Seoul to Improve Work, Life for Foreigners?

Digital Chosunilbo (English Edition) : Seoul to Improve Work, Life for Foreigners

The plan will create three types of zones and provide tailored services for foreign residents by 2008.

Four business zones will offer improved environments for international businesses, six global villages will make residential life easier for foreigners and five culture exchange zones will offer enhanced attractions for visitors.

"The zones will be developed as areas where foreigners who cannot speak Korean can live and work without difficulty," a city official said.

Does anyone besides me find this a little unsettling? Were the toppling of the Berlin wall and the ending of apartheid in South Africa, which we consider progressive successes, moving in this direction or away? Will this improve day-to-day relations between Koreans and foreigners, or promote increased interaction to face social issues?

How strictly will these zones be demarcated? If I have a shop 10 meters outside the zone will I still need to provide foreigner-friendly service? If I move into an apartment one block outside the zone will my landlord have any obligation to translate documents for me?

I'll have to "call home" and see what my Korean friends think about this. I'm not sure I can call it a good idea.