We have put off talking about this for a long time. We needed a chance to let the dust settle before writing about our experience last year. As many of you know, we taught in Seoul last year. We taught a private academy, or hagwon. We chose to live in the capital because of the convenience for foreigners and also because Seoul just seemed like such an interesting and fun place to live. And it was. However, our school situation left a lot to be desired. We ended up getting stuck in one of the infamous “Nightmare Hagwons.”
Our Nightmare Story
Upon first arriving to the school to greet the Director, we were introduced to some of the other foreign teachers as well. They pulled us aside and whispered frantically, “RUN.” Then they walked away like nothing had happened.
The Director then took us to our apartment. It was a single person apartment, and we were a couple, but that wasn’t the worst part. The hot water was broken, there was only a tiny twin bed, and no comforter. The hot water was the worst part because Korea uses “ondol” heating in the winter. Hot water is pumped under the floor and heats the apartment. Since there was no hot water we were stuck for over a week taking frozen showers and huddling for warmth in our 9 degree Celsius apartment.
We didn’t know what to think, but we toughed it out. We started hearing more from the other teachers about pay issues and that we should try to find another job. Our recruiter, however, was not returning our calls or emails.
We decided to try to make things work, mostly because we had no idea how to change schools and if we would have to leave the country and start all over again with paperwork and job searching.
Our first month pay was less than half of what was agreed upon. He gave us only 1 million of the 2.2 million won we were promised. Sadly, this was the largest lump amount we were given the entire time we were there. Most of the time he would just give anywhere between 30,000 – 200,000 won. This eventually led to us being more than 3 months behind on pay.
You can go to the Labor Board and file a complaint, but we knew that this had been done to him many times in the past, and nothing had come of it. The Director had also been sued more than 30 times. Still, he was allowed to continue his business and was not made to pay his teachers and the lawsuits amounted to virtually nothing, as he just lied and doctored documents to prove his innocence.
Over a year’s time, more than 60 teachers came and left the two schools that he owned. Most of them were Korean and had more rights than us. We were allowed to be in Korea because the Director paid for our one year visa. Make him mad, you go home.
Other issues were no overtime pay, no pension, no health insurance, and not getting our 10 days vacation. We really loved our students and I think that was one of the only things that kept us sane throughout that long year.
Somehow, we managed to finish our contract. Still to this day, we are owed our last month’s salary as well as our severance pay (equal to one month’s salary). Just around 8,000,000 won combined. We call the Director a few times every week, but since leaving in March he has paid us only around 200,000 won each.
What Can You Do If You Are In This Situation?
Contact Your Recruiter
The first thing you need to do is to contact your recruiter. They got you into this situation and perhaps they can get you a ew job asap. Our recruiter wasn’t answering emails and never got around to helping us out of the situation, but it is worth a shot nonetheless. Trust us, you do not want to be tied down to this job, so begin your journey to freedom with hounding your recruiter with phone calls and emails to see if they can do anything.
Post On LOFT
LOFT is the Legal Office for Foreign Teachers page on Facebook. This sort of thing happens a lot in South Korea and this page is a great sounding board of suggestions for ESL teachers who find themselves in particularly sticky situations in Korea. Things aren’t all hopeless, and there is a ton of advice to find there. Try using the search feature on the page to see if your particular problem has been previously addressed on the page.
Obtain a Letter of Release
Breaking your contract can be scary, but if the situation cannot be figured out amicably, it may be time to leave. In order to proceed to find another job in Korea, you’ll need to get your employer to give you a letter of release from your unfinished contract. As your visa is tied to your employer, you need to try to get him or her to give you a written letter of consent that you can seek employment elsewhere. This might be tricky, but it can be done. Check out this post to see how this brave teacher managed to gain her freedom!
Visa Switch
IF AND ONLY IF you are able to obtain a letter of release, you can then focus on switching your visa. If you can find a new job asap, you can simply do an E2 visa switch at the immigration office. No sweat. If you are struggling to find a job right off the bat, look into a D10 visa. This is a “looking for work visa” which allows you a six month grace period in the country in order to find a new job. You don’t have to leave and restart the expensive paperwork process all over again!
Tough It Out
Not always something you can do, but if you can tough it out, you can make contacts with people living in Korea who can hook you up with better hagwons or look into transferring to the public school program. Having a year of experience under your belt will help open a lot more doors for you. We had a pretty rough year of it, but we set our eyes on the prize and worked through it. After the year was up, we found some AMAZING jobs in the public school with the JLP program.
