Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cohiba]

I don't understand why everyone on this board seems to
hate illegal teachers. The entire teaching system in South
Korea is so corrupt, inefficient and profit driven. But you
"Illegal Haters" seem to think it is some kind of upper level
Oxford Ph.D. course!

Why are you shiny, happy people defending such a despicable
educational set-up? Day after day I see people getting
screwed over by all levels of this system, and you people
give them advice on how to salvage their rear ends. It is
so stupid!

My simple philosophy is this: If there is any shafting to do
around here, I am going to be the one to do it. I won't put
myself in the position where a one-sided system can put me
at financial risk. ONLY in Korea is "Illegal" teaching illegal.
I am also not 20 years old anymore. I would never work for
2 million.

"If it ain't over five, then I'm taking a dive"

[the_beaver]

Things like this have been bothering me for a while. It's not fucking everybody.

Derek constantly says 'all Canadians' this and 'all Canadians' that but the things he describes I don't do or say.

Several people say this board has mainly anti-Korean posters but a good number of us are pretty positive.

Now this one. I 've never said anything against illegal teaching or teachers.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

[fidel]

Because they don't know how to quantify their statements. Don't make broad sweeping all encompassing statements as it makes you look like a tool. I for one, don't give illegal teachers a second thought and certainly don't hate them.

[FUBAR]

As long as illegals aren't taking a job that I want, I could care less about them.

Some of the best people I have met here have been illegals.

[mindmetoo]

I don't think it's hate. I just have a lack of sympathy for those who break the rules and get caught.

Koreans might not play by the rules but many of us in the west do and just because it's a free for all here doesn't mean you have to shift your moral baseline.

[Daechidong Waygookin]

Illegals make us all look bad. The more illegals are caught the more we ALL appear illegal to the average Korean. Another reason is that illegals flooding the job market drives wages down for all of us.

[SuperHero]

illegal teachers - whatever.

Trolls such as the OP - now they suck ass.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

I was illegal for a long time. I still am, in a way. It's half my income. It is a necessary evil.

That said, there's an illegal teacher on my couch right now. I want my couch back.

[chronicpride]

[The Lemon]

[Chillin' Villain]

Definitely don't hate 'em, cuz they constitute a sizeable number of my friends.

BUT- I do think it's ridiculous when I hear the biatchin' and moaning about immigration when they get busted. There's a ton of bad things to grumble about immigration, but cracking down on something that we all know is clearly illegal is hardly wrong. A bud of mine got deported last year, and yeah, it sucked that he had to leave, but I wasn't about to chime in with his, "Effin' Korea, effin' immigration" rant... Everyone knows the score.

(Again, no hate! I envy 'em sometimes- bastidges make way more than me and can leave whenever the hell they want!)

[chronicpride]

Like I basically said on his other troll thread, the OP just likes the smell of his own farts, and has to draw some sidelong reference to his earnings. He probably even has to further compensate for the void between his legs by sporting a mullet and driving a mufferless TransAm.

[fusionbarnone]

I've never been concerned about "illegal" teachers. Why, well because the ones I know and have met, seem to be the happiest and most unanal of all teachers I've encountered in Korea over the last 4 years. Not only that, they seem to get far far more bang for their bucks too as they know which side their bread is buttered. Which I'm sorry to say, much more in fact than what newbies regularly sign contracts for . Who's dragging down the wages?Why not look at the official job board(postered for people who must "have" degrees) and you can easily see from the latest round of lowly salary offering/insults as to who those adverts are directed at. For those who've been here for a while and require entertainment, check out the Korean job board. It seems to me hogwan dictators have gained a lot of experience and developed greater confidence in the "how to" art of sending newbies packing with throbbing buttocks and stories of indescribable woe. I'm not dumping on newbies as I don't like what's done to others either, just emphasizing that "lots' of homework should be done before-hand.


