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Orchidelirium
Joined: 09 Oct 2007
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 Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:04 am Post subject: A Warning to Foreigners: What Your Life Could Be LIke ... |
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if you choose to come to Korea.
Lots of posters on this board will try to make Korea out to be some safe haven and lottery jackpot -- well, it's not. Look before you leap. Korea is one of the most unregulated and corrupt destinations for foreign workers, as attested by the US and Canadian governments...
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Abuse by the Korean Government of Legal Foreign Workers!
I accuse the government of Korea for allowing and abetting the abuse of foreign
teachers and other foreigners legally working in Korea.
Korean officials know it is near-impossible for a foreign teacher of limited
financial means to receive justice in a Korean Court of Law.
Many Korean employers acknowledge privately that a Korean "contract" is merely
window-dressing to gain an entry visa. "Verbal agreements are, culturally, the
norm in Korea" is the way this injustice is explained.
Korean government programs to hire foreign English teachers are well-known for
abuses, as witnessed at a United States Embassy meeting for KORETTA and EPIK
teachers. To disguise the problem, the program��s name constantly changes:
KORETTA, EPIK, and now KEEPCO.
Korean Labor Laws are enforced arbitrarily. Illegal contracts are read and
accepted by Korean counsels around the world as trusting teachers apply for
visas to accept such contracts to teach in Korea. According to the Labor Laws,
when a contract contradicts the Korean Labor Laws, it is null and void - yet
visas are issued based on such null and void contracts.
Many Korean lawyers, prosecutors, judges are aware of the situation, as are
police officers, having benefited from the periodic Nazi-like cleansing,
round-up of "illegal foreign teachers", their heavy fines, and eventual
deportation. Many of these teachers came to Korea legally and were forced into
working illegally because their Korean employers broke their contracts. Knowing
that the legal system would favor the employer, many ignored the laws to
survive.
I was one of the few - if not the only one - to pursue my case for two and a
half years and can thus testify and provide proof to my allegations. The
Pangbae Labor Office in Seoul appears to have accepted a bribe when offering me
an illegal settlement which penalized me two million won for quitting (unfair
dismissal is not "quitting"). Yet this same office refused my right to appeal.
The Eastern Seoul Labor Office found in my favor, fined MOON CHANG HO of SISA
and former part-owner of SYLVAN-SEOUL, only to allow a signed piece of paper,
undated, and purposely vague, and signed with a false signature, state he had
already paid me the very small fine.
Because of his arrogant boast: "I don��t have to obey any law," I have been
energized to continue this fight. At the same time, my nephew was in the
United States Army, stationed by the DMZ, protecting Korea and Koreans.
I have been able to remain in Korea because I worked illegally and have two
passports - one of which was inaccessible to MOON.
I have spent more than US$2-3,000 and two and a half years of my life seeking
justice and financial compensation. MOON CHANG HO of SISA/SYLVAN-SEOUL/VICE
PRESIDENT OF SEOUL��S HOGWON ASSOCIATION was found guilty by a labor office, by
a criminal court, and now, by the Seoul Small Claims Court, whic took *nine*
months to reach a decision. What did MOON CHANG HO have to pay? For the
criminal case, a one million won fee (US$1,200) to the government. The Small
Claims Court Judge said he should pay me a "termination fee" that MOON claimed
he had already paid.
The judge refused to tell me the amount of that fee.
The judge refused to tell me his name. (Han Keun Kim, presiding in the Seoul
Small Claims Court in Seoul, in Room 358).
The judge refused to consider that the paper MOON said was a receipt for this
"termination fee" was the same undated "receipt" he told the Labor Office was
the receipt for the Labor Office fine he was suppose to have paid me. How can
one piece of paper cover so many expenses, especially when signed "Alice Under
Duress Walker," with the intention of making the paper legally null and void?
Local Koreans are shocked that I as a foreigner ever expected any justice from
the corrupt Korean legal system.
Korean schools, IMHO, should be banned from posting job openings on the
Internet because of their systematic and government protected human rights
abuses of foreigners. I have filed a Human Rights Complaint with the USA
Embassy in Seoul.
