

By Lee Jin-a

Prof. Park Jae-kwang from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison / Courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison





A Korea-born professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is under fire in his homeland for his sexist and racist remarks in a lecture at Ewha Womans University last week.

Prof. Park Jae-kwang gave the lecture as a guest speaker on Dec. 8. According to students, the professor criticized massive anti-government rallies held across Korea for weeks with racist comments.

He allegedly said: "The people, who are apt to protest, are the problem. Asians are too emotional. They cry and protest easily."

The comment was leaked online by students who collected recordings of his controversial remarks.

The professor also wrongly accused the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the nation's two umbrella unions, as the main force behind the rallies that drew 2.3 million nationwide on Dec. 3.

The professor also made discriminating comments against women.

He allegedly said: "If you do not want to prey on your husband, go to America and live there.

"You can prove your abilities in the U.S. but you will prey on your husband in Korea."

The speaker also asked the students to raise their hands if they wanted to "live off" their husbands.

The professor's provocative comments also upset certain religious believers.

He attacked Christians, saying, "When Christians face obstacles in their lives, they blame God for not giving them wings instead of trying on their own."

After the lecture, Park did not take questions from students or allow any to speak up against him.

Some upset students left the room before his lecture was finished.





A Facebook post by an Ewha Womans University student shows her demand for Prof. Park Jae-kwang to apologize.

/ Courtesy of Facebook



A student surnamed Ahn said on her Facebook Monday that she gathered signatures from 659 fellow students requesting an official apology from the professor and made a written complaint to the university's administration office.

Ahn said Prof. Park Seok-soon of the school's Environmental Science Department made an official apology on Monday for inviting the Wisconsin professor.

"I think Prof. Park Jae-kwang may have not recognized the changing times because he has stayed in the U.S. (for a long time)," Prof. Park Seok-soon told the students.

"When I reviewed his class materials before his guest lecture, I thought there was no issue in the content.

"But there was a problem in his lecture. I truly apologize to the students."

Prof. Park Jae-kwang has not issued any official statement yet.

Prof. Park Jae-kwang is from the U.S. school's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.

After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at Yonsei University in 1977 and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering at Seoul National University in 1979, he earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the U.K., in 1985.

He joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988.