Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stew1988]

OK, this may have / more than likely has been covered numerous times in the past. The thing is, every situation is individual and unique in a certain way. This is why I am seeking advice. I think it's best for me to tell you my story first and then any advice is very much welcomed! Thank you in advance...

1. I moved to South Korea. There are many details about my life and personal situation that I will leave out, but long story short I was very unhappy with the way things were working out.

2. My employer was a fake Christian who deemed it acceptable to use religion as justification for not paying my wages / conducting herself in an underhand way. One time she fired one of my Korean colleagues just prior to her maternity leave. She only had a verbal contract and found herself out of a job and on the verge of starting a family...

3. Things got worse and my personal situation with my girlfriend at the time got worse. She is now my wife and she is indeed South Korean. Her family were diabolical and some hideous events and mishaps happened to us / her during our time in South Korea. I would prefer not to go into details with this.

4. We got our things together and we ran away. We ran away to Daejeon for a few days and used it as a base to get our things sorted out. I realize this is not the typical midnight run.

5. We did not get out of the country instantly and as such my recruiter, a man who just so happens to have his name scattered all over the internet due to inappropriate and underhand behaviour (no names mentioned), started emailing me. He made threats. He said that I would pay dearly for my actions and that I would be stopped at immigration if I tried to leave...

6. This filled us with dread. Luckily enough my wife is a native Korean and thus could call immigration and clarify any issues. They told her that he was essentially blowing hot air and that they could not keep me in the country unless I had committed any criminal offense (I had not)...

7. My worry was that he / the school were going to make up some lies etc and I would be trapped in Korea in my own personal horror story. I did not happen and we got away to Malaysia, no questions asked at immigration.

This is what happened, however there are a few other issues I need to point out...

1. I did not cancel my Working VISA at the airport.
2. I did not cancel my bank account / phone contract prior to departure.
3. We called immigration (in Korea), well my wife did the other day. They informed me that my VISA had been cancelled. This surprised me because I thought it only expired on the expiry date? Maybe the school reported me as a midnight runner?
4. They said that I was down as a midnight runner, I could reapply again, however I may have difficulties. That is it.

So, my current situation is as follows.

1. We are in the UK together.
2. We don't have a great deal of money and it is very difficult for my wife to find employment anywhere, for example: Hong Kong, Taiwan, China etc etc...
3. Everywhere is met with dead ends and the saddest thing of all is that we are always led back to the same conclusion, Korea is the best option for us in theory...

Korea gives me rent free accommodation. Korea pays for my flights. She can find employment in Korea. We can save money and build for our future in Korea.

On the negative side we really don't want to return. Her friends tend to be poisonous characters, her family are a glorified dictatorship, and the country is awash with shady employers just ready to take advantage. So if possible and if you are still reading could you please answer the following questions for me.....

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1. Would it be possible for me to return to Korea again and work as a teacher?
2. If I did return would I face any backlash with immigration with regards to my previous experiences?
3. When applying again would I tell my new prospective employer about the events of the past, ie: the midnight run?
4. If I returned to South Korea I understand I would be putting my sanity and marriage in jeopardy. That being said we do not have many options available to us! Any advice on other places / countries where my wife and I could work would be very much appreciated.

That's it for now. You may say to me: "why on earth would you want to go back to a place like that! Why would you want to put yourself back in the prison you managed to escape from?" The answer to that is that I love my wife more than anything in the world. If I take her to another country where she cannot work / cannot improve herself I would be committing a horrible crime that I would never forgive myself for.

Thanks guys. I await your responses.

[plchron]

[koreatimes]

My ex-Korean girlfriend has her own school. It seems like it was rather easy to get started. I helped her in the early days, and it doesn't seem to have changed much.

Your wife could do the same thing. You could then work for her and for another school. At least, that's what I would try to do.

[shaunew]

Apply for a temp f-2 in England to travel to Korea. Then when you are here convert that f-2 from a temp one and never worry about E-2 stuff again.

[ttompatz]

^^^ What he said.

Problem solved and issues disappear.

.

[bekinseki]

[Kwangjuchicken]

[Modernist]

You would help yourself and your wife if you dialed back the intensity a little bit. However bad things might be it doesn't help anything to go crazy with hyperbole [loss of sanity, family 'dictatorship', etc]. Enough of that.

So her family doesn't like you and probably isn't too happy about the marrying a foreigner thing, right? Does she care? In other words, does she want to patch things up or is she finished with them? If you return to Korea, it's a small country. Family bonds seem to be pretty tight here. Do you really imagine you can just avoid them for, well, how long? Can you have a 'cold peace' where you all can agree that everyone concerned loves your wife and wants what is best for her, or something like that? It will be a LOT easier for everyone, in Korea, if some kind of accomdation can be found on that issue.

As far as jobs go, it's the same as I always tell people. To find a job, you need to be able to DO something. What is your wife trained to do? Obviously she's not going to be hired to teach English anywhere except Korea, so if that's all she can do then you don't have many doors to open. Can YOU do anything besides EFL? Have you developed any sort of long-term career development plan, or are you in this so-called field for life?

The other prospect relates to her ethnicity. If you can find a place with a large number of Koreans, she MIGHT be able to waggle her way into a position with them. Like in Qingdao, in China, where there's a huge expat Korean community. In America there's big Koreatowns in California, Chicago and New York. Far as I know there's a bunch of 'em in Vladivostok too. Traders in the Philippines and Vietnam.

So, you leave and get some kind of job first, using your bright shiny UK passport. She sticks around in Korea, builds up as much cash as she can. You nose around for someone who needs a person with your wife's talents, especially fluent Korean and [reasonably, I hope] fluent English. Find somebody with juice with the local kingpins who can sponsor a work visa, she has a job, you have a job, you're together again and no sanity need be risked. Yes, you'll have to separate for a while, but if the love is there it can survive that--plenty of people do it every day in every country. Part of the risk in these cross-cultural relationship things.

[stew1988]

In terms of going crazy with the hyperbole,