Korean Job Discussion Forums

dcwm81 · Joined: 18 Sep 2007

How does the rent system work here? I know about the Key system, but need more info on it. Is it all "year-to-year" contracts with the landlord? Or do some people sign multi-year contracts?

I am asking because I am currently trying to negotiate my next contract, and I have 2 options: salary or hourly. Salary, they pay the rent, hourly, I pay the rent. Over the full course of a year, you can make much more via the hourly contract, except my boss is trying to charge me too much on rent for my current apartment. In the contract it states that I should receive 5 million won key money. However, he says he only put down 3 million, and I don't need 5 million, because I live in Daegu, not Seoul (where rent is higher). The rent he is quoting is 390,000 won, and I feel it should be cheaper. He says that the extra 2 million in key money only drops it by about 20,000. Sounds funny to me, but I don't know for sure. He also FREAKED when I mentioned taking the 5 million key deposit and finding my own place here. He said there would be penalties I would have to pay, and there are no apartments in my area. (There are plenty, and I know they are all cheaper too)

Any thoughts?

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

korea + contract = hahahaha

excitinghead · Joined: 18 Jul 2005

I'm not sure about him. He may be right about the 5 million key money only bringing down the rent by 20,000. In my current apartment in Busan the rent is 500,000 and key money 10 million. My wife tells me that if we put down 20 million key money the rent would only go down to 400,000!

But as for receiving the 5 million and finding a place yourself...penalities?!! Like what? With what he said about the rent, it sounds like he really doesn't want to spend that extra 2 million.

How is your current apartment? The last time I got accomodation from my employer was back in 2003, and I haven't looked back since. In your case that your employer is providing the key money means your accomodation is still tied to your job, so you'd have to leave pretty quickly if you chose to leave the job, but still, you can at least choose a nice and/or convenient one over the isolated hovels my employers always used to give me!

But if you like the apartment, you might as well stay and make more money on the hourly contract. If he is overcharging you for rent, it doesn't sound he's doing it too much.