Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

There are two threads where the OP says the new regulations are going to affect the number of people coming to fill openings: bassexpander thinks the supply of potential teachers will decrease and lastat thinks people should teach on tourist visas to avoid the regulations.

I think people will piss and moan a bit and then everything will go on just as it has been with no change in numbers willing/wanting to come here.

What are your thoughts? If you were sitting at home in Mom and Dad's basement, thinking about coming to Korea to teach for the first time...

[bassexpander]

I think that the druggies and perverts will come work on tourist visas.

I also think Korean immigration is going to increase the fines on schools hiring illegal teachers on tourist visas to upwards of 5 million won per offense. I also see them making automatic jail time for tourist visa offenders, freezing their bank accounts (if they have any) in addition to heavy fines which must be paid before deportation. They will check for transferred funds, and add this to the fine.

Personally, I feel this should be a requirement: 3 months jail time, plus a 5 million won fine, or a 10 million won fine with no jail time for first-time offenders, followed by immediate deportation.

If it's shown that the teacher was mislead or pressed to work illegally by the hagwon, the teacher should be fined 5 million won and deported -- no jail time. The school should be fined an additional 5 million.

I also feel that the hagwon's business license should be taken away if there are two offenses.

Recruiters hiring illegal teachers for company work should immediately lose their business license, and be fined 5 million won per illegal teacher. If caught a 2nd time, the business owner should be fined 10 million, and serve jail time.

Korea hasn't the slightest inkling of how bad the tourist visa problem will become. Far too many from Vancouver alone are desperate for money to pay their college debt, and too addicted to pot to be able to pass a drug test twice.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[bassexpander]

You caught me in an edit.

I was mentioning that they should also check for transferred funds that contain income which cannot be accounted for. This amount should be added to the fine, and they should be jailed up to 3 years until this amount is paid.

I also feel that the fines for tourist visa workers should start at 5 million won, and there should be an additional 1 to 2 million won per month added to the fine, depending on how long they have stayed in-country, and depending on how much money was frozen/seized.

[Homer]

Voted other because I think that the effect is far from certain.

The number of applicants may not drop at all but the type of applicant might change.

As for the perverts and other miscreants...they can always fly here on their dime with a tourist visa but that is a roll of the dice for them.

As for this:

[Norith]

I'm all about cracking down on illegal teachers...but up to 3 years or until you can pay a fine....while your bank account is frozen? It can't be worth it to the Korean government to imprison what they consider to be thousands of illegal teachers for up to 3 years (there are enough foreigners stuck in detention centers because they can't pay for the deportation...let alone 10M+ without access to their bank accounts).

Remember that not all 'tourist visa workers' are teachers, and there are quite a few asian immigrants working for peanuts.

Why not just seize the money in their bank accounts that are in excess of a plane ticket home, and ban them for life? Seems a lot more reasonable for all parties than having the government pay for a 3 year sojourn in a lock-up.

Also, I think the fines should be more severe for the Korean recruiters/hagwon owners than for the teachers who can at least claim some ignorance of the law. Don't hagwon's deduct taxes from a workers salary and pay them to the gov? Seems that they're knowingly committing some sort of tax fraud on top of everything else.

[Ya-ta Boy]

As of this post, the vote stands 9 Yes (I'd stay away) to 12 No and Homer (of course )

Question for the Yes people: Are any of you planning on NOT sticking around for another year BECAUSE of these new regulations? (It's not fair to say Yes to this one if you were planning to leave anyway.)

[Mr. BlackCat]

bassexpander wrote:

[nobbyken]

What are the new regulations?

Anything involving a spelling test will snooker me.

[aarontendo]

Had a long discussion with the gf about the new policies. Basically said they're a pain in the ass, but still willing to go through with the bull to stay here. If they do indeed require me to go home for the summer can't say it's THAT bad, but really sucks was hoping to go to China for a bit then =(

[sadsac]

It's too easy to go elsewhere. Korea is becoming a seriously anal retentive nation regarding the employment of foreign nationals as teachers.

[mistermasan]

just as interesting as the new regs: international currency moves. many canadians are feeling the bite here now. how many of them will move onto greener fields (for them)? hearsay is that the US economy is going thru a slight downturn. will more of them come to our fair shores? economic refugees will do quite a bit to earn some money. the "new" regulations for us will be "standard" regulations for them.

[The_Conservative]

[Homer]

Mr. BlackCat,

The crime is not teaching kids English and you know it.

The crime here is either work visa violation or fraud (if on fake papers). We can all sugar coat as 'He/she was just teaching' but the law says you cannot do certain things....

You may disagree with that and feel it is unfair. That is your right.

But, the argument of 'I was just teaching, not selling drugs' is justa cop out that is too often used.

If the penalties for visa violation are fine and deportation (detention until you can pay the fine and your ticket out) for example then a teacher who engages in this activity is making a choice and rolling the dice. If and when the man comes calling, it will be time to pay up for the choice that was made.

[FistFace]

They could get strict like Thailand is on drugs.