The story of how Gerry Bevers was fired from a university teaching position for what basically amounts to having an unpopular opinion on a nationalist Korean issue has made the English language Korean press (H/T Matt). A post by Andy Jackson at The Marmot’s Hole has so far generated more than 400 comments on the issue, which also covers how the school is attempting, so far, to get out of paying Bevers the legally required amount of severance.

The Korea Times has published this article which is, in my opinion, rather damning for Gachon University of Medicine and Science. Some excerpts:

“I was informed late last month that my university would not be rehiring me as an English instructor due to my views on Dokdo,’’ said 51-year-old Gerry Bevers. Bevers has been working as an English instructor at Gachon University of Medicine and Science for the past six years. His one-year contract was renewed every year _ until this year.

The e-mail he received from the department head informing him of the decision was sent to him on Dec. 23.

It read: “ This morning, at a meeting attended by the president and the deans of the school, your contract problem was discussed, and it was decided that your contract would not be renewed. I think there is little doubt that the school made this decision because of the Dokdo problem. It also hurts me to have to relay this news.’’

[. . .]

In early November, the university announced an open recruitment system for new English instructors. The university needed to hire more teachers when it transformed into four-year university from a two-year college last year.

As a result, Bevers had to reapply for the position.

The dean of planning had told him that since he was a good teacher, he should not worry about the recruitment process, and the interview for getting rehired was just a formality, according to Bevers.

Not long after the announcement, he was called to the president’s office in mid-November. He thought the meeting was about his job, but it wasn’t. The president said that someone who saw Bevers’ writings on the Internet complained to the president, saying that it’s improper to hire such teacher in a school whose motto is “Humanity, Service and Patriotism.’’

“The president told me that I should stop writing about Dokdo on the Internet,’’ Bevers said about his meeting with the university president. “He gave me a history book that I appreciated. I told him that I wouldn’t write any more.’’

Bevers had an interview with the rehiring committee at the end of November.

About a month later, he was informed that he would not be rehired.

To find out the reason for the school’s decision, he went to the office of one of the administrators from the school from the rehiring committee. Bevers secretly recorded a conversation with the administrator, because he thought he might have to sue the school.

In the recording, the administrator said that although he had no problem with his teaching skills, the school’s dean of planning had said that the “Dokdo problem is too great’’ to rehire him and other members from the committee agreed.

[. . .]

Choi Mi-ri, the dean of planning of the university, flatly denied Bevers’ claim, saying that his view on Dokdo was not the reason the school refused to rehire him.

“Although we like Gerry very much, there were so many other good teachers who applied for the position. We made a decision based on objective evaluation on his teaching skills. As our school expanded, we thought it was time for a change,’’ Choi said.

The administrator from the school, who was recorded by Bevers, refused to comment. (emphasis added)

I’ll bet they did. Taping the conversation was a good idea, and clearly shows that the school is being dishonest in its public reason for letting him go. Bevers also put up a post with text from the school’s email, which mentioned his Dokdo opinion as the reason.

While I don’t agree with his position on Dokdo, Bevers should be able to express his opinion about it, especially since, according to him, he never expressed it in his classes at the university.

For someone who has lived in Korea for so long, however, I’m not sure why he didn’t see it coming.