Build your life in Korea.

Friend got fired on E-2 with 5 months left on contract — how much time does she have?

Posting on behalf of a friend who's panicking. She got pulled into a meeting yesterday and the hagwon basically said "we're letting you go, your last day is in 2 weeks." She's been there 7 months on a 12-month contract. · She's freaking out about visa. Some questions she has but is too overwhelmed to post herself: · How long until she has to leave Korea or get a new sponsor? · Can she switch to D-

On E-7, bringing wife (also software dev) and toddler from Lahore — F-3 reality check?

I've been on E-7 for 6 months at a Seoul fintech. My wife and our 3-year-old are still in Lahore. We want them here permanently. · Questions before I start the F-3 application: · Can my wife work? She's a software developer too. Or is F-3 purely "dependent"? · Korean school for our kid — what are the actual options at age 3? Public, international, Korean preschool? · Health insurance — are they co

Hagwon adding morning homeroom duties not in my contract — can they actually force this?

Week 3 at the hagwon. Today the director told me I'll be the homeroom teacher for the kindergarten class starting next week — which means morning shifts (8am instead of 1pm), lunch supervision, and parent communication. My contract specifically says "afternoon English instruction, no morning shifts." · When I asked about it, the director said "in Korea we adjust based on need" and that all the tea

Uni HR says foreign instructors on annual contracts don't get severance. Is that real?

Year 3 at my uni, contract ends in February. The HR person mentioned offhand that "severance doesn't apply for foreign instructors on annual contracts" and I was too caught off guard to push back. · Is this actually true? I've been here three full years on rolling 1-year contracts. Korean law as I understand it: 1+ year of continuous employment = severance equal to ~1 month per year. Three years s

F-6 holder — do I need extra permits to work remotely for an overseas company?

I got my F-6 in September after marrying my husband (he is from 부산) in March. My old company in Hanoi has been asking me to help them open Korean wholesale buyer accounts for their clothing brand. Mostly online — emails, video calls — but maybe a few in-person meetings with shop owners here. · Is this counted as working under F-6? Do I need to register a business or get an extra permit? My friend

Year 3 stuck at 2.9M in Daegu. How do people actually break the teaching salary ceiling?

Year 3 talk. Currently at a small uni in Daegu, ~2.9M after taxes. Decent enough but I'm noticing my friends in Seoul who switched out of teaching are at 4-5M+ and I'm staring at another year of the same. · Realistically — what does it take to actually break past 2.9M as someone whose only Korean experience is teaching? · I have: · Master's in Education · 3 years uni teaching, 2 years hagwon befor

Recruiter promised "single apartment" — I got an officetel with a curtain wall. Normal?

So I landed in Korea on Sunday and started at my hagwon yesterday. The recruiter promised a "fully furnished studio apartment" but what I actually got is a tiny officetel I'm sharing with another teacher who's been here 8 months — no warning, no choice. Two desks, one closet, one fridge. There's a curtain "wall" between us. · Is this normal? My contract just says "single accommodation" which I ass

4 years hagwon, switching to F-6 soon — what non-teaching jobs actually hire foreigners?

Four years of hagwon, marrying my Korean partner next month and switching to F-6 (paperwork filed). I'm done with teaching kids. Honestly done. · Question for anyone who's actually made the jump: what jobs realistically hire foreigners at TOPIK 3 level, with no Korean university degree and no specific industry experience besides ESL? I'm not picky about pay relative to teaching — I just want out o

Marrying my Korean partner in 6 weeks — what actually changes day-to-day after F-6?

Marrying my Korean partner in 6 weeks. Status change application from E-2 to F-6 is the next step. · The hagwon owner already knows I'm leaving teaching after the wedding and is being weirdly cooperative about it (helping me file the resignation properly). What I'm less clear on: · Do I cancel my E-2 before filing for F-6, or does the status change happen while E-2 is still active? · The marriage

Got walloped on last year's Korean tax — F-6 with side tutoring + Aussie writing, how to plan?

Right mate, second year on F-6 and the first May tax filing surprised me — turned out I owed way more than expected because I had freelance tutoring income that the school wasn't withholding. I'd rather not get walloped again next year. · My situation: F-6, part-time at an international school (they withhold tax monthly), plus freelance tutoring on the side that's all paid into my Korean account d