My name is Daniel. I was an English teacher in Seoul, South Korea, and I am now a writer who has published three books including South Korea: Our Story by Daniel Nardini.

                           This happened long after I had left South Korea. In 2007, the South Korean government, under then leftist pro-North Korea, anti-western xenophobe Roh Myoo-hun, had enacted a very racist and very discriminatory policy of requiring all prospective English teachers to be tested for HIV. This was required for all westerners, but Koreans and Korean Americans were exempted. This definitely smacked of racism, and the issue was brought before the United Nations, which indeed did rule it as an act of racism. The United Nations has always recommended that this law be abolished, and I hope that the South Korean government will abolish it. At present, the South Korean government is looking at getting rid of the law. The danger here is that if the South Korean government does not abolish this, then the U.S. government under an in-coming Donald Trump administration might take retaliatory steps against all Koreans in the United States. They can range from being forced to sign on a national registry (which will cause all Koreans to be discriminated against), or the U.S. government may go back to the time when Koreans will be required to get visas to come to the United States. While any acts of discrimination may be fought against President Trump singling out any one specific group in court by civic and human rights organizations here, as president he still has a good deal of leeway to do what he wants. From what reports I have gathered, he already has it in against South Korea, and any perceived "slight" he sees may be used against the country and Koreans. As president, he has the power to make South Korea pay more for having U.S. troops on its soil, or he can totally trash the free trade agreement with South Korea (South Korea has a LOT to lose from this). All of this scares me, and it is truly terrifying to me what he might do to South Korea or Koreans (I am married to a Korean after all). Under these circumstances, I would urge the South Korean government to try and build a bridge to try and encourage President Trump NOT to take any action against South Korea and Koreans.