Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ninjamonkey]

i personally think this is a great thing for every hard working english teacher here who actually have an higher education.

every deported illegal is an increase in the avg level of education for foreigners here isn't it? not to mention a decrease in the % of us breaking korean laws?

not to mention that every deported illegal means one more job for the rest of us

sure the response from koreans on the illegals here is overblown but surly we can't b*tch about them enforcing logical laws in their own country? high school drop outs shouldn't be teachers, if only on the little value they themselves placed on education. it doesn't take a BA to teach the ABCs but its not irrational to ask that teachers have a BA either.

i personally hope they catch EVERY single illegal here so i don't have to put up with any suspicion about my qualifications

[chupacabra]

That was a pretty cutting-edge opinion, six months ago.

Just about every poster on every board I've seen agrees with you now.

[itaewonguy]

problem is the demand is to high to keep them away..
there are hundreds of hakwons opening everyday their is a shortage of teachers in Korea so taking away the illegals will only hurt business and education in the long run.. better jobs for us??
it doesnt make a difference.. the jobs are there if you want it..
this will not change anything.. if anything it might give MR kim and Mr Choi a promotion at immigration thats about it..
anyway they have been reporting illegals and catching a few since I have been here from 97.. it will never end.. they catch 100 illegals..
but the other 3000 are still free and the next 100 are arriving off the planes...
illegals American needs to do something about the 300.000 illegal koreans living and working in the states!!
69 teachers busted!! well its a start hahahahahah
they will never get them all!! NEVER!!!!
not even close..
it all goes back to the Pojungmachas.. they are illegal but you see them everywhere.. you even see policeman in them..
JESUS I use to teach a policemans daughter...
welcome to korea!!
some get busted.. the majority just go about their business..
gotta make it look like they are actually doing something..
scare tactics also are being applied here..

[The King of Kwangju]

I have mixed feelings.

I can totally understand why people who are trying to be serious about it find the illegals frustrating.

Yet on the other hand, I always admired the illegals for having a good set of cojones. I knew many. Some were great teachers. Most had rotten career options in Canada, and Korea was a great chance for them. After making some great money, they went back to their home countries, got married, and bought houses with their dough.

Hard to be angry at that story.

[panthermodern]

This is the topic of the ages ...

It will never go away ...

It will never be resolved ...

It will always generate opinion ...

and opinion is energy ... thus it cannot be destroyed.

[fancypants]

does anyone know what the final count of deported teachers was? and were all of them working on fake degrees? i read the globe and mail article but it was vague about this point. i have a feeling that at least some of them were potentially "qualified" teachers working on tourist visas. after more than 5 years in korea on E2s and experiencing my fair share of dastardly wanjangnims who because of the exploitative LOR thing felt they owned me, i admit i pondered taking a risk and working on a tourist visa more than a few times rather than lock myself into one agonisingly long hellish year of indentured servitude.

and i know of a few other degree-holding teachers too the risk and worked on tourist visas...

[Grotto]

Deporting illegal teachers...fine.

Imprisoning illegal teachers for the heinous crime of teaching ENGLISH stupid beyond belief

[SuperFly]

For every one that you kick out, 20 more will come!
In a few years, Korea could have as many as 100,000 illegal teachers - screwing up your salaries!

Are you gonna take that?

Well?

What are you gonna do about it!?!!?

[some waygug-in]

There's always China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Russia, Poland, Check Republic or the mid east or latin America or ..

[Greekfreak]

I knew a couple Australians who would come back every so often on a tourist visa with no qualifications and work privates up the yin/yang, which pi$$ed me off to no end--the people who argue "hey, more power to them" are likely in the same boat. Pure and simple. Also knew of a Canadian guy who was working at one of the top Uni's in my area who never had a degree.

The issue is not teaching privates, it's spitting in the face of those who have gone through Uni/equivalent with a degree to show for it. I for one couldn't be happier.

[BigBlackEquus]

I am completely happy about it. If you aren't, you are abnormal.

Why do I say that?

Because the thought process behind sort of thing is far bigger than simply 'illegal teachers.'

Think of virtually any profession: machinist, brick layer, electrician, police, doctors, lawyers, teachers back home........

If you are working a job, and suddenly an influx of non-educated people enter your field, learning 'on-the-job' then what will that do to your salary? It will go down. Would people back home in other professions stand for this?

Unions are developed based on this type of problem, for example. Countries have laws blocking immigrants to combat this very problem.

Yet many of you argue, 'Oh, they should just let anyone come here and teach...'

Some of you amaze me.

[deessell]

IMHO there is a big difference between working illegally(as in not having a work visa) and working with false qualifications. As a person with a hard earned degree, both finacially and mentally, I resent the devaluation that occures when people procure false documents.

However, in all seriousness I would prefer to have the freedom to change my job and have the flexibility that "freelancing" offers.

I also think that the average hogwon job here in Korea does not require any special skills apart from the ability to be a native speaker. Hogwans are businesses not educational institutions. Regulate the industry first then concentrate on the staff situation.

[bosintang]

I have my feelings towards teachers with fake credentials, and it's certainly not sympathy. But yet, I continuously say this. The illegals and the degenerates are not the ones running this industry. They only go to Korea because someone is willing to hire them there, and I don't think for a minute that the person who hires them really gives a damn whether they are university-educated or not.

Do I think uneducated, untrained, unemployable teachers should be teaching in Korea? No, I don't. But to improve things Koreans really need to take a good look at the system that gets them in their position in the first place.

Another argument about illegal teachers I just don't buy is that they lower legal teachers salaries. As it is now, demand far outstrips supply for native speakers in Korea, which is why the unemployable can get jobs in there to begin with. If you really believe your salary is going to go up because teachers are getting arrested and deported, I think you're living in a fantasy.

As wrong as it might be, I can only see illegal or unruly teachers making the news creating negative consequences on a legal teacher's sojourn in Korea. I think their publicised behaviour will only make it that much harder for English teachers in Korea, as individuals, to do their job and receive respect they deserve for doing it.

[VanIslander]

Ahssa !

[Sofa_King]

I am all for the deportation of illegals. However, I believe that Korea can save itself a lot of work searching for illegals afterwords if it had more of a rigorous screening process to enter the country in the first place.

People coming in should have criminal record checks to ensure that those that enter could be trusted with children. And I am in favour of the transcripts being sealed. This acts as a deterrent to those who are thinking about coming in illegally with forged documents. In addition, do a little research on the university/college to see if it is real. I'm sure that immigration can call a university to see whether individuals being hired have legitimate degrees (but then again, I am not fully aware on how confidentiality applies here). This keeps the illegals out and stops the defamation and discrimination against those who are here to teach and work legitimately.