English teachers gathered Sunday at the Canadian Embassy in Seoul to discuss their negative portrayal in Korean news media.

Delegates from the expatriate community, including law professor at Kyunghee University Ben Wagner, member of the Presidential Committee for Nation Branding Michael Hurt, and bloggers Robert Ouwehand and Matt Van Volkenburg sat on the panel at the discussion.

The panel discussed the Korean news media and its frequent portrayal of English teachers in a negative light, arguing that it used the expat community as a scapegoat for the emotional social tension of the Korean English education system.

(rjmlee@heraldcorp.com)