Korean Job Discussion Forums

MANDRL · Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Location: South Korea

My wife and I both have one year of teaching experience in Korea. Due to the horrible economy in the United States, we are thinking of moving back to Korea. Our question is, what is the going rate for one year of experience at a hagwan? I am thinking about 2.3-2.5. Thanks for any info.

Chris_Dixon · Joined: 09 Jan 2008

your spot on, i looked around and got 2.4 at a hagwon...guess you could hold out for more but it seems to be the going rate for new contracts (with exp)

sojourner1 · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:28 am Post subject:

2 million for level 2 EPIK public school teacher which requires 1 year teaching experience. You can get another 100,000 for provincial and another 100,000 for rural for a grand total of 2.2 million tax free. You probably can get 2.2 million at a hagwon as well.

With the economy being horrible in the US, it is also affecting the Korean won value. The pay raise is actually not a raise due to declining exchange rates since February of this year. There is no escape, except going where your career opportunity is available. I will show you.

2 million won at 930 Won to the dollar = $2150 as it was most of the time during 2007

2 million Won at 1028 Won to the dollar = $1944 at this point in time. A whopping $206 USD drop in pay not including consumer prices hyper inflation which is in the process worldwide.

It's been hanging around 1030 Won to the USD since February which means the Won lost roughly 10% value to the USD. This probably has to do with making Korea made products more affordable to the Americans due the relationship between the two.

To maintain last years level of pay minus $10 USD, 2.2 million Won is required now = $2140 USD while hyper inflation on a global scale is having all of us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The pay raise of 200,000 I am seeing is actually $10 less than last years pay if purchasing USD. I am looking at getting a Euro's bank account, if possible for a Non-E.U. citizen to hedge against the risk of earnings and savings getting smaller without spending them.

kingplaya4 · Joined: 14 May 2006

My current hagwon would pay you 2.5, although being that you're married I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you're in your thirties and they want twentysomethings. So although that won't help you, I would assume if my school is paying that, there must be plenty of others. (We do work about 40 hours a week though).

How bad are things in America? I haven't been since '06 are things really that bad that you need to come here?

MANDRL · Joined: 13 Oct 2006 Location: South Korea

big_fella1 · Joined: 08 Dec 2005

I guess you will know this after having been here for a year but for the noo b's. Don't necessarily take the highest paying job. I was recently offered an after school gig paying 3 million won per month for 3 hours a day (admitedly there was no housing). It sounded fantastic, then I asked how many students do you have? They had around 20 (their figure). I concluded they would not be in business much longer and politely declined the job.

If the offer looks to good to be true...........it probably is.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

Rusty Shackleford · Joined: 08 May 2008

[quote]sojourner1 wrote

while hyper inflation on a global scale is having all of us for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. [quote]

I don't know where you got your economics degree or your information on that one. Currently inflation is running slightly higher than what we have been used to in the recent past. I don't know the current figures but most OECD countries equivalent of the Fed aim for 3% or below. Currently alot of countries are looking at something like 5% forecasted.

This is NOT hyper inflation. A cursory glance of Wikipedia, easily the greatest resourse of facts known to man, gives us a figure of greater than 50% Such as that experienced in Germany in the 1920s.

Secondly, saying that the economy is to blame for fluctuations in exchange rate reveals a distinct lack of understanding as to what factors enfluence exchange rates.

The demand for a given currency effects it's price, the same as any other market. I've heard that the Korean Fed try to keep the Won weak to keep exporters happy. I would love to know how they do this, short of dumping trillions of Won onto the International Exchange Markets.