Are foreign English teachers too expensive, or Korean English teachers too cheap?

Sorry my friend but I honestly highly doubt that Korean teachers, whether English teachers or general school teachers, earn even near 880,000won per month.

I read your link to the 880,000 generation, and they say students earn that kind of salary because they cannot find a job related to their field of study, and to pay back their loans they get a part-time job. Typically in Korea most part-time jobs are paid near the minimum salary, so around 4,000 or 5,000won an hour.

However, being a full-time teacher in a school and being a part-time worker in a 7-eleven is quite two world aparts. Not only being a teacher is attractive to most Koreans because of the status, it's especially the stability that bring them to this type of work, and the yearly increase of salary too.

The salary can differ greatly also depending on the type of establishment the teacher is working at, but a normal basic salary could turn around 2,5 million won per month for an elementary school teacher position for example (I asked a Korean teacher, that's what she said, so I'll take her word for granted). This can include free meals, transportation, or else. And I am not talking about all the extra benefits such as gifts from parents and students and so on.

Actually, I even heard that Korean teacher's salary is one of the highest in OECD countries (well, and working time is highest too).

Anyway, it's funny how many foreigners have false or distorted information regarding Korea...

Some Koreans who work in Hagwons make less tha a mil-that is true but most pay 1.3 or so. When you think about minimum wage being 3500 per hour (i think it still is), that pay is not bad at all. Being a real teacher gets you better pay but teachers just out of school who are not english majors and so on may get like 800 a month. I have taught at over 40 schools in Busan (and my wife many to-she is Korean) and many have made around this much-while working long hours. It is no different than people like us back home. You work, get experience and then move on. After slugging it out for 3 bucks an hour until they are done uni, if they even went to uni, 800 is big money. And thinking of 3 bucks an hour, why do you think so many women get caught up in some kind of prostitution work. They make good money. Whether it be in singing rooms, bars or other. A study recently stated that like 25% of all women here get invlolved at one time or another in some kind of prostitution (sex for job or just your job is sex). Was in the Korean Herald I believe. Would you work for 3 bucks an hour? 800 is looking good now isn't it-prostitution even better. Come to Jangsan around 5 and watch all the girls streem into the salons to get ready for their big night and then come back at 5. So many office tels here filled with women like this. And I am not judging them-every person has the right to do with their life as they please. Sex is natural. Who cares!Weird though that prostitution is actually on the books as being illegal here but people look the other way because it is a male run country. Foreigners do not keep all the Love Motels in business. Looks nice on the books but...Enjoy!

Oh by the way man, you once siad you were not Korean but you definately are .All your stats make Korean come out smelling great but here you wrong again. You wrong about suicide and diorce to. Korean teachers are not one of the highest paid of all OECD countries and having worked in 7 public schools here, I have never heard of them getting free transportation. If they make close to 2mil to start they are doing well. Back in the West, teachers make much more then 2g a month to start. You said you are amazed about how little foreigners know about Korea-how much do you know? Why would people just coming over here know anything? Your education system is all Korea is good, Japan is bad. God, even 7 years hate Japan already. It is sick. You think Jeju or Haeudnae Beach is world famous like Hawaii. News flash, most have never even heard of these places back home. So if foreigners come on here asking questions, that is good. Merely living by what you have been taught to think is not so good because it may be wrong. Korea is not as rosey as you like to make it be. It has come a long way but it still has a long way to go. It ranks last among OECD countries in so many categories including maybe the most important one, social programs. 5% percent of all gov expenditures goes to social programs-that is the lowest by far of all OECD countries. Anyway, open up your mind and realize asking is better than not. If you had, you would not have been wrong so many times.

You people are kind of comparing apples to oranges. The average non-qualified Korean- English teacher or any other subject taught in hogwans(teaching not their major) lives at home. They're biggest expense is getting to work and their cell phone. It would be nice if they made more money but the market dictates that it doesn't because they're are simply too many graduates and not enough jobs in their majors.

As for foreign English teachers I recently asked what a reflex pro-noun was to a collegue and he didn't know. Does that make him a bad teacher or unqualifed? I think not. He might be rusty on some grammar issues as am I with the names of certain tenses. The fact is that even in university we are not taught such things. We read books and write essays on them.

The facts are these; immigration says you are qualified if you have a 4years uni/college degree in any major and are a native teacher of the group of 7. If you teach your major you are even more qualified and recieve an E1 instead of an E2. To me any gov't organization making decisions on what is qualified is obtuse seeing the same committee made up of PhDs that can't speak English(that's why they work for the gov't) probably decided that Pomosa should be turned in Beomosa. 

In addition; perhaps somewhat off-topic but if we are comparing teachers vs. teachers benefits or otherwise I thought I'd give this a go for a larger group; gov't school teachers. 

My sister-in-law is a gov't school elem. teacher. She has worked in the system for 10years. She wouldn't make 2.5/month, I know this for a fact.  This woman is up and out the door at 7am sharp she stays at school until 4:50pm or later, no excuses. She goes to school 5 or 6days a week, shedoes get vacation time but not anywhere near a foreigner working at a decent college or university. She isn't even allowed to leave the school grounds during lunch. If they have to grind out this kind of lifestyle for 20-25yearss to receive a pension of $1500-$2000 month, they can have it.  My oldest dearest Korean friend took early retirement after 20years, he earns roughly

I don't know why the remainder of my last post didn't go through but anyway....I was just saying my oldest dearest Korean friend retired after his 20 and gets about 1,200,000w. he lives in the philippