QUOTE(By Kim Tong-hyung @ KoreaTimes.co.kr)
Some Internet cafes near Kangwon National University in Chunchon, Kangwon Province, are refusing entrance to Chinese students, touching off a heated debate over ethnic discrimination.
Chung, who owns an internet cafe near the Chunchon school, posted a sign in front of his shop that reads ``Chinese students forbidden’’ earlier this month.
``When Chinese students use our computers, they change the language applications on the Internet browsers so they can read Chinese characters. This is causing disruption among Korean students who have Chinese Web sites popping up whenever they log in to the Internet and it takes us time to renew the applications again,’’ said Park.
``There are also times when we have to take care of computer viruses spread from the Chinese sites or deal with pop-up sites that spread malicious programs, which sometimes force us to reformat,’’ he said.
Another Internet cafe owner, identified only as Kim, also bans Chinese students from entering his shop.
``Most Internet cafes, commonly called as ``PC bangs,’’ in this area have computers with protection programs that block unauthorized programs and allow computers to restore to earlier settings after rebooting. So there is a lot to do after Chinese students use the computers and mess up the settings,’’ said Kim.
With Korea having one of the world’s highest Internet penetration rates, PC bangs here have become common establishments where youngsters gather to play computer games or download music and video files.
Internet cafes are also commonly used by college students who don’t have personal computers, which includes many foreign students studying here. Korean universities base a large part of their curriculum on Internet-based studying methods such as online tests and Web broadcasts of lectures.
However, most university students seem to be calling the decision by the Internet cafes to ban Chinese students excessive.
``It is absurd that the Internet cafes fail to install programs on their computers that will protect the machines from malicious programs and blame their lack of readiness on the Chinese students using the computers,’’said Lee, a 30-year-old Chinese student studying veterinary science at Kangwon University.
Chung, who owns an internet cafe near the Chunchon school, posted a sign in front of his shop that reads ``Chinese students forbidden’’ earlier this month.
``When Chinese students use our computers, they change the language applications on the Internet browsers so they can read Chinese characters. This is causing disruption among Korean students who have Chinese Web sites popping up whenever they log in to the Internet and it takes us time to renew the applications again,’’ said Park.
``There are also times when we have to take care of computer viruses spread from the Chinese sites or deal with pop-up sites that spread malicious programs, which sometimes force us to reformat,’’ he said.
Another Internet cafe owner, identified only as Kim, also bans Chinese students from entering his shop.
``Most Internet cafes, commonly called as ``PC bangs,’’ in this area have computers with protection programs that block unauthorized programs and allow computers to restore to earlier settings after rebooting. So there is a lot to do after Chinese students use the computers and mess up the settings,’’ said Kim.
With Korea having one of the world’s highest Internet penetration rates, PC bangs here have become common establishments where youngsters gather to play computer games or download music and video files.
Internet cafes are also commonly used by college students who don’t have personal computers, which includes many foreign students studying here. Korean universities base a large part of their curriculum on Internet-based studying methods such as online tests and Web broadcasts of lectures.
However, most university students seem to be calling the decision by the Internet cafes to ban Chinese students excessive.
``It is absurd that the Internet cafes fail to install programs on their computers that will protect the machines from malicious programs and blame their lack of readiness on the Chinese students using the computers,’’said Lee, a 30-year-old Chinese student studying veterinary science at Kangwon University.