There has been growing disquiet among the resident multinational community that in recent years a significant number of foreigners have appeared in the media, apparently willingly, to discuss the good things about Korean life, while carefully avoiding saying anything bad.
"We've all found ourselves in a position where we've been questioned by Koreans and given them the answer they want to hear", admitted a senior member of AFIK, 36 year-old Smith, "it's simply a matter of survival. However, recently it's been suggested from the frequency certain foreigners are appearing in the media espousing the advantages of Korean culture, that they may be doing so willingly rather than through coercion."
But Smith doesn't want to point fingers prematurely. "When Korea is liberated we want to sit down with the post-liberation Government and look carefully at who has done what, and who has said what, on a case by case basis. There may be trials, but unlike the current prosecutions of foreigners, these will be done strictly with regard to Rule of Law."
However, former head of the Seoul International University psychology faculty, 62-year-old Kim, speaking from the United States yesterday, urged foreigners in Korea to be cautious. He believes that many foreigners have succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological phenomenon where hostages express adulation for their captors. "They may need counseling and in some cases, deprogramming." said the former professor. "Under the severe stress of the consequences of upsetting anyone locally they can probably no longer tell right from wrong."
Smith promised to be sympathetic to those foreigners accused of collaborating post-liberation, but said that a line had to be drawn somewhere. "The less resistant they become the harder it makes it for the rest of us." AFIK is already rumored to have already identified 30 ringleaders in the so-called 'Vichy Foreigner' movement.
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Stockholm Syndrome
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