Advertising your illegal activities on Facebook is dumb

I’m not going to talk too much about the legal/political implications of the case because the whole thing is just moronic. Basically, a bunch of dumb foreigners advertised a home poker game on Facebook. Someone ratted them out to the police, and two of the players who were arrested tested positive for drugs.

Legally, only foreigners can gamble in South Korea; however, the gambling must be done inside a casino. Private games are technically illegal, but carry no fines or jail time. The foreigners in question are accused of running a gambling ring. Whether they’re guilty isn’t for me to say. There are too many sources reporting too many different things about the case, and expat blogs are no less guilty of sensationalism than the Korean media.

What is clear to me, however, is the utter stupidity of the foreigners involved. The audio interview conducted by the Korean Media Watch does absolutely nothing to support their innocence. The female’s testimony reveals her complete and utter disregard for Korean culture. She claims that Koreans should be more understanding of American culture because Texas Hold ‘Em is a popular game in the States. Nevermind the fact that American laws are irrelevant in Korea. The male who hosted the poker game mentioned pictures of previous poker games hanging on his wall. That’s not going to do much to convince the Korean police that he isn’t hosting his own private casino. The final nail in the coffin comes from the second man interviewed, who mentions that he plays poker professionally, in clear violation of his E-2 visa.

It’s too soon to say whether the group is guilty. Judging by my past interactions with teachers from Seoul, I highly doubt their innocence. In my experience, it seems that teachers fight for jobs in Seoul so that they can shield themselves from Korean culture with a human barrier made up of other foreign teachers. It’s a hasty generalization that’s partially supported by the idiocy of the foreigners in the interview clip.

One thing I can say for certain is that there is no such thing as privacy on the Internet, especially on Facebook. You shouldn’t be doing anything illegal in the first place, but advertising your illegal activity on Facebook is just asking for trouble. Check your privacy settings, and don’t add people you don’t know personally to your friends list.

Keep an eye on the expat blogs to see how the story ultimately develops.

Source: The Soju Sonsangnim

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