Because the Korean government is so rife with corruption, I will institute a
class-action case against the government of Korea for intentional human rights
abuses. Please email me your stories: [email protected]
Ms. Alice Dana Walker
International Affairs Director, POSTECH, Pohang Korea
http://AD.Walker.org - for detailed
information on the case |
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laogaiguk
Joined: 06 Dec 2005
Location: somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:10 am Post subject: Re: A Warning to Foreigners: What Your Life Could Be LIke .. |
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Dude, I harp on Korea all the time, especially for corruption, but one of the most corrupt. I don't think so.
Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Indonesia, Russia, ... |
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asylum seeker
Joined: 22 Jul 2007
Location: On your computer screen.
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:11 am Post subject: |
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| Ha, ha, good luck with that.. |
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BreakfastInBed
Joined: 16 Oct 2007
Location: Gyeonggi do
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:12 am Post subject: |
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Go get 'em Alice.
I don't have much hope, but I'm in her corner. Could there be justice more poetic than a foreign woman bringing the corrupt system to its knees? Not a likely outcome, but a pleasant daydream. |
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PigeonFart
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:14 am Post subject: |
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Well i have to support that suffragette (correct spelling??) spirit...these corrupt employers should be pursued in the courts. Their names should be tainted.
Yes walking away is good, but i admire that spirit of fighting tooth and nail for 2.5 years. |
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Flash Ipanema
Joined: 29 Sep 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:35 am Post subject: |
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| Mr. Pink wrote: |
| Hate to sound like a d!ck, but when I saw that was written by a woman my first thought was "Ahh figures." Most guys would be pissed and frustrated, however, we know when to walk away. There has only been 1 foreign woman I've worked with in my 10 year span in Korea that actually had a head on her shoulders. The others were well...the type who try to beat a corrupt legal system for 2.5yrs over a couple thousand bucks. And STILL refuse to give up when all the signs are there...yes that class action lawsuit won't last very long. |
And that's why all the corruption continues, because no one bothers fighting against the injustice. At some point it stops being about the money and becomes completely about seeing justice served. And it's heartening to see someone continue to be a splinter the the side of a school that's used to screwing teachers over with no repercussions. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 8:28 am Post subject: |
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How would a class action suit work in Korea, anyway? I am all for justice. I do believe that South Korea is as corrupt as Sicilia or worse.
At least, the Italians are fighting the mafia tooth and nail and risking their lives for change, but the Korean people need to clean up their house for their own people.
I do not like people to be exploited whether they are Koreans or foreigners. Korea must clean up its act if it wants more English foreign teachers to teach here. Of course, there are plenty of people who love Korea, and there are good things here, but there are plenty who deal with corruption, illegal contracts, exploitation, and many of these people do not come back, so if Lee Myung Bak wants more foreign teachers then he needs to fire judges, immigration people if they are corrupt, he needs to investigate people Park Chung Hee style and plant informants to rat out the corrupt ones. I do believe has made a lot of progress in fighting corruption, but there is so much that needs to be done.
God bless you, Alice; good luck. |
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kimchipig
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:36 am Post subject: Tilting at Windmills |
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Take this from someone who spent many, many years in Korea: There is no point spending a cent or a won in the Korean courts seeking redress for anything. This not only goes for waygooks but for Koreans too.
Alice, it ain't gonna happen. If you do not like your treatment in Korea you can either:
1) Change jobs.
2) Put up and shut up.
3) Leave.
It is that simple. It has always been that way. You are not going to change a thing by ranting here or suing people.
The poster here who said only guys last in the long term is mostly correct. I lasted eight years. I have only known ONE woman who lasted as long as that and believe me, to last more than five years you grow and incredibly thick skin.
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| Korea must clean up its act if it wants more English foreign teachers to teach here |
But they keep finding people to teach there. They have always managed it. They manage it now at a time where you can make more working at Tim Horton's in Calgary than teaching English in Korea. The Korean employers know this. They post jobs, people reply and they hire them. |
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GoldMember
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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A personal experience that I had was this:
Went to the labor office to try to get some money owed.
Now get this. In the labor office book of regulations, on the VERY same page of the book, there are 2 regulations. At the top of the page the regulation says that I am entitled to the money. At the bottom of the page is a regulation that says I'm not.
Let's have a bit of fun here. Which regulation do you think the kind lady at the labor office decided to go by?
