{"id":61183,"date":"2023-11-08T17:50:32","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T22:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=61183"},"modified":"2023-11-08T17:50:32","modified_gmt":"2023-11-08T22:50:32","slug":"english-language-flap-in-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu\/nll\/?p=61183","title":{"rendered":"English language flap in Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Korea Times (11\/6\/23):<\/p>\r\n

Ihn says he was 'very disappointed' after ex-leader Lee spoke to him in English<\/a><\/p>\r\n

(Yonhap)<\/p>\r\n

Before you read the article, it's unlikely that you could begin to surmise what the commotion is all about.<\/p>\r\n

The American Korean chief of the ruling People Power Party (PPP)'s innovation committee said Monday he was \"very disappointed\" that former party leader Lee Jun-seok treated him as a foreigner by speaking to him in English during a weekend event.<\/p>\r\n

Committee Chairman Ihn Yo-han<\/a>, who was born and raised in Korea, can speak perfect Korean. Still, however, Lee spoke to him in English during an event in the southeastern city of Busan on Saturday in what some critics described as racist behavior.<\/p>\r\n

Ihn, a medical doctor, took over as the PPP's innovation chief in charge of reforms last month. He has since tried to patch up internal feuds in the party, including Lee's badly frayed relations with party leaders close to President Yoon Suk Yeol.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

After being repeatedly denied a meeting with Lee, Ihn traveled all the way to Busan in the hopes of seeing him. But Lee gave him a cold response, speaking in English from the podium to Ihn, seated in the audience.<\/p>\r\n

\"Mr. Linton, I wasn't expecting you,\" Lee said during the event, addressing Ihn by his American name, John Linton, instead of his Korean name.<\/p>\r\n

Lee said he spoke in English because, \"You became one of us, but you don't look like one of us.\"<\/p>\r\n

Can you imagine how Korean-Americans in the United States would react to that kind of language?<\/p>\r\n

\"The real patient is in Seoul. You need to go talk to him. He needs the pill,\" Lee said in what the local media interpreted as a reference to President Yoon.<\/p>\r\n

Ihn quipped in Korean, \"He appears to be speaking better English than me.\"<\/p>\r\n

On Monday, Ihn expressed disappointment.<\/p>\r\n

\"Lee Jun-seok talked to me in English. I was very disappointed,\" Ihn said in a radio interview. \"It was hard being treated as a foreigner.\"<\/p>\r\n

…<\/p>\r\n

This story has been all over the Korean news, as the PPP are fighting amongst themselves in\u00a0the most amusing way. Ihn Yo-han has received mostly positive attention as a quick-witted American-Korean with a Jeolla-do<\/a> (southwestern) accent, but an internecine fight came to a head with Lee Jun-seok insulting him and other\u00a0party figures in English.<\/p>\r\n

Ihn's reply of \"yeong-eoleul jeoboda jalhasineyo \uc601\uc5b4\ub97c \uc800\ubcf4\ub2e4 \uc798\ud558\uc2dc\ub124\uc694\" (\"He speaks English better than me\") is hilarious, combining the surprisal suffix -\ub124 with the honorific suffix -\uc2dc referring to Lee and the humble form \uc800 for himself.<\/div>\r\n
\u00a0<\/div>\r\n
Korean report and video of incident<\/a>.<\/div>\r\n
\u00a0<\/div>\r\n
The English comments had to be translated back into Korean for the news audience.<\/div>\r\n
\u00a0<\/div>\r\n
\r\n
\u00a0<\/div>\r\n
Selected readings<\/b><\/div>\r\n