Korean Job Discussion Forums

Whistleblower · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

Hello all. Well some of you might know me from the board but I have had a stint in Korea and came back to the UK to do better things (three jobs at the moment), get on the housing market and provide a less competitive education for our son.

Anyhow, my wife (who is Korean) and I are considering coming back to Korea once our son reaches the age for him to go to university (which is about 10 to 15 years from now). We are lucky and have the resources for myself to go back and do a part-time MA in ELT, perhaps do the DELTA (but not really sure - it can be really stressful) and have a quadrouple income (3 for myself and 1 for my wife).

So our plan is to come back to Korea (perhaps in a quiet rural town), for me to complete the MA in 3 years, build our own Korean house, buy our house in the UK and provide a quality education for our son (in the private sector from 12 years). Ofcourse, I would be interested in teaching, examining and teacher training in Korea and hope to get a job related to these.

So my question is this really; what would you do to prepare to come back to Korea if you have the cash, etc? Would you consider opening your own Hagwon? My wife and I are keen to retire in Korea with a school to provide a stable income when we reach 50+. Should my wife consider changing her passport to UK and how would impact on me getting an F2-1? I guess I would be able to get an investors visa but I hope that the immigration laws become slightly more relaxed in 10 to 15 years. Well that's my dream and please feel free to post your dreams for the years to come.

poeticjustice · Joined: 28 Feb 2009

Sounds like a great plan but I have to wonder whether or not there will still be foreigners teaching English here at that time, or whether English will still be as important that far ahead. Sure, Korea will always need qualified Native Speakers to teach English, but the change in the English market between now and then could be so vast that you might end up doing something completely different entirely (such as teaching a university instead of opening up your own hagwon, for example).

Last time I went to a GEPIK orientation they said they'd be phasing our foreigners in the public school system by 2011. While that's obviously not going to happen, it is their plan for the long term.

Don't mean to startle you or act like I know everything, because I don't. Just some food for thought. I've always thought the demand for foreigners teaching in Korea was all within a certain window, after which the demand will begin to decline and it's very probable that the qualifications to teach here will go up and up (which is good for you).

Yaya · Joined: 25 Feb 2003 Location: Seoul

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

Whistleblower · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

Dodgy Al · Joined: 15 May 2004 Location: Seoul

Hi Whistleblower. It's kinda reassuring to know you were able to find work back home. Was it difficult? What kind of work are you doing? I am curious because it's something I'd like to do, if (big IF!) I can persuade my fianc� to leave Korea.

If you're interested in doing an M.Ed take a look at the OU modules. Excellent materials and the tutors are great. Good luck!

Whistleblower · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

My three jobs are:

1. EFL Teacher/Instructor
2. ESOL Examiner
3. EU Public Procurement Specialist (nice pocketmoney)

I would like to do the MA course from Sussex Uni and will start that next year (Sep. 2010).

itaewonguy · Joined: 25 Mar 2003

so you're saying if KIM JEONG IL hasn't dropped a bomb and turned Seoul into the new Rwanda!

sure, go for it...

grunden · Joined: 18 Apr 2009

sounds really depressing. Your better half is going to be a full fledged azuma, and you will be surrounded by lush women, and then to go home
to the 'wife', I say stay in england for the rest of your life, and watch your azuma age gracefully.

Whistleblower · Joined: 03 Feb 2007

AgentM · Joined: 07 Jun 2009 Location: British Columbia, Canada

10 - 15 years? Wow, and I thought I planned in advance! Opening a hagwon might be a good idea if you have the money and want to live in Korea long-term. However, you'd definitely want to do some research and see if there is a market for it in the city/town you're planning on moving to.

Cheonmunka · Joined: 04 Jun 2004

For me, I'm doing it in reverse - I would rather my son get the math and science solid here then go to there to do high school/uni.
Already his math in elementary grade three is lightyears ahead of his exact peers in NZ schools who are still counting on their fingers.

I can see that living later years in Korea isn't necessarily bad, as living a little in the more fresh aired KangwonDo for example is not prohibitively expensive and there are facilities around for the retired - I don't mean country clubs, but rather cheap bus services to town, cheap enough roads and things for your car, fast internet to while your time, a bit of gardening ... a decent national health system.

You could open something local like a little study center. It won't make you rich but it might pay for your living.
If it weren't for the extremes in weather here I think I'd go for it, but honestly I can't handle the cold depths of winter and then a few months later the sultry sticky summer. I think if I were older that alone would just about kill me. Three months of a year are mild and nice - the rest is extreme. You're looking at a 50+ degrees (c) annual temperature range - do you remember what that was like?

asams · Joined: 17 Nov 2008