on this information the Immigration office enacted the new rules requiring drug and medical testing.

These false 'statistics' are now being used to make the case to the Korean National Assembly to pass a bill creating the legal basis to justify the visa regulations. This time with a twist. AES is now presenting the 'statistics' to national assembly members as being from 2008, same clinic.

The above is news to the clinic in question. They adamantly maintain that they never have or would provide this information to AES. In addition, the clinic wasn't located in incheon in 2008. It moved in 2006.

You can read more about the above and an attempt to get the AES cafe forum shut down in a Korean Herald newspaper article here:
Blurring line between hate and free speech (link also given above)
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/archives/result_contents.asp
Naver Rejects Calls For Closing 'Racial' Blog
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/include/print.asp?newsIdx=55811

As you can see in all the above referenced articles this is a 'hot and heavy' issue. ATEK has been involved with it for some time now including supporting the complaint against the visa regulations to the NHRCK earlier this year. In more recent times this issue has grown a little hot and heavy for us. Recently members of AES have started to send disgusting, threatening, and sometimes xenophobic emails to the more prominent leaders and national leadership of ATEK. This started about a week ago when one of their members sent emails to 10 ATEK associated email addresses containing death threats. Everyone receiving these mails has filed complaints with the police in their local areas hoping to press charges and prosecute the person(s) responsible. We know this is tied to AES because the emails have also appeared in their cafe forum blogs on Naver.com. The blog page has since been taken down.

Death Threat Leveled at ATEK
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/11/27/200911270005.asp

Death Threat Against ATEK President

http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/2009/11/death-threat-against-atek-president.html

We are INSTRUCTING all members to do the following:

1. Report any mails of this nature to your Metropolitan and/or Provincial Chairs immediately.
2. File police reports with your local departments and press charges. Depending on your individual situation we may have more instructions for you after you report the incident(s) to us.
3. DO NOT RESPOND. For several reasons: 1.) This is a serious crime in Korea, 2) Responding only hands them ammunition to use against you. Being an illegal act it may also get you deported.

Again, any Gyeonggi PMA members who receive mails of this nature report them to me personally immediately. If you wait I cannot guarantee that we can help you or (if you take the matter into your 'own hands') that we would even try.

Please let me know if anyone has questions or comments on this matter.

John Wurth
Presidet and Chair
Gyeonggi PMA- ATEK