Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Are you really paid well? Are all foreigners paid equal to or better than their Korean co-workers?

Consider these two quotes:

Foreign workers are paid 1.2 million won ($1,000) a month on average, far less than Korean workers.
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200307/03/200307032346413709900090509051.html

Foreign professors tend to be treated as hired hands, without academic standing, and lacking the possibility of career advancement or tenure. They must submit to yearly contracts (compensated at a rate only 60 percent of their Korean peers).
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200206/14/200206142349223599900090109011.html

[BTM]

Your first link seems to be talking about 'industrial trainees' (ie slave workers from the 3rd world), there, rather than us Language Pimps.

Not that I disagree entirely your main point, of course.

[The Cube]

..

[Real Reality]

How about institutes, schools, and universities provide a scale on their websites?

For example:
Minimum Salary Scale for Sessional Lecturers
for Faculties/Departments where 6 credits per term is a full-time load
effective from July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003 (includes the 2% general wage increase effective July 1, 2002)


Step $ per credit ... 3 credit course
..1 .... $2,492 ............ $7,476
..2 .... $2,523 ............ $7,570
..3 .... $2,556 ............ $7,668
..4 .... $2,589 ............ $7,766
..5 .... $2,621 ............ $7,864
..6 .... $2,654 ............ $7,962
..7 .... $2,686 ............ $8,057
..8 .... $2,717 ............ $8,152
Note: this scale does not reflect year in rank.

http://www.facultyrelations.ubc.ca/administration/2002scale2.htm

Lecturers -- Categories and Fringe Benefits
http://www.universitycounsel.ubc.ca/policies/policy38.html

PROFESSOR
Country ..... Salary/Month
Australia .... 4,751
China ........ 453
Hong Kong 16,287
India ......... 367
Indonesia .. 88
Japan ........ 6,983
Malaysia .... 2,851
Philippines . 367
Singapore . 4,921
S. Korea ... 5,511
Taiwan ..... 3,279
Thailand ... 662
U.S. ......... 6,074
All are median salaries that exclude fixed and variable bonuses. Exchange rates per $1 used to calculate monthly salaries: Australia, A$1.63; China, RMB8.28; Hong Kong, HK$7.78; India, Rs43.61; Indonesia, Rp7,380; Japan, 110 yen; Malaysia, RM3.80; Philippines, 40.85 pesos; Singapore, S$1.71; South Korea, 1,134 won; Taiwan, NT$30.78; Thailand, 37.77 baht.
http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/features/salaries/2000/popups/content/21prof.html

[Anda]

Experianced Korean teachers and professors get paid a lot more than what experianced Western teachers get paid here. Something like 50% more.

As I've said before if one wants to get paid more then local teachers then go to China or Russia and you will get paid more than the local teachers but about 60% less than what we get paid as foreign teachers here.


The big money in Hong Kong is due to the cost of living there.

[blah]

In Taiwan you will make about double the amount as your Taiwanese co-teacher, for doing half the work and two thirds the hours. This leads to a lot of resentment towards foreign teachers. Just a point to think about.

[Morning Calm]

I understand your point and it's a very interesting topic. However, I think you've presented it in a confusing manner. Anyway, it definately depends on who your comparing salaries with. Do you mean the average Korean in the ESL market? Do you mean the average Korean working in the PC bangs and soju bangs? Do you mean the average office worker? Or do you mean the average Samsung employee?

[Real Reality]

He added taxi drivers earn an average of 1.78 million won per month, 60-70 percent of what bus drivers make.
Taxis Seek to Hike Fares by Over 20%
By Bae Keun-min, Korea Times (November 24, 2004)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200411/kt2004112414591253460.htm

Do you earn the same as a bus driver?

[thorin]

[Real Reality]

thorin,
Good reply.

Teachers are respected more than bus drivers in Korea, right?
If teachers are respected more than bus drivers, then are teachers paid a higher salary with more (or better) benefits?

[mindmetoo]

Wasn't there some discussion about moving RR's semi weekly "look people in unrelated industries who work twice our hours make more than us!" barf-n-url post into some kind of sticky post?

[thorin]

[kangnamdragon]

If someone wants more pay in Korea, he or she should learn Korean and become a Korean citizen.

[Real Reality]

kangnamdragon wrote,
"If someone wants more pay in Korea, he or she should learn Korean and become a Korean citizen."

That is too funny.

A Korean citizen? Citizenship is irrelevant. What do you appear to be? Do you have the physical characteristics of a Korean? Is your Korean pronunciation perfect? Does Korean citizenship come with cosmetic surgery?

[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR] Discrimination
Having taught English conversation, there have been too many students that have withdrawn from this writer's class simply because of the color of their instructor's skin. This Korean-American has personally experienced the deep discrimination/racism of Korea, and it is painful.
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200212/200212250002.html

[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR] Giving foreigners here a hard time
While I have learned to read hangeul and enjoy practising it every time I take the bus, it is the feelings of anti-Americanism that impede my average workday. For instance, I have been turned away by galbi restaurant owners at the door. "No miguk (America)!" they say. Another time, at one of Korea's bigger department store chains, I was refused the right to purchase an electronics item. Again, "No miguk!" was the reason.
by Nathan Drescher, Korea Herald (October 13, 2004)
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/10/13/200410130012.asp

Foreign women here can find marriage frightening
By law, foreigners who marry Korean citizens are eligible to apply for citizenship here after two years of marriage, but they also must have their partner's consent. These preconditions for citizenship are problematic, because abuse usually starts in the first few months of marriage, said Kim Yun-jeong, a counselor at an Anyang social services center. "We had a woman who came to seek help after three months of marriage," Ms. Kim says. "Even if the women are qualified to apply for Korean citizenship, most Korean men who marry foreign wives often don't agree to sign for their wives' Korean citizenship because they fear that the women might run away after obtaining the visa. We've seen a foreign woman with a child who's lived with her husband for five years, but he still won't agree to sign it."
by Park Soo-mee, JoongAng Daily (September 7, 2004)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200409/07/200409072141067939900091009101.html

[Sage Monkey]

You're on crack.