Theo
- 2009-08-24
Yes, ANET, I have already added Ahil Rnglish School in Ulsan to the next edition. Sorry that I failed to do so before. Yeah, that's why I post as well. I wish I had been offered such information before I first ventured to China, and then Korea. Might have saved me some aggravation and heartbreak along the way.
ANET
- 2009-08-23
Hey Theo, Don't apologize for sharing your experience. That's what this forum is for. Warning unsuspecting teachers is the right thing to do. I just wish I had been more thorough in warning Lucy before she got mixed up with that camp she is now exposing.
The first time I was in Korea, I was in heaven at the right Hagwon. Had I been warned about Ulsan, I never would have gone there. I would have chosen another place. Why Hagwons? I don't like working in the morning anymore. I prefer afternoons and evenings.
Keep up the good work with your blacklist. Please remember to add Ahil English School.
Theo
- 2009-08-22
Thanks, ANET! You always offer thoughtful and credible posts with regards to daily life and ESL employment in South Korea. I'm sorry to have momentarily derailed the thread to share more of my own story, but it triggered some of the same thoughts and memories.
I'm so sorry to know of the misfortune you suffered, but in sharing your story, I feel less "alone" with my experience.
Returning to the original story, I hope female expats will be careful before they consider venturing to South Korea for employment.
I have a new female friend who is departing for a job in South Korea next week. Fortunately, he her husband will join her about three weeks later.
ANET
- 2009-08-22
So true, Theo.
Consulates in Korea refuse to get involved in matters relating to the hagwon business.
Regardless of the issue, be it health care for a life threatening illness or unpaid wages, assaults or any kind of harassment, the only way I could win was by sending a powerful Korean friend to speak for me.
I was fortunate to find a few very kind helpful Koreans who were embarrassed by the corruption and cruel ignorance of people in Ulsan. They wanted to improve the workplace for native English teachers but they complained that most members of the ESL community would not come forward. I will ad that the few of us who did, stood alone, our credibility shattered by powerful Koreans who remained partners in crime, and by well paid ESL teachers who sold us out.
The Korean woman who helped my case against T&J told me there were many teachers in my situation, but they always leave before anything can be done. Given Theos experience, thats understandable. I stayed and did my share but came out of it pretty battered and I stopped because nobody within the ESL community seemed to care. Without powerful Koreans within the Administration willing to block the corruption and break the language barriers used to falsely incriminate foreigners who turn to authorities for help, attempts to obtain remedy are a waste of time and money because of the bias against foreigners.
When a court accepts a false statement in Korean that the victim was ordered to sign and stated over her signature that she could not read the statement, its safe to conclude that a foreign teacher will never get a fair hearing in such an environment. I would expect that in North Korea but I was dismayed to see it in the South where the population of native English teachers is notable. But then, they are family; they are ALL Koreans
As for access to medical records, in my case against Ahil, the Hospital in Ulsan happily released, to the defendants lawyer my entire medical history, most of which was totally irrelevant to the charges of wrongful dismissal against Ahil. The Hospital released that information behind my back, without my knowledge!! Without my approval, without my authorization!! Yet that same Hospital now will not send my medical file to me nor to my doctor. Go figure! A few bucks or a case of juice goes a long way, I suppose.
And yes, some Korean doctors do lie, and they lie in Korean, so if you dont understand, you cant defend yourself. Korean medical specialists are very good, but the young residents are fools who routinely misdiagnose and they love to practice on foreigners.
And while I am logged in here: Advocate, who are you and where are you? You can send me a private message at learning77@hotmail.com
Theo
- 2009-08-21
To the best of my understanding, the biggest crime problem is South Korea is sex-related crimes/assaults. It is outrageous, and yet sadly not surprising to learn of the particular bias in such cases against expat women.
I want to keep the focus of this thread on this particular case/crime, but due to negligence by my employer and very bad medical care/practice I returned to the U.S. permanently disabled. If the same scenario had happened to me in America, I most definitely would have sued, and legally prevailed.
I knew to pursue such matters in South Korea would necessitate my return there and to wait out the long and likely fruitless judicial process. Although medical records in the U.S. certainly support my condition and the result of my "treatment" in Korea, attempting to verify and provide hard evidence in Korea would be nearly impossible.
When the U.S. consulate twice requested medical records from the "hospital" in Seoul prior to my release, both times the hospital did not comply. I was amazed the U.S consulate and state department did not become more aggressive. Finally, in the days before I departed Seoul forever (I would have died if I had remained in Korea much longer) some reps from the consulate showed up at the hospital. Guess what? They were Korean, and believed all the lies the head doctor told them. In fact, the informed the U.S. state department that I "refused to leave Korea," which was a mind-boggling lie, and yet one, because it came from the Korean folks at the U.S. Consulate was ultimately believed and told to my family. (Of course, I arrived back in the States 24-hours later, in very poor condition, so it certainly conflicted with reports of my refusal to leave the torture chamber/hospital.) The U.S. consulate simply allowed the hospital to avoid any responsibility in my case because they never compiled with release of any medical records, and were never forced to do so, or punished for non-compliance.
Sorry to derail the discussion, but I wanted underscore one of the main points of the ANET's original post/story. Expats are simply at a huge legal disadvantage in South Korea (or as I now refer to it: "North Korea Lite).
Chengdu FT
- 2009-08-21
Yet another reason not to teach in Korea.
Korea SUCKS folks!!!!
Hello,
I stumbled across the following article. It appeared in the Chosum Ilbo (Korean newspaper) and was then posted on Marmot's Hole-Korea in Blog format.
It is reminiscent of complaints I heard from young female teachers Ulsan. F.Y.I.
""Victimized Foreign Women in Blind Spot: Newsis
by Robert Koehler on July 23, 2009
in Ministry of Barbarian Affairs
Newsis (via the Chosun Ilbo) reports that a foreign English teacher is Ulsan was sexually assaulted by a male neighbor in her apartment.
To make matters worse, however, she claims police were rather lukewarm in their processing of the case. Due to the trauma she suffered, she if afraid to even go out.
The problem, it seems, is that cases of sexual assaults on foreign women often end without punishment. The assaulted woman said a female teacher had been sexually assaulted by a foreign laborers in Ulsan a few years ago, too. The perp was caught, but not punished.
She said police are telling her that she neednt remain in Korea for the case to finish. Why she should have to leave Korea for the case to end, she doesnt know, and shes afraid the case will come to naught.
Her foreign collegues say there are frequent sexual assaults on foreign women. Perps take advantage of the fact that they are in Korea illegally or cannot adjust to life in Korea.
According to piolice, the teacher a 23-year-old South African was assaulted by her neighbor, a Mr. B, on the morning of July 8. Her coworker reported the assault to the police, who collected evidence and caught Mr. B five days later.
After questioning, Mr. B confessed to his crime. He reportedly said he would pay the teacher sufficient compensation and asked that the victim leave the country (!).
The teacher, however, wants her assaulter punished. At any rate, she plans to leave for home on July 25. She said she wants the man punished to sound a warning bell to Korean society, namely, that foreign women are caught in a blind spot where, because they are not Korean, they are not covered by the social safety net nor can they receive compensation for their losses.
Ulsan-area English teachers apparently met at a restaurant in Seongnam-dong to come up with measures, including a list of things for female teachers to watch out for and an emergency contact list.
Marmots Note: Im not a lawyer, of course, but I thought the decision whether to accept compensation or to press ahead with criminal charges was the decision of the victim, not the police. ""