hankyoreh

Uzbek students enrolled in Hanshin University’s Korean Language Institute are driven to Incheon International Airport on Nov. 27. (still from video provided by Hanshin University)

A video obtained by the Hankyoreh on Tuesday provided evidence that while Hanshin University was constraining students from Uzbekistan enrolled in its Korean language school to leave the country last month, it threatened that they would “have to go to jail” if they went to the local immigration office in Pyeongtaek.

The video in question was taken on the bus to Incheon International Airport on Nov. 27 after staff at the Hanshin University language school boarded Uzbek students onto the bus by falsely claiming they had to go to immigration to pick up their residence cards.

Legal professionals who reviewed the footage unanimously agreed that the actions by school staff constituted serious issues in legal terms.

In the video, an individual who appears to be an employee affiliated with the language school can be seen telling the Uzbek students, “If we go to the Pyeongtaek Office of Immigration, you’ll have to go to jail.”

“Based on discussions by the director of our international relations team, the [language school] director, myself, and all of you, we’re going to go to Incheon Airport and leave ahead of time [back to Uzbekistan],” they continue.

The footage ends with the teacher saying, “We’re now going to collect all of your cell phones. Please turn your cell phone over to the security personnel next to you.”

The video, which was taken surreptitiously from one Uzbek student’s seat, does not explicitly show images of the events taking place on the bus. It only records the voices of the Korean staff member and the Uzbek interpreter.

On the morning of Nov. 27, 23 Uzbek nationals studying at the Hanshin University language school boarded the bus after the school advised them that they needed to “go to the immigration office to pick up residence cards.” Contrary to what they were told, however, the bus did not go to the immigration office: after a stop to pick up private security company personnel at Byeongjeom Station in Hwaseong, it headed immediately to Incheon International Airport.

Upon arrival at the airport, the instructor and security company employees had 22 of the students — not including one who appealed on grounds of health issues — board a pre-booked flight back to Uzbekistan.

In response to the outcry over the en masse expulsion from the country, Hanshin University said it had “advised [the students] to leave the country due to concerns about their sojourns being classified as illegal.”

But legal experts who viewed the video saw the situation differently.

“You can’t interpret it as voluntary on the part of those involved when [the school] forces their choice by effectively presenting them with only one option, without providing adequate information,” insisted attorney Choi Jeong-gyu of the law firm Wongok.

Kim Ji-rim, an attorney with the GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation, said, “Not only did the school provide false information, but they even enlisted the services of private security company employees after getting [the students] to board the bus.”

“This was essentially imprisonment, and actions like that are classified as ‘special intimidation,’” she explained.

“Given that the school engaged in these actions for the sake of its own interests, it could even be viewed as abduction for the purpose of overseas transportation,” she added.

The explanation that Hanshin University gave the students at the time was also contrary to the facts in many respects.

While many of them did indeed fail to meet the certified bank balance standard for their sojourn status, this did not mean that they had lost their sojourn status or were subject to being placed in custody at the time. In other words, even if they had reported to the Office of Immigration, there would have been no grounds for placing them in what the school described as “jail” (custody).

In cases where students lose their sojourn status, the policy of the Ministry of Justice-affiliated immigration office with jurisdiction over their locale is to advise them to leave the country voluntarily.

Kim Ji-rim said, “It’s harder to find examples that actually are true from among the information that the school provided to those students on the bus.”

After the Embassy of Uzbekistan in South Korea began investigating the situation, Hanshin University provided an edited video that omitted problematic footage.

Indeed, a previous video that Hanshin University sent to the Hankyoreh during its investigation of the story omitted the moments when the students were told they would “have to go to jail” and when their phones were confiscated. Instead, it only showed images of students smiling and laughing as they boarded the bus — which they believed at the time was taking them to the immigration office — and of a language school employee telling them there was a “problem with your bank balance certificates.”

The following is a transcript of the employee’s remarks:

Employee: “So, the thing is that if we go to the Pyeongtaek Office of Immigration, you’ll have to go to jail.

Based on discussions by the director of our international relations team, the director, myself, and all of you, we’re going to go to Incheon Airport and leave ahead of time.

Then, in another three months, you’ll have to come back with a full bank balance.

If you don’t comply with this, we’ll just go to the office of immigration, and you’ll be kept in jail until you’re forcibly deported.

You won’t be able to return to the Republic of Korea.

It pains me to say this, but we hope you’ll comply with these restrictions now by going to Uzbekistan and then coming back.

We’re now going to collect all of your cell phones. Please turn your cell phone over to the security personnel next to you.”

By Lee Jun-hee, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]