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Korea's working holiday program discriminatory
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:03 pm    Post subject: Korea's working holiday program discriminatory Reply with quote

Interesting article:

http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2012/06/116_114026.html

�Most Canadians are here as English teachers but they can�t do it under the working holiday program,� Chatterson said.

�I think it is discrimination� (in that) Koreans can do almost anything in Canada under the working holiday program,� he noted.

Last year, nearly 4,000 Koreans explored Canada on the work and travel visa to learn English and pay their way there. In contrast, only 20 Canadians came here under the same program.

==========

Shocker, Koreans getting the benefits of a program without giving anything. Boy, this is just the tip of an iceberg.

"signed the visa agreement in 1996." Canada should cancel it. Korea has had enough time.
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tardisrider



Joined: 13 Mar 2003
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shocking. Absolutely shocking.
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nautilus



Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And in other news...millions of koreans allowed to live in the west with equal rights..while any foreigner who sets foot in Korea is viewed as an invasion force.

Part of the reason that Korean perceptions are so skewed and ill-informed is that the local media has been so one-sided and so irresponsible for so long.
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

tardisrider wrote:
Shocking. Absolutely shocking.


Koreans can't go to Canada as teachers on a working holiday visa.
Korea reciprocates.
Canadians can't go to Korea as teachers on a working holiday visa.

I don't see any discrimination.

If you want to teach in either country you have to meet the (similar) standards and requirements.

As to the large discrepancy in the numbers.... there is no reason for H1 applicants to go to Korea. It is NOT a large tourist destination, nobody wants to learn Korean and it is a difficult country to be a tourist in.

.
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Who's Your Daddy?



Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From the article: "Koreans on working holidays to find work in a broad range of fields, including teaching..."

Maybe no body will hire them, but it isn't the govt. blocking them. In Korea it is the government blocking their hiring.
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rooster_2006



Joined: 14 Oct 2007

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ttompatz wrote:
tardisrider wrote:
Shocking. Absolutely shocking.


Koreans can't go to Canada as teachers on a working holiday visa.
Korea reciprocates.
Canadians can't go to Korea as teachers on a working holiday visa.

I don't see any discrimination.

If you want to teach in either country you have to meet the (similar) standards and requirements.

As to the large discrepancy in the numbers.... there is no reason for H1 applicants to go to Korea. It is NOT a large tourist destination, nobody wants to learn Korean and it is a difficult country to be a tourist in.

.


This is a vast oversimplification.

Koreans can teach in Canada under the WHV program. Maybe not as full-time teachers at public schools, but certainly at a private academy, which is not state-regulated. And according to the article I read, they can be TAs, also.

Canadians in Korea, however, cannot teach English anywhere. Of course not as public school full-time teachers, but also, they can't teach at hagwon or even do private lessons. They can't even be TAs.

Clearly, the WHV agreement favors Korea and not Canada by a massive, lopsided margin.

You know how lots of apologists often rush to Korea's defense, saying "It's their CHOICE who they let in and who they don't let in?" Well, ditto Canada. Canada has absolutely no obligation to let Koreans live and work there, period. It's Canada's CHOICE to let in/keep out whoever they want.

IMHO, western countries (and Japan) should start giving Korea a bit of its own medicine. In my country (America), there are nearly three million Koreans living there. How many Americans live in Korea? Not more than 50,000.

That's a ratio of 60:1. Completely lopsided. Even controlling for Korea's smaller population (1/6 the size of America's), that's still 10:1.

The figures look even more one-sided if you look at Korean green card holders in America, and then look at American F-5 holders in Korea.

It's supposed to be a two-way street, but Korea tries to throw up roadblocks to turn it into a one-way street. Sorry, Korea, it just doesn't work that way. If you want benefits like WHV with Canada, you're going to need to learn to share.
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Adventurer



Joined: 28 Jan 2006

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rooster_2006 wrote:
ttompatz wrote:
tardisrider wrote:
Shocking. Absolutely shocking.


Koreans can't go to Canada as teachers on a working holiday visa.
Korea reciprocates.
Canadians can't go to Korea as teachers on a working holiday visa.

I don't see any discrimination.

If you want to teach in either country you have to meet the (similar) standards and requirements.

As to the large discrepancy in the numbers.... there is no reason for H1 applicants to go to Korea. It is NOT a large tourist destination, nobody wants to learn Korean and it is a difficult country to be a tourist in.

.


This is a vast oversimplification.

Koreans can teach in Canada under the WHV program. Maybe not as full-time teachers at public schools, but certainly at a private academy, which is not state-regulated. And according to the article I read, they can be TAs, also.

Canadians in Korea, however, cannot teach English anywhere. Of course not as public school full-time teachers, but also, they can't teach at hagwon or even do private lessons. They can't even be TAs.

Clearly, the WHV agreement favors Korea and not Canada by a massive, lopsided margin.

You know how lots of apologists often rush to Korea's defense, saying "It's their CHOICE who they let in and who they don't let in?" Well, ditto Canada. Canada has absolutely no obligation to let Koreans live and work there, period. It's Canada's CHOICE to let in/keep out whoever they want.

IMHO, western countries (and Japan) should start giving Korea a bit of its own medicine. In my country (America), there are nearly three million Koreans living there. How many Americans live in Korea? Not more than 50,000.

That's a ratio of 60:1. Completely lopsided. Even controlling for Korea's smaller population (1/6 the size of America's), that's still 10:1.

