Korean Job Discussion Forums

candyteacher · Joined: 08 Jan 2009 Location: where ever i want

Hi all,

Iv friends interested in coming to korea and have ulsan and pohang suggested to them by recruiters. As i've not been to either places, i was hoping that anyone who knows theses cities or better still have lived in them can give me any info that i can pass on.

Both good and bad please.
cheers all.

Chamchiman · Joined: 24 Apr 2006 Location: Digging the Grave

The Guru asked that very question:

Tobias · Joined: 02 Jun 2008

Pohang is Korea's Pittsburgh. Ulsan is Korea's Newport News/Detroit. Hope this helps.

candyteacher · Joined: 08 Jan 2009 Location: where ever i want

thanks guys, i did try using the search option but it didnt really help, im prob just using it wrong.

tobias, im sure that makes sense but im not from the U.S and have never been to either of these places, so unfortunatly i cant relate!!

any other info would be great from anyone.

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

Ulsan and Pohang are both Korean industrial cities. Situated on/near the coast the comprise some of Korea's most important manufacturing facilities. POSCO is located in Pohang and one of the best universities is located there, Postech. It's an engineering school. Both places have ample shopping/bars to hang out in, basic comforts that would be found in all of Korea's big cities.
However they are polluted and air quality does vary. I was in Pohang yeterday and the air was pretty good. Near the harbor it is kind of polluted. I imagine it's the same in Ulsan in certain areas.
All in all I could live in there if I absolutely had too, but it would not be any of my top 10 choices of places to be in Korea.

Suerte,
Jesse

candyteacher · Joined: 08 Jan 2009 Location: where ever i want

thanks jesse, just a quick question! Why is the air quality so bad, is it location(geographically) or the ship yards etc???

TBirdMG · Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Location: SF, CA, USA

C'mon Candy....
Pohand is one of, if not the, biggest shipbuilder in the world. Becasue of that, there's TONS of steel being melted, reconstituted, and remelted every day. As well, many of the shipbuilding parts fabricators line the corridor between Ulsan and Pohand, giving the area, yes, the Pittsburgh/Detroit feel. I'm not sure if Korea has the equivalent of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but if so, things are way lax. Local river tributaries are overt dumping grounds (I have never seen so much algae in my life...a sure sign of indistrial pollution), and the beaches are of dubious quality. Of course, there is a very diverse expat community, as the shipbuilding industry still relies on a high number of foreign shipbuilding engineers and project managers. Nice to integrate the ESLers with the Mariners. But that may be the only positive side of this corner of the peninsula.