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PRESS RELEASE
For immediate releaseContact: Dann Gaymer, Communications DirectorMobile: 010-2335-4999, media@atek.or.krThe Association for Teachers of English in Koreawww.atek.or.kr/ (2009 October 30
th
)ATEK: Rising Foreign Sex Crime Rate Does Not ImplicateEnglish Teachers(Seoul, South Korea)—The Association for Teachers of English in Korea (ATEK) isissuing a response to reports that foreign sex crimes are on the rise and that E-2 visaregulations should be consequently tightened, suggesting that foreign English teacherscould be responsible for these acts.On October 20
th
the Korea Herald
i
reported that Ministry of Justice Representative WooYoon-keun stated, "Along with the crime rate of foreigners, the number of sexual crimescommitted by them is rapidly increasing"[…]"The police and prosecution should punishthem strictly, while taking measures for prevention."The data presented by Representative Woo shows sex crimes committed by foreignersover the past eight years, with a total of 1,289 cases. The most frequent crime committedwas rape, with 600 cases, followed by 433 cases of sexual molestation and 109 cases of sexual harassment in public places.On October 22
nd
the Korea Times
ii
reported that while the Ministry of Justice had statedit will ban foreigners found guilty of raping Korean children from re-entering KoreaRepresentative Lee Joo-young also urged the Ministry to tighten the rules on E-2 visaissuance, arguing that the current system provides too many opportunities for convictedforeigners to enter Korea.,ATEK finds it troubling that foreign teachers and E-2 visa regulations were mentioned ina discussion about the rape of Korean children by foreigners, yet no data was presented tosubstantiate this connection.Immigration statistics for 2008 show that out of the 1,175,420 foreign nationals registeredin Korea, 19,771 foreigners were registered as being on E-2 teaching visas. While theremay be an issue with sex crimes committed by foreigners on a whole range of visas,worryingly tougher checks are being specifically suggested for foreign teachers.If E-2 visa regulations are tightened as a consequence of rising sex crimes committedacross the whole foreigners community, not just the E-2 visa demographic, this would bea grave injustice to foreign English teachers, and not just the teachers of today but theteachers of tomorrow also.
 
Consider this scenario:Nine months from now there is a recent university graduate from one of the sevenEnglish speaking countries that E-2 teacher visas are currently issued to. He or she has just spent thousands of dollars and four years of their life on a university education, onlyto enter the world of work as one of many, at the bottom of an empty job market.With loans to pay back but no substantial prospects for employment their future looksrather bleak. Yet maybe they have heard about the ESL job market in Korea and howthey can earn a reasonable wage and enjoy a decent standard of living, whileexperiencing a different culture, in return for doing something positive with the next yearof their life, by teaching English to Korean students.
(ATEK 2009)
Then imagine the disappointment and frustration they find in the reality of trying toobtain an E-2 teaching visa, since the regulations had been further tightened. With aneven larger myriad of documents and checks required the whole process would havebecome even more expensive and time consuming.Our would-be teacher has done nothing wrong; in fact they have never even set foot onKorean soil. The teachers who had gone before them made up a mere fraction of theoverall foreign population in Korea and furthermore those teachers were for the most partresponsible and law abiding individuals (statistics released by Representative Lee Gun-hyeon
iii
on September 24
th
revealed that only 61 E-2 visa holders were arrested in the
of 00

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