Korean Job Discussion Forums

[twg]

Hey guys, I went to the "2006 Seminar for Foreign Language Institute Teachers in Seoul, Korea" today.

The final half of the booklet they gave us contained information about the E2 visa, and since there's always a pile of questions about it, I thought it's be useful if I scanned them and posted them online. I don't know if this is all Seoul specific, but a few things are. Feel free to grab the images, and drop them in some free hosting or your own site somewhere. You probably shouldn't hotlink them if you're thinking of it, just because you never know when I'll take down the page. All them little red X's...

http://www.thewilliamg.com/e2visarules2006.html

It also includes all of the fines you may have heard about. If I read this right, it seems getting caught teaching privates may possibly cost you about twenty million won.

Hope this is useful to folks.

[Tommy]

Twg, this was a nice gesture but this booklet is by no means official. It's sloppy at best. Some of the conditions in the booklet are not longer valid, and others are just poorly worded. Just curious... who hosted the seminar?

[twg]

The KAFLA

Here's the rundown of presenters in case you're wondering:

Moon Chang-Ho (President of KAFLA)
Ahn Min-Seok (Congressman)
Min Kwang-Sik (Chief Of Seoul Immigration)
Tom Joo, (Asistant Manager of KAFLA's something or other)
Kwon Seong-Hye (Educational Affaris of Seoul Immigration)

Not that I feel Immigration is infallible, but the information was presented by Ms. Kwon there. She did that typical "reading the book" lecture thing they do here, so I can't imagine her being unaware of bad information. She was also translating for Mr. Min earlier so it all seemed on the up and up. (unless it was an elaborate scam and all these people were frauds)

So maybe it's as you say, but I figure the horse's mouth(s) is pretty close to official.

[twg]

Though I figure independently confirming this stuff with immigration* may be a good idea. You'd be a dope to just go by what you read on the internet

* Assuming you get someone who'll (know... care about... had a good enough day and likes foreigners enough at that moment that he'd care to tell you...) the rules.

[Tommy]

Haha, yeah I was going to say "If anyone wants to get the real scoop, go down to immigration" but then I came to my senses.

I'll be a little more specific about a few troubling things I read in the booklet...

1. "Must have completed university course" -just plain weird when you consider the next point:
"Must have obtained bachelor's degree"

2. "Other educational institutes and organizations that correspond to the above mentioned institutes" -this currently, and possibly temporarily, does not apply anymore.

10. "When the employer does not report you as a runaway - if it is disclosed later on, both the employer and the employee will be punished" -kind of vague and funny at the same time.