Korean Job Discussion Forums

Irish · Joined: 15 Nov 2005

My boyfriend got into a fight last night with another foreigner, and got his jaw fractured. He now has to go into hopsital for a minimum of 10 days, and get pins inserted into his jaw.

Anyone any idea how the school is going to react, or if he can go about suing the person for medical bills. He doesnt have any insurance, so it's going to cost about 4 million apparently. Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated.

canuckistan · Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject:

I don't know if "blood money" applies to foreigners hurting other foreigners in Korea, but the police can tell you about pressing charges etc.

Hopefully the guy who did this will step up to the plate and do the right thing.

Irish · Joined: 15 Nov 2005

Cheers, will check that out now.
Yeah apparently it applies to foreigners too. Now just have to find out the guys name, address etc.
What a nightmare!!

joe_doufu · Joined: 09 May 2005 Location: Elsewhere

Just out of curiousity, who started the fight and what was it about? Was he defending his lady's honor, or was he drunk and barfed on the other dude's shoes?

Big Mac · Joined: 17 Sep 2005

Why doesn't he have medical insurance? Isn't it law that Korean employers enrol foreign teachers in the medical insurance plan and pay 50 per cent of the cost?

If I were him I would hit up his boss for the medical charges for failing to abide by the law and get him medical coverage.

That is, assuming your boyfriend is legally entitled to work in Korea.

Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

diver · Joined: 16 Jun 2003

The 'blood money' law does apply in Korea. There is a poster on this board that can attest to it personally, but I will let him decide if he wishes to tell his story or not.

My understanding is that it doesn't matter who starts the fight. Whoever does the most damage is on the hook for expenses (so careul letting those druk ajoshis suck you into a fight).

I have never worked for a hakwon that provided the medical insurance they are supposed to (that's why I have my own policy). I don't know if they are required to provide it by law or not, or if they don't provide it if they have to pay anyway. It will be something for you to look into.

As far as I understand Korean law, the guy that broke your boyfriend's jaw will have to pay for it anyway.

Irish · Joined: 15 Nov 2005

Just looked at his contract and it says this about insurance,

The institute shall pay one-half of the instructor's medical insurance premium. Other half paid for by the instructor.

So does this mean its irrelevant, as we never got any premiums. His boss is trying to sort insurance out tomorrow, but he said that because it was a fight and not an accident, that maybe he wouldn't be covered anyway.

Medical costs will be 1 million won, with medical insurance, over 4 million without. The problem with getting the other person to pay up, is that he was only visiting a friend, we dont even know his second name. We got his phone number, but its a mobile, so he can easily dodge calls.
I wasn't there,so unless he was defending my honour in my absence I think it was more to do with ...
beer then wine thats fine,
wine then beer oh fucking deer, and then sojo, uh oh

And if he hasnt learned his lesson, I feel equipped to teach it to him.

tzechuk · Joined: 20 Dec 2004

The National Health Insurance is not going to know if your bf was in a fight or if he had an accident. All they are "interested" in, if you can say that, is that he is injured and needs treatment. How he injured himself is not their concern.

It is, however, a little late to sort out insurance tomorrow after the fact!!! His boss is in trouble for not getting his insurance right away and will be fined!

I wish you the best of luck.

Big Mac · Joined: 17 Sep 2005

babtangee · Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 3:47 am Post subject:

joe_doufu · Joined: 09 May 2005 Location: Elsewhere

Yeah they will try to get you for all the previous insurance premiums that you haven't paid in all the previous months you've been in Korea, too. And no retroactive coverage, oh no, but you've got to pay retroactive premiums.

Big Mac · Joined: 17 Sep 2005

Just an aside on this. It seems that a lot of hogwan owners want to avoid enrolling their employees in the National Medical Plan. It's because apparently once they do this, it also automatically enrols the employee in the National Pension Plan (it's also law). This is a huge expense that employers generally want to avoid. It's also something most new teachers (and even some long-timers) don't know about. I know I didn't, and was very pissed when I realized I had been duped by my employer.

In reality...the teacher actually has a lot to gain by insisting that they pay into the pension plan. They deduct 4.5 per cent of your salary for the plan BUT your employer has to match that amount. You get your contributions and your employer's contributions back when you leave Korea. You have to apply for the rebate at the end and be from the right country (I think Australians are out of luck on this one). Believe me, it's a significant bonus at the end.

Your boss has to do this WHETHER IT'S IN THE CONTRACT OR NOT. It's law!

The thing is, your hogwan owner is counting on your ignorance on this stuff...because he or she will see all this as a huge business expense that can be avoided.

If your employer hasn't provided you with medical insurance or pension you should be fighting it. I know it seems like nit-picky stuff, but there are a lot of people losing out on all this stuff because they either don't know about it or are not willing to stand up to their bosses.

Pyongshin Sangja · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: I love baby!

What's with all the jawbreakers being thrown around town these days?

bellum99 · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: don't need to know

So what happened?

Seems strange that the poster doesn't want to talk about it. The poster didn't seem outraged or upset at the injustice in the world. Maybe the guy who got hurt needed a kick in the head. I have met a lot of people in Korea who are bad drunks and thought they would have benefited from some correction.