The choices again:
A. Top of the page regulation I get the money.
B. Bottom of the page regulation, I don't get the money.
Now fellow funsters, think hard before answering. I'm no genius, however me finks close to 100% will get the answer right.
I'll give you a hint, dudes such as Captain Corea, and Daniel Kim, would pick A.
As for the lady who is fighting. You've got more balls than me,
personally I think the best thing you can do is to tell as many people as possible the truth about this place. |
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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Flash Ipanema wrote: |
| Mr. Pink wrote: |
| Hate to sound like a d!ck, but when I saw that was written by a woman my first thought was "Ahh figures." Most guys would be pissed and frustrated, however, we know when to walk away. There has only been 1 foreign woman I've worked with in my 10 year span in Korea that actually had a head on her shoulders. The others were well...the type who try to beat a corrupt legal system for 2.5yrs over a couple thousand bucks. And STILL refuse to give up when all the signs are there...yes that class action lawsuit won't last very long. |
And that's why all the corruption continues, because no one bothers fighting against the injustice. At some point it stops being about the money and becomes completely about seeing justice served. And it's heartening to see someone continue to be a splinter the the side of a school that's used to screwing teachers over with no repercussions. |
Interesting that some Mod deleted my post...can't remember that happening before, what's the deal? My response was not a troll, but in fact a matter of observation. |
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lowpo
Joined: 01 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| GoldMember wrote: |
A personal experience that I had was this:
Went to the labor office to try to get some money owed.
Now get this. In the labor office book of regulations, on the VERY same page of the book, there are 2 regulations. At the top of the page the regulation says that I am entitled to the money. At the bottom of the page is a regulation that says I'm not.
Let's have a bit of fun here. Which regulation do you think the kind lady at the labor office decided to go by?
The choices again:
A. Top of the page regulation I get the money.
B. Bottom of the page regulation, I don't get the money.
Now fellow funsters, think hard before answering. I'm no genius, however me finks close to 100% will get the answer right.
I'll give you a hint, dudes such as Captain Corea, and Daniel Kim, would pick A.
As for the lady who is fighting. You've got more balls than me,
personally I think the best thing you can do is to tell as many people as possible the truth about this place. |
I worked with a Korean English Teacher at a hagwan and the school didn't pay him and another teacher their last months salary. So they decited to to take matters into their own hands.
Late one night they went into the school to take what was owed them by taking the computers, fax machine, and dvd player. Another teacher that was not paid her last months salary decited to sale everything in her apartment. |
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travelingfool
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Location: Parents' basement
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Unless you have a considerable amount of what I call 'screw you money', DO NOT go to Korea. Your employer owns you and can screw you nine ways to Sunday for just about anything. The only way I would consider going back there is if they had a system like Japan's where you own your visa and don't have to put up with a bad employer. Not only that, but why go to a country where you are pretty much loathed anyways? |
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smedini
Joined: 02 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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| travelingfool wrote: |
| Unless you have a considerable amount of what I call 'screw you money', DO NOT go to Korea. Your employer owns you and can screw you nine ways to Sunday for just about anything. |
I feel absolutely horrible for those involved when I hear stories such as this. When I lived in Korea (for two years in the late '90s) I'd heard of a girl who really got a very raw deal and was out a lot of money, had to go through hell and back to get her (stolen) passport returned and went home a tattered wreck. However, note that I'd "heard" of this girl, I didn't know her. My "quoties" don't mean that I don't believe it happened - I absolutely do - but in two years I met a LOT of foreign English teachers in a LOT of cities and I never met anyone personally who had such a bad time. I don't want to undermine the importance of the fact that this stuff actually does happen, but to say "DO NOT go to Korea" is not only a bit of a stretch, it's ridiculous. The situation is kind of like air travel: sure, we hear of plane crashes that take out all 300 passengers on board and flights that never make it through a take-off or landing, but how often do we hear of the tens of thousands of planes that arrive safely every day? Of course this crappy stuff happens in Korea - it happens everywhere - but to swear off the entire country because of the bad stories and without even thinking of the thousands upon thousands of very happy ESL teachers and other foreigners in the country, could be like missing the vacation of a lifetime because of a plane crash you heard about a month ago on the other side of the world.
IMHO ~ Smedini  |
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