Korean Job Discussion Forums

[GoldMember]

Went to Everland some time back. Must say I was suitably impressed.
Saw lots of whities dancing, and thought, where did Everland get all these white people from?
Here is the answer.
Foreign entertainers exploited

The Migrant Workers?Labor Union revealed that 150 foreign dancers at Everland, the largest amusement park in the country, are subject to slave-like contracts. The contract the entertainers signed with Dong-ill Entertainment, a manpower supply company, says that neither Everland nor Dong-il will take any responsibility for any accidents on the job and the dancers can be fired if they get hurt or sick. The contract also stipulates that collective action by more than two dancers is not permitted. The dancers practice and perform for more than 12 hours a day, but their salaries are only 700,000 to 800,000 won with a deduction for fines amounting to 10 percent of their pay.
Minimum pay rate in Korea is about 3800 Won. Do the maths, clearly, below the minimum rate.

I hope they at least treat their Korean staff better.

Shame Everland, Shame!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'm sure many of them are making most of their income at night.

Woo-bang Towerland in Daegu has a smaller crew of whities, but I suspect it's much the same deal. It was really funny to see them do a cowboy-and-Indian sketch with Russians playing the cowboys and Koreans playing the Indians.

[kermo]

I've gotten to know the some of the Hungarian/South African/Ukrainian/Moldovian/etc., Everland staff quite well, and they do live in very cramped conditions for minimal pay.

[pest2]

[nicholas_chiasson]

-Guess I know where to go when I get really lonely...hmmm.

[prairieboy]

This is old news.

About two months ago...early to mid June, this story broke. It was all over the evening news.

The next day it was like the story never happened. Nothing in the papers or on the net. The story vanished.

Until now that is.

[DCJames]

I wonder why these people accept these jobs?

No one is holding a gun to these peoples' heads saying they have to work at Everland for low pay.

[Son Deureo!]

It's called a desperate wish to get out of poverty.

[babtangee]

[GoldMember]

The issue is this. Samsung, the owner of Everland is clearly in breach of Korean Labor regulations.
There are in breach in regard to the number of hours worked, and minimum pay.
In a "civilized" country where you have rule of law, an inspector from the Labor office would be over there kicking ass, and heads at Samsung would be rolling.
Government officials here should do their job, and secondly not discriminate whether the person is Korean or not.
As for people who say, "They shouldn't accept these job", that's pathetic. If a Korean employer rips of whitey English teacher, that's bad. If a Korean employer enslaves a whitey, Russian, or Pakistani. that's ok. We complain about Koreans being racist, well it seems there is some racism amongst the people on this board.

[nicholas_chiasson]

-But the fact remains, that no matter how bad the conditions in Korea, they are better than that of a russian small town. Even not including money gained by services that go unmentioned, I bet the amount is MUCH more than that of say, Kazalhstan.
-Not that I am justifying it, just saying the workers are, indeed, desperate.

[GoldMember]

But the Fact remains-Samsung and many other companies like them, are breaking the law-Korean Law. Korea is a signatory to the ILO, they are meant to enforse their labor laws, as they profess to do when they sign the ILO agreement.
When you say, ah but.. it's ok that the laws are broken as, these people yadda yadda yadda.
You've been in Korea too long. Thinking like a Korean!
It's ok to park right outside McDonalds, blocking a pedestrian crossing, cutting off two lanes, and creating a dangerous situation for others. It's ok, because I'm hungry, and can't be bothered parking around the corner, as I'd have to walk an extra 20 metres.
Think people think!

[nicholas_chiasson]

Having been to russia, and having never lived in Korea(yet, 2 weeks to go until I leave) I am thinking like a korean? Hmmm. Interesting. Actually, I only expect America, Canada, and Western Europe to inforce their laws. Most other countries seem rather happy-go-lucky as far as labor laws.

[huck]

It seems a little bit like Club Med...When I did that out of university, we got paid $600/month for 10-12 hours of work per day, including room and board and airfare.

Granted, our job was probably a little more fun, but in the end, your job is entertaining people, and you sign the contract knowing how much you're going to be paid.

It's not like they signed a contract for 5,000,000 won/month, and now they're getting screwed. Like another poster said, where some of them come from, $700/month would be a lot of money, and the cramped conditions might be considered spacious when compared to a large family

and relatives living in the same sized apartment back home.

The lack of insurance sucks, but I don't know if that's illegal...As to them being paid below the minimum wage, isn't that the minimum hourly wage? I'm not 100% sure, but there's a difference between signing a contract for a certain salary, and signing a contract for an hourly wage because you can claim they're "working" 12 hours a day, but I'm sure Everland can show you that they only actually wear costumes or do shows for 180 hours/month, which would put them above the minimum wage....But since they're on salary, and they don't have to clock in or anything, then you'll never the truth without doing more research on your own, so now you're just arguing about hypotheticals.

In summary, they get $700-$800/month, plus food, plus housing, plus airfare...How much do you spend for food and housing each month? You have to add that into the equation.

So, as an "instructor", the lesson here is don't get all riled up over half-assed facts from a single newspaper article....Go find out more info before arguing so vociferously about something you're not certain is true...I don't know if my own viewpoint is right, but I'm not going to accuse others of being wrong, like you've been doing (goldmember).

[Leslie Cheswyck]