Midnight Run
Okay. Let’s set the record straight that we really only recommend this option if it is 100% necessary. High tailing it by packing up your bags and skipping the country mid contract looks bad on foreigners, even if it in no way is your fault for the less the human working conditions. Check out all the available resources at your disposal first before resorting to this final option.
Wow! I had no idea that you guys were going through that last year. I always tell newbies if they should get in a situation like that find the nearest and nicest Korean you can and make friends, or call me and my husband. Usually when owners realize you have Koreans that will support you or at the least berate them in their own language, things change. Though it sounds like he’s crap to the Korean staff as well? You do have options to get out and get out early, but yes, the info is certainly not readily available from managers or recruiters who get paid and will never talk to you again. It’s nice to know that you came back for another year even though you went through hell though. I hope your school now is much better.
We had a lot of Korean friends and they would yell at him for us… but to no avail. This is one of the reasons we now live in Yeosu instead of Seoul. We got jobs with public schools that pay on time and have great vacation. We couldn’t be happier. We love Korea and knew that if we could only find a better job we would be infinitely happier.
Which recruiter did you use, and what is the name of director/hagwon.
If you send us a private message, we can answer any questions you have.
[…] The nightmare hagwon. You may have heard of these. Bosses mistreating the teachers. Pay never on time, or worse, never given. Pension and health insurance not given. And so on. The thing is, anyone can open a hagwon. The owners are not educators, they are business men/women. Unfortunately, this means that some of them will try to take advantage of you. THIS HAPPENED TO US. […]
[…] The Nightmare Hagwon There are many teachers who work for private academies in Korea and love their jobs but this tale is from two that didn’t. […]
Hi guys. What a scary read! Glad that you’re out of that situation now. I’m currently applying for hagwons in Seoul so if you wouldn’t mind, could you tell me the name of this school? (And any other hagwons you’ve heard on the ground that are to be avoided!) my email address is stephaniefarano@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks 🙂
[…] Last week we shared our extremely bad experience of our last year’s hagwon job. Hagwons are privately owned academies in South Korea that are not overseen by the Korean Office of Education and therefore can be run like a business with some major drawbacks for the foreign teachers working there. However, we do want to stress that even though situations like these can happen, there are many teachers who really love working for private academies and highly recommend them. The key is to know how to find the right school that is reputable. […]
[…] Our Nightmare Hagwon in Korea and How to Avoid Them […]
Thanks for your story. I wanted to tell you that it is perfectly possible to change jobs in Korea. I have had the experience of a job ending and then getting a new job in Korea that started almost the next day. Bizarrely the previous hagwon’s head office had decided there was no need for a western teacher at all next year-just hire more beautiful Korean women! I got a great reference letter and LOR. I completed the new contract at the new school and got all my bonuses. Admittedly, I was in good standing with both these schools, but I have heard of people being fired, but still getting their letters of release and starting a new job.
The first time I was in Korea, it was a small city, but with a very warm, friendly group of foreigners and Koreans. I was delighted to find that it was possible to get to know Koreans and learn a bit of the language. I loved it. My second time in Korea was very different. It was at 3 high technical high schools in Yeosu. The Korean teachers didn’t usually come to classes, there was no guidance, very little feedback, and no curriculum, and their English was often limited. Things could get tense-I think some teachers hit the kids. I completed one year, and was told that I’d have needed an evaluation score of 90% to return to the JLP program.
I ended up disliking Yeosu. Yes, it’s a beautiful place, there are stunning views, and some really good seafood restaurants, but neither Koreans nor western people seemed to want to talk. That’s a very great pity. But it’s easier for you as you are a couple. I coped by travelling to other cities on weekends.
Moving to Gyeonggi-do was a great improvement, because it was a decent compromise. It wasn’t Seoul, but I was teaching in normal hagwons, and meeting normal kids, without the excessive hours some people have. I was paid on time, and I got my bonuses and saved money. I made lots of friends, and one of my best friends was Korean. We used to meet up and have dinner often. If I go back to Korea I might choose Gyeonggi-do or the province due south of it, because these are where I had the best experiences.
You can also post this story on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/HagwonBlacklistKorea/