The figures look even more one-sided if you look at Korean green card holders in America, and then look at American F-5 holders in Korea.

It's supposed to be a two-way street, but Korea tries to throw up roadblocks to turn it into a one-way street. Sorry, Korea, it just doesn't work that way. If you want benefits like WHV with Canada, you're going to need to learn to share.


This may be true, but Koreans tend to have degrees and to be educated. This could be more brain drain for Korea, so we could gain more in the end. I'm looking at it from that perspective, though I think Korea could do more to encourage more Canadians to come here, but that could depress our wages, right? And those Canadians would possibly be exploited working at some part-time job whereas it's not the norm to exploit your workers in Canada, though it happens.
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jvalmer



Joined: 06 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I doubt the Korean government really cares. Even if Canada restricted Koreans on visas from doing whatever jobs. I would be in full support of Canada slapping the same restrictions on Koreans, but come guys, how many Koreans are actually teaching anything in Canada?

And even if Korea liberalized their visa rules, I highly doubt it's going to drive up the number of Canadians wanting to do a working holiday in Korea.
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TheUrbanMyth



Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ttompatz wrote:
tardisrider wrote:
Shocking. Absolutely shocking.


Koreans can't go to Canada as teachers on a working holiday visa.
Korea reciprocates.
Canadians can't go to Korea as teachers on a working holiday visa.

I don't see any discrimination.

If you want to teach in either country you have to meet the (similar) standards and requirements.

As to the large discrepancy in the numbers.... there is no reason for H1 applicants to go to Korea. It is NOT a large tourist destination, nobody wants to learn Korean and it is a difficult country to be a tourist in.

.



This. If you want to teach English here then get the work visa.

That said if thousands of Koreans were teaching Korean in Canada and earning salaries and benefits similar to ours then yes I'd probably feel more inclined to say that the Canada embassy has logic on its side.
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soomin



Joined: 18 Jun 2009
Location: Daegu

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was curious about the H-1 visa after reading this article and found that *shocker* it has different requirements than an E-2... For an H-1 you only have to be 18 years old and you don't need a college degree. In Korea, that's one of the basic requirements for the E-2. Teaching isn't the only thing that is not allowed under an H-1 visa...

"H-1 visa holders are not permitted to be employed as receptionists, dancers, singers, musicians, acrobats at places of entertainment which might endanger good morals and manners, or as medical doctors, lawyers, professors, pilots, language instructors or other professional services which require certain qualifications in accordance with domestic laws."

http://www.koreanconsulate.on.ca/en/?b_id=77&c_id=339&mnu=a02b03&start=1
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think both countries should get rid of working holiday visas. Working Holiday? Isn't that an oxymoron? Anything based of an oxymoron of that level of idiocy deserves to be sent to the bureaucratic ash heap. Things like that seem almost designed for abuse and haphazard enforcement. Reminds me of such great ones as "Professional Student" and "Congressional Ethics Committee"
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coralreefer_1



Joined: 19 Jan 2009

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Two points: One, I also think that in Korea there are more roadblocks for foreigners who want to visit/travel/settle in Korea compared with other nations (opening a business comes to mind)

That said, I think one thing that needs to be pointed out in this case, is that many of the Koreans who are going to Canada for working holidays are doing so not actually to "work", but rather in order to immerse themselves in an English environment to study English, and find ways to support themselves during that time.

I cannot image many Canadians would come to Korea to with the main focus "study" and work only as a side job. In short, (and I have no stats to back this up and its only an assumption)..the Koreans are going to Canada to put money INTO the country (paying for school)...while Canadians (assuming they were allowed to come here and teach) would be far more likely to come to Korea mainly to make money, and take a good chunk of it out of the country when leaving.
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comm



Joined: 22 Jun 2010

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

coralreefer_1 wrote:
I cannot image many Canadians would come to Korea to with the main focus "study" and work only as a side job. In short, (and I have no stats to back this up and its only an assumption)..the Koreans are going to Canada to put money INTO the country (paying for school)...while Canadians (assuming they were allowed to come here and teach) would be far more likely to come to Korea mainly to make money, and take a good chunk of it out of the country when leaving.

And yet, the easier it is for NETs to come to Korea and teach, the more the wages will be depressed. And the lower the wages are, the greater the % of that wage has to stay in Korea as living expenses. As a rough example, one teacher making 30k/yr will obviously send more money home than two teachers making 20k/yr each.

As usual, protectionist economic policy which favors one group of citizens inevitably hurts the majority of citizens.
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minos



Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a European friend on that visa. She taught and did tons of other random jobs for companies here. Nobody cares about labor laws....an un-enforced double standard is a very weak double standard.

I actually considered it myself. Pretty sweet visa; I'm surprised more haven't came here on it if you have a freelance source of profit(like building websites, modeling, or artist). Nobody asked for my Visa status when I worked as an artist.

Is it hard to get? Only 20 people on the visa makes it sound difficult to acquire.

EDIT: allowing teaching on this visa will flood the market with even less qualified people and people from non English speaking countries. I'm out of korea but I imagine the market is still kinda tight compared to the golden days.
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Stan Rogers



Joined: 20 Aug 2010

PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 3:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now that there is a majority conservative government controlling the federal government in Canada, expect to see lots of changes.

I think we will see a lot of issues with various countries getting raised.
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