Job Discussion Forums

[Glenski]

Teachers arrested in South Korea
Liz Ford
Wednesday October 12, 2005

http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/story/0,5500,1590473,00.html

Nearly 50 English language teachers from Canada have been arrested in South Korea on suspicion of working illegally or having fraudulent qualifications, it emerged today.
Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported this week that the teachers had been detained, deported or were being investigated, as the Korean authorities continued to rout out the country's illegal workers.

Immigration officers are believed to have raided schools, arresting teachers and recruiters.

The Canadian Foreign Affairs Department reportedly told that paper that in the last two weeks it had logged 50 cases involving English teachers. Of these, 35 teachers have now been deported, five are awaiting deportation and the rest are still under investigation.

However, teachers who spoke to the paper said the number of arrests was closer to 150.

One teacher, who declined to be named, but who is working illegally in Korea, told the paper: "They say what we're doing is criminal, but it doesn't feel that way."

She added: "The whole situation is totally inhumane. I've heard of 70 [foreign teachers] being put in a room with capacity for only 30 or 40. It's not like they were dealing drugs or running guns."

These latest arrests follow the high-profile case in March of two Canadian teachers who were involved in an alleged assault outside a Seoul bar. One of the teachers was found to be working in Korea on a tourist visa. The pair were eventually deported, but not without having to pay thousands of dollars in "blood money"- a form of compensation - to their alleged victim.

Those arrests fuelled a growing resentment towards foreign teachers among locals, due in part to salacious postings on a website for English teachers and a documentary broadcast on Korean television that depicted foreigners as lazy and unqualified.

The Korean government has been accused of launching a campaign against teachers. However, in July, the Korean justice ministry told the Guardian that English teachers were not being specifically targeted in its efforts to remove illegal workers.

Talkthread postings on the English language website EFL-law.org, a site for teachers working in Asia, said some Korean recruiters were luring foreign teachers to the country with the promise of a job and offering them copies of fake degrees to get them through immigration.

Some English teachers working legally have, however, welcomed the crackdown, saying illegal workers are harming the profession.

Officials put the number of English teachers working legally in South Korea at 7,800. The number of those working without the necessary documentation is believed to be around 20,000.

An increase in the number or private schools - or hagwons - is blamed in part for the rise in illegal workers. These schools often flout labour and immigration laws and employ unqualified teachers.

[Stephen Jones]

There's already a thread on this. the 'Guardian' is just rehashing another paper's story.

[Gordon]

Here is the link

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=30533

[Guy Courchesne]

I have heard that this has gotten no press in Korea. Can anyone over there confirm/deny this?

I get the feeling that the shock value gives it press in Canada, but that maybe in Korea, it's just another day at immi.

[Mchristophermsw]

I agree that illegal workers should be deported.
In a whole it does hurt the field and lower teachers salaries.


I am not sure on the qualifications but if lets say, minimum requirments is that you have a four year degree in any subject then those who do not have it are taking away the hard work that those who do have it had to go through to get it.

This is not to down someone without a four year degree ( for many years of my life I did not have one ). But lets play fair and I know it is not all the teachers fault. If the schools had "knowledge" and still hired the teachers, then they are the ones that should also be held accountable.

On a side note, the korean Immigration must be putting in some serious man hours and doing some real investigating to verify wheather the degrees and qualifications are real or not...

[Guy Courchesne]

[Gordon]

Something to remember, not all illegal teachers in Korea are without degrees. There are many reasons why teachers are teaching illegally: better pay, more freedom, more protection (don't have to rely on employer)... I would take my chances against immigration rather than most Korean employers. In fact, I did.

[Mchristophermsw]

[Gordon]

You can enter on a tourist visa and work, quite simple. Americans get a 3 month visa and Cdns, Aussies and Kiwis get 6 months. This might have changed as this was a long time ago. Opportunities were amazing back then too to get work.
While there I wrote a children's book, edited a manual and did voice recording (my wife did this mostly). My wife also illustrated a book too. All this along with teaching. I made almost twice what I do now at a Japanese university and the cost of living was much lower. The downside is that you DO HAVE TO BE CAREFUL.

[jr1965]

A few years back, I also taught in Korea without company sponsorship (in other words, I worked illegally. In some establishments, I was simply referred to as a "part-timer"). I had a degree and experience teaching, but wasn't ready to sign up for a year (or more) on contract with a school/university as I wasn't certain how long I was going to stay in Korea (I'd returned to be with a boyfriend).

Like Gordon, I entered the country on a tourist visa and every three months had to leave to renew it (one of my employers offered to help pay at one point). Also like Gordon, I made 2-3 times what I would have if I'd been employed by a hagwon or university. The hard part was finding halfway decent / affordable housing. That was really tough, actually.

[Gordon]