The term illegal does appear quite odd(business practic/se/s) in this country because any "trendy catchphrase" is associated with a hidden powerplay directed and deployed through the medium of public opinion. It's also important to remember, "whoever defines the terms, defines the battlefield". Ever wonder why good news is bad news?Because, the negativity created,occupies peoples minds to such an extent they then tend to hand-over "consent" to their leaders through fear and uncertainty concerning events apparently beyond their immediate control. Happens the world over and is standard politiking. It really depends on striving to become aware as to what the modus rationale/agenda is before we start stomping on each other.

Being waygookin, illegal is still viewed as foreign/different to locals. It's just an interchangeable term to enable locals to keep their patriotism simmering.Think about it, every national from the apple seller through to whoever in this country eagerly await foreigners as they all benefit from them in some direct/indirect way(free lessons, foreigner prices, immigration,etc). That's why the net is alive with stories of connivance and underhandedness because contractees are seen as "indentured chattels" for the handlers and "fair game for everyone else. Where a name identifies the object then gossip validates the treatment. This one-sided usuary is almost impossible to do amongst their own(apart from throwing tantrums and threatening behavior to bully girls usually) as they are too sharp for each other. Any het-up action somewhere is always about gain somewhere else;you've just gotta do some diggin. It's always about some form of pecuniary gain in any of it's forms. If a waygookin, illegal, legal(with mill degree) or not are able to win on their own terms, more power to them. heaven knows whe're all been caught napping at one time or another.

Legal is a very loose term here. Take the terms tariff and non-tariff compliance, both are inter-changeable in regards to compliance to almost every official who overlooks the manifest and regulations pertaining to import duties and compliance, etc. If you look at trade and tariff regulation in this country(so, teachers think they're the only one's harrassed by the system; meaning imigration and E2 visas?), it is regulated toward stringent control. Ships in port are required to stand for days, even ,with cargos of highly perishable goods until they surrender the demands made on them by officials. If the company imports a product, the customs officials declare the surrender of ingredients or trade secrets including batch quantities, blueprints, etc. Ever wondered why many of fortune 500 companies are unprepreped to do business here, or why, the "Colonel's recipe tastes different? The newly procured propriotory-cum-confidential information(according to one very reliable source) is than "leaked' to the media/politico who than "leak" the information to a local business in a competing trade. Still doesn't help the terrible local fried chicken though.

As far as the furore over illegals in this industry is concerned, what policies in education have been bandied about or discussed over the last 2 years? For example, during the IMF crisis, Korea shifted it's emphasis in domestic car production over to exports into the US. This shift which according to economists, enabled the country to maintain economic stability during this period while the rest of asia fell apart. The media of the day actively promoted "buy local/Chaebol made". Where car manufacturers were seen as a critical fulcrum in order to enable the country to ride out the fiscal crisis, the media portrayed the possesion of any car of foreign origin as unnationalistic in order to divert consumer-internal spending away from foreign products back to local products. As a result, importers of foreign luxury cars were harrassed, assaulted, etc.

I also wonder with far-reaching speculation of course,if the govt is speculating on regulating Hogwans as it is a well-known multi-billion dollar industry. Especially for those huge chains who were lucky/shrewd enough to get "permission" to get into the lucrative education/babysitting trade when hogwans were first legalized. For example, one teacher "farmed" out to a school =4 hours(classroom) per week=represents an additional income of from 1.3million and upwards (Seoul pays more than Jeolla) to the Hogwan per month(heaven help the teacher if the school failed to notify immigration). That's a lot of income from one teacher and that's only the iceberg tip for successful operations. Perhaps, los politicos who love extra cash from anywhere may begin offering the first clue for impending regulation in the form of special-purpose funding to public schools.

Or, maybe, Hogwan directors are so livid with rage knowing about the loot they're missing out on are actively complaining/campaigning about those freelance consultants with their noose-free visas. After probably finding out about this "under-handed" and d"irty pool" gray market in "illegal" teaching during their Hogwan Owner's special lessons classes(how to scotch-hobble ESL foreigner classes ,which are by the way, very popular in Jeolla at the moment) and how to "legally" get round standard contracts.

Just wondering. My 2 cents.

[Derrek]