Korean Job Discussion Forums

[csgallag]

Just a question to everyone: What would be an equitable income in your home country for what you make in South Korea if you wanted to have the same quality of life.

This is not about actual costs of individual things, but how you live.

Ex. $37,000 USD/year is not as much as 2.3mil won/month in that the only apartments I can afford are in the same apartment complexes as people I have arrested (or their baby mommas, which is sometimes worse than they are). Furthermore, with taxes and health care costs, I only take home $24,000/year.

So, what would you need to make in your home country to equal what you make in Korea?

Side note: when an ad says "2.3 mil/month" what's the take-home amount?

[Captain Corea]

It's super hard to say... it really just depends more on the city, than the country, in a way.


I want to live in a 2 storey house with a front and back yard and attached garage in the burbs (like most of my friends to back home) - to find that anywhere IN Seoul would be pretty tough. To find it for much under a million $ would be near impossible. So, I'd have to head outside of Seoul... into, the burbs... but then they don't build that style of house very often. You can get part of a villa, but that's not the same to me.

So instead, like most people here, I live in an apartment. And already the comparison between Korea and back home is skewed.

You mention it's how you live, and that's true. Want a house, steak and potatoes, and all the "western" things, you're going to pay a fair bit more for it here in Korea. BUt live "more Korean", eating local dishes, do things more the local way, and it's often cheaper than in NA.

There have been soooooooo many threads on this. It seriously is apples to oranges for most folks.

[csgallag]

I guess I'm mostly interested in the basics: housing (which is often provided), food (as in groceries, not eating out everyday), transportation (subway is going to be less than car insurance and gas), possibly clothing though since I've got hips, it won't be Korean clothing!

I lived in Korea before, under different circumstances (not married... This would all be different if the hubby was from a hirable country haha! Alas, a dependent)

[12ax7]