Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sadebugo1]

I posted this about six months ago. It seems that more people are leaving what on the surface seems like a good gig (see ad posted on 30/11). Before you apply, please consider the comments below:


If you are considering employment with this university, there are a few
things you need to know. First of all, let me give you some background
information.

I began working at NamSeoul in the fall of '02 and finished my contract
exactly one year later. For the most part, I enjoyed my time there and
especially enjoyed the students in my classes. Contrary to the stereotype
of Korean university students, they worked hard and showed improvement in their English skills. I had decided to spend at least two years there if not more, but personal reasons that I need not go into here interfered with this. Therefore, I decided to resign at the end of my contract.

Prior to my final decision, I had heard some disturbing comments from fellow instructors concerning payment issues. Although NamSeoul had always paid my monthly salary on time, they apparently were not so meticulous about paying final salaries. I heard the following during the course of the school year:

*Instructor A (a few years ago) had not received his final salary because of his girlfriend. According to the story, she had worked in another
department of the university and left before she had completed her contract. The university decided that because of their close relationship, it was justified in docking his final salary as compensation for the cost of
replacing her.

*Instructor B (the semester before I arrived) had kicked his door in anger
and damaged it. There were no witnesses to this act, but the university
withheld his entire final salary to replace the door.

Now, I want to be very clear about the above. These stories are hearsay and I have no direct knowledge of their veracity. However, I did hear about these from at least two other instructors employed by the university at that time. I also heard several other stories related to nonpayment, but I will not include them as they were not confirmed by multiple sources.

In case you're wondering why I'm being so careful about qualifying these
stories, it's because I don't want to give any ammunition to likely
apologists for the university. Sure enough, if I make one irrelevant
mistake, there are those who will jump on it and use it to invalidate my
whole submission! I hope I haven't misspelled any words!

Having said this, the following is information that I DO have direct
knowledge of:

*In violation of labor law, the university withholds the final salary for at
least one month. This has the dual purpose of paying final utility bills
that arrive after the instructor's departure and potentially, keeping the
salary for other arbitrary reasons (see above).

*The university also promises to apply for a pension refund and wire this at the same time as the final salary.

Now, here's what happened to me. When I announced my eventual resignation, several instructors warned me about getting the final salary. One of them told me that my reason for leaving should be a sick relative that needed my help. Another told me that I should go to the 'administrative affairs' office "cap in hand" and politely ask for the salary. Eventually, I went to this office as did the other three instructors who were resigning. I was relieved when I met the Korean who was in charge of the office. He was very kind and assured me that I would receive the final salary one month after departure. He also assured me that I would receive the pension wired to my bank after they applied for it. I specifically asked him if I should fill out any paperwork for the pension and he said "no." "We have done this numerous times before and you need only wait." I left feeling much better and guessing the previous stories were just that.

So, I returned to America and began waiting for the funds to arrive. On
schedule, I received what looked like the final salary after utility
deductions, but no sign of the pension. I immediately e-mailed the
individual I had spoken with before. I did not receive any response. I
continued to e-mail, snail mail, and telephone him over the next four
months, but still was unable to make contact with this one individual.
Eventually, I enlisted the help of a former colleague who informed me that
the office had forgotten to apply for the pension and had apologized
profusely. I was once again relieved guessing that I would eventually get
the refund. Unfortunately, for two more months, I heard nothing and then in April (after I sent a registered letter) was unceremoniously told that they could not send my pension since I didn't have a Korean bank account anymore. The pension office refuses to transfer funds to non-Korean accounts according to the university. This seems to be the end of it for me since I will not be returning to Korea.

Well, I guess you win some and lose some. I did receive the final salary
after all which is better than some have fared in the past. It's just that
I've always felt that taking money from someone is the worst possible
violation an employer can commit. I don't know what really happened with my pension refund, but at the least, my employer's negligence cost me the equivalent of a month's salary. By posting these events, I hope I've spared others the same hassle or at least, allowed them to enter this situation with eyes wide open.

For the record, this university usually advertises in May or October for
open positions. You may never see these ads, however, because they tend to be on obscure websites/lists that don't charge anything. Just keep this story in mind if you ever see their ad.

Best of luck to all of you!

[Harpeau]

Thanks for sharing this info with us. It seems fair and balanced to me. It's too bad about the pension. Is there anything that can be done?

It's a sad case, really.

Harpeau

[J.B. Clamence]

Interesting.. It appears that the ad has been pulled. I did a Yahoo search and found that their ad was indeed posted on Nov. 30, but it has been erased.

[prosodic]

[Sadebugo1]

Thanks to all respondents for their feedback. I appreciate the fact that no one tried to minimize what I lost or experienced. I know so many people who, due to all the injustices they've experienced in Korea, take on a 'win some, lose some' attitude. In my opinion, any violation of the contract/labor law is just plain wrong. Take care

[Real Reality]

Sadebugo1 wrote,
"In my opinion, any violation of the contract/labor law is just plain wrong."

Exactly. I concur.

Foreigners Experience Difficulties in Living in Korea
Overall living conditions, including education, housing, medical care, transportation, immigration, and access to the Internet are pointed to as inconveniences. Not only inconveniences caused by different systems and customs in Korea, but also special discriminating practices, such as the practice of submitting two years of monthly rent in advance like a deposit, which is required of foreigners just because they are foreigners, are ubiquitous. "Even though Korea has achieved some degree of globalization in going abroad, it has still a long way to go for globalization in embracing foreigners inward," said foreigners residing in Korea.
by Jae-Dong Yu and Soo-Jung Shin, Donga.com (July 4, 2004)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2004070522448

Ex-pats Describe Korea's Culture of Corruption
"Koreans always seem prepared to give out bribes. I was shocked by the culture and attitude of Koreans who feel no guilt despite breaking the law."
by Kim Hong-jin, Chosun Ilbo (December 16, 2004)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200412/200412160027.html

Foreign scholars merit equal status
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) while walled off from the permanent Korean faculty who benefit from travel, research funding, sabbaticals, etc. Moreover, when hundreds of Korean scholars enjoy such perks at American and other foreign universities, something is obviously amiss.
According to the Samsung Group's chairman, Lee Kun-hee, to succeed globally, Korea must forgo the thought that Korea and being Korean is superior, and foreign specialists must be treated with respect.
by John B. Kotch, JoongAng Daily (June 14, 2002)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200206/14/200206142349223599900090109011.html