Most English teachers come to Korea to be able to pay their debts as far as we know. You have probably never been in S. Korea. English Teachers salaries with lower taxes here offer better conditions to save money (save up to 1,000 USD a month average after taxes) than most countries where the teachers come from. Good to point out that Korea is flooded with English teachers working undocumented part time in Seoul and in the big cities. Majority of these people (100s) are only here because they keep making good money and they don't believe they can find a better job in their own country. Please check the major ESL resumes sites. I can reconize 50% of the names of the teachers looking for jobs in Korea for months if not years. Also check in their msg the conditions these teachers demand to work: Central Seoul, One shift from 2pm to 7pm, single apt, 2.2--2.5Million won instead of the average 2 Million Won that the average teacher makes. I call this gambling. New and bad schools put ads with these great conditions because otherwise nobody would work with them. Same bad schools also do the same to attract students. They offer students a lower tuition price, they accept any student; it does not matter if students were expelled from good/established schools. Parents of the students are in full control and can come to the school to ask the teacher why their kid is not learning English (a nightmare). Teachers are always concerned that their school will close anyday and be left on the street. Most of The teachers that complain are teachers who take the chance because of greed. They do it again and again. And tell their friends back home to do the same. As for your remark about Korean immigration being responsible for giving working visas to bad teachers: Well, in other countries nobody blames immigration for granting any kind of visas. Are you aware of anybody suing the immigration office of your country for allowing entrance to undesirable people. Korean immigration also had been very busy in the last year searching and deporting teachers of the infamous and large black list. The sad part of this situation is that the majority of good and innocent teachers are considered the same as the greedy-whining teachers. Please find for yourself: ask an English teacher whining about Korea why he/she took the job. And what kind of new job he/she is looking for. Bad schools attract bad teachers. They like each other and deserve each other.

Best,

Kim

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