Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Koreans happy with Obama selection
Although I've never thought of Barack Obama as an African American, Koreans, particularly those with dark skins and who are immigrants do:
- “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. . . “
- “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.”
Labels: Barack Obama, Korean immigrants, Koreans
# posted by Norma : 11/18/2008 05:03:00 PM
