Readings Expats neglected in Mers fight / Korea Herald

[풀빛(최봉실)]

Expats neglected in MERS fight

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150611001160

Published : 2015-06-11 20:48
Updated : 2015-06-12 11:50

The South Korean government is facing criticism for failing to pay due attention to the concerns of foreign residents here over the Middle East respiratory syndrome.

Puzzled by baseless rumors about the virus, expats have complained of a dearth of foreign-language information about the MERS-related situation, and how to avoid contact and whom to refer to for any anti-infection support.

Critics argue that the government’s lack of efforts to address expats’ concerns contradicts the government’s mantra of becoming a global, foreigner-friendly Korea, and its diplomatic efforts to promote trust in East Asia on nontraditional security challenges including transnational diseases.

“The (Korean) government hasn’t done anything to help foreigners. I haven’t seen any official English-language material (about MERS),” said Christopher Cashel Cordo from the U.S., an English teacher in Seoul, stressing the only official message he got from Korean authorities was in Korean.

“I think the government, in general, needs a task force or single public figure to offer frequent updates and information about the spread of the virus for the foreign population here,” he added, noting he had “no faith” in the Park Geun-hye administration with respect to his well-being.

Quarantine officials sterlize a subway station in Wangsimni, Seoul, Thursday. (Yoon Byung-chan/The Korea Herald)

As of April, there were over 1.4 million foreign residents registered in Korea.

MERS-related information on the English website of Seoul’s Health Ministry was left largely neglected, while the Korean version of the website was updated minutes after the ministry’s daily briefing at 11 a.m.

Since the first MERS case was confirmed on May 20, the ministry has not posted any information about the virus in English or any other language until May 27.

Only on May 28, it posted a press release about the first confirmed patient and their containment efforts. Since then, there have been no updates until June 10.

The Korean “Hotline” for consultations on MERS was established on Monday. The idea to provide the service in English did not come until recently, with the service starting at 9 a.m. this Friday, coinciding with a timeframe pinpointed by the government officials as a turning point for MERS to start subsiding.

The Korea Herald tried to contact the ministry for comments, but no official was available.

The Korean government’s lack of attention to MERS fears among foreigners has also been a source of frustration for many foreign diplomatic missions.

They received an official government briefing about MERS at Seoul’s Foreign Ministry on Monday ― nearly 20 days after the first MERS case was confirmed.

“The threat of the virus was underestimated by the hospital in the initial stages. The Korean government had to get involved more actively as a result,” George Khabelashvili, minister counsellor of the Georgian Embassy, told The Korea Herald.

“Foreign service workers need to have full access to a wide range of information at any given moment because we need to inform our own citizens about ongoing situations in the country they are serving in.”

Conflicting information from different South Korean public entities has further confused foreign embassy staff here, Ignacio Lacunza, deputy head of mission at the Argentine Embassy in Seoul pointed out.

Fears about MERS were tangible among migrant workers, who have to work long hours without sufficient access to information.

“The workers go to work early in the morning and come back home at midnight. They have no time to access information through media though they are fluent in English,” said Shekh Al Mamun from Bangladesh, senior vice president of Migrants’ Trade Union.

“The Labor Ministry has a list of names and addresses of foreign residents. So why doesn’t it ask the migrants’ trade unions or factories to inform the foreigners? … It seems like the government does not care about us and has no plans to alleviate fears among foreigners.”

The Korean government’s failure to address foreign nationals’ concerns has called into question Seoul’s move to improve its international status and promote regional cooperation on non-political issues including transnational diseases and disaster relief.

“Control of diseases such as MERS is the representative topic in the realm of nontraditional security cooperation. Seoul has called for cooperation in that area,” said Kim Tae-hyun, an international politics professor at Chung-Ang University.

“But the lack of attention (to foreign residents) seems to indicate that the Korean government is retrogressing from the global trend of close cooperation on handling transnational diseases.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)

Yoon Min-sik, Ock Hyun-ju, Joel Lee and Paul Kerry contributed to this article. ―ED.

[풀빛(최봉실)]

I'm very sorry for our governmet's disability and irresponsibility.
Point :: 지난 4월부로 우리나라 거주 외국인이 1400만이래요. 근데 메르스 첫 환자 발생한 5월20일 이후, 5월27일까지 외국인들을 향한 공지가 전혀 안 되었구요. 5월 28일엔 첫 확진 환자 기사와 자신들의 억제 노력에 대해서만 딱 올리고, 6월 10일까지 전혀 업데이트를 안 했다네요. 그래서 외국인들을 전혀 고려하지 않는다는 불만을 전하는 기산데요. 그들이 서울 외교부에서 메르스 관련 공식 정부 브리핑을 받은 것은 첫 확진 환자 확인 20일 뒤였다고 해요. 아, 정말 우리가 어떤 대통령과 정부를 세운 건지, 정말 부끄럽고 안타깝기 그지없네요.

[권민지]

I am also so sorry about this.

[서정주맘]

These day, I thinking about this situration ,and asking to me.. where we go---? please, wake up! wake up!!
작문의 글들 잘 읽고, 미처 알지 못했던 정보도 알게 되었습니다..