Maybe if Korean hagwons were less concerned about "image" and more concerned about "quality" the ESL teaching situation in Korea would improve considerably. Any fresh young white face regardless of qualifications and teaching experience seems to be enough to qualify someone for an ESL teaching position in Korea. It is very unfortunate that quality teachers are discriminated against based on age. One recruiter told me that in three years of recruiting he has never been able to find a position for anyone over the age of 43. I have had numerous replies to applications saying the school was looking for someone under 30 or under 35, that is if they bother to reply at all. Most do not even reply once thet see the scan of my passport page which shows I am 60 years old. As I stated in a previous post here, I am a well qualified professional teacher having taught for 30 years in the same school district in Canada, as well as three years in England before coming to Korea in 2001. I came to Korea for the experience of continuing my teaching career in another culture. It may be true that many young male teachers come here for the women, the soju, the social life and in some cases for the money rather than because they have something valuable to contribute to teaching ESL in Korea. As I am already married, and do not drink, and have a nice pension income in Canada, I can say I am not here for the same reasons as listed above. I am in Korea because I believe have something to offer to ESL teaching and also to broaden my own experiences. If Korea wants to improve the quality of native English teachers here then there is a great need to re-think the general practice of writing off good quality teachers just because they are over 35 years old.