Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mister petey]

So I and all the teachers from at least 3 schools took on a lawyer to sue a boss who went bankrupt owing us all at least 2 months pay, and the money has been dispensed by a govt. fund for mass bankruptcies. The Korean teachers have been paid, but now I'm told by the lawyer that the special bank acct. I established specifically so that the lawyer could access and transfer the funds to me now that I'm in the US won't work, that I need to make a Woo-ri acct. to get paid, and that I need to be there physically to do that. Any ideas/ stories of how to get these funds sent out?

[The Hammer]

Maybe you can try contacting Woori in LA or New York. Here is the info:


Woori
Address 3360 W. Olympic Blvd # 300 Los Angeles, CA 90019
Tel 1-213-620-0747
Fax 1-213-627-5438, 1-213-629-1559

SWIFT CODE HVBKUS6L(XXX)

e-mail [email protected]

Location
Woori Bank L.A. agency was established as Woori bank's representative in the Western States of America on January 16, 1978 to effectively support and supervise the Bank's U.S Operations.
Business
Hours Mon-Fri (9:00 - 17:00)


_____



Address 245 Park Avenue, 41st Floor
New York, NY 10167, U.S.A
Tel 1-212-949-1900
Fax 1-212-490-7146, 1-212-867-4954
Telex 232473
SWIFT CODE HVBKUS33
Location Our branch is on the 41st floor of a office building located in midtown Manhattan, one of the five borough of New York City.
The building takes up one whole block between Park Ave. and Lexington Ave, and 46th street and 47th street.
The Grand Central Station is one block south to our agency and the UN office building is also located 4 blocks away from our agency to the east.
Business
Hours Mon ~ Fri (09:00 ~ 17:00)
Woori Bank, New York Agency is an agency of Woori Bank, Seoul, Korea ("Head Office") and is not separately incorporated legal entity. Hanvit Bank changed its brand to Woori on May 20th, 2002 to coincide the the name with the bank's holding company.

http://eng.wooribank.com/eng/wnetwork/wfgud037_01c.jsp

Get what's yours!

[jdog2050]

[moosehead]

[mister petey]

big thanks to The Hammer - your idea about contacting US branch of Woori bank is Ace! I'll call tomorrow.
Yes, I know it's really rare to win a lawsuit...it's only because there were a bunch of teachers (and admins, and bus drivers) at 3 or more schools involved that we were able to do anything at all.
I had thought I was safe, as I got the job at a Technical College inside of a major uni., in the end i found out that they they were only leasing out their space/logo to a private company (one shifty woman). Soon the usual stuff happened, "oh,there's a little problem, money didnt transfer blahblah, i'll pay next week"...next week only 500,000 won deposited, another week goes by, suddenly almost 2 months and bankruptcy.
So the Tech College helped us to find a lawyer, who filed with the government to collect from some sort of fund, after which the govt sues the hakwon owner. The lawyer made me set up a brand new bank acct. that was specifically for this dispersement, I had a "stamp" made (with only my 1st name in Korean letters, "Pee-taw", very funny) so the lawyer could access the acct and transfer funds to me. The Korean teachers received their funds after 6 months, and finally I was told that the Korea Worker's Compensation & Welfare Service had no way to enter a passport number into their computer as an ID, that they had never had such a case, and that the only way to receive money was thru a Woori bank acct, and that i had to establish that in person in Korea.
As the lawyer there doesn't speak English, I have had ALL of these dealings forwarded and translated for me by one of my former co-teachers, a true angel. I have thanked her regularly, and she is happy to try to give me positive memories from Korea (also, she sends me grammar/idiom questions occasionally)
So its not a matter of having someone there that I trust...the problem is that they claim to need me personally to set up a new account. The US embassy cannot legally enter into such disputes, they can only provide a list of lawyers (altho I have heard that, if you are there in person, they will sometimes take actions outside of their regular jurisdiction). When I told my Korean co-teacher to tell the lawyer that I was going to consult a lawyer here in the States, she noticed that they became much more responsive and speedy. Haha!
Also, I don't even have the money ($1200 or more) to get back there to try to collect, and what if I do go and they trick me again and I DON'T get it? Yikes! As my stay was shortened, and I had to buy a plane ticket home myself, the missing 2 months pay is all of my profit from having gone over there, and will already be minus the lawyer's fees, and the currency devaluation.
Still, since I love Korean folk music, mountains, and people, I had a great time in Korea and I do hope to visit again someday.

[moosehead]

wow - that all sounds incredible - good going for sticking it out!

how about a legal proxy of some sorts? they should be able to work with that; someone who can serve as your proxy? just to set up the account?

if not - it almost sounds like they are making an excuse hoping you won't come then they don't have to pay! sorry but if someone was serious about paying off an obligation - they wouldn't be so difficult about it, don't you think?

[it's full of stars]

So the lawyer tells you to open a special account, and now this special account is not working. Hmmm?

Are you in contact with any of the other people that were part of the lawsuit, and are any of them in your country? Ask them if they got their money.

[mack the knife]

You've provided some interesting info., so I hate to dog on you, but your original problem should not have been a problem at all. By law, you must receive your full salary no later than 2 weeks after the contracted payday, as businesses have a 2 week grace period. After that, why would you go into work at all? You might have saved yourself a lot of hassle if you'd just reported them after the 2 week deadline and refused to go into work.

[Whistleblower]

Is this lawyer a Nigerian Lawyer?

[mister petey]

Thanks all...I still can't believe it, but...
my contact there says that the pressure worked, and now my won are deposited into the original bank acct I established there! Maybe it was the threat of getting a lawyer here? also, i know that the lawyer wouldn't get paid until we did...that usually helps!
***It's hard to imagine Korea allowing a proxy to set up an acct., they don't even let US access our money thru a visa debit card, etc.
***MAck the knife: yes, i know i was a sucker, actually it WAS at the 2-week point (monthly pay late, then 2 more weeks gone by) that the College cancelled their contract with her, forcing her to go bankrupt. They compelled her to pay thru the end of the month. Why not have her pay the rest of the contract?
I will detail more in a separate warning post, but:
they had me sign 2 contracts at the beginning, one for a year, and one for 3 months because they said they were a "camp" style program and would only give out 3month visas...this should have been a big red light, but i was new and also distracted because they BOUGHT ME A PLANE TICKET TO HONG KONG EVERY 3 MONTHS to do visa work, which i thought was way cooler than Fukuoka.
In the end, the college said they werent responsible because the hakwon boss had hr secretary sign the contract on their behalf, that the school official never signed the year contract. but the college still gave me work until they ended their kids program, and they helped me to find a summer job.
Anyways, maybe a typical shady story has had a happy ending!

[The Hammer]

Cool! I'm glad to hear that the money was deposited.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[mack the knife]

[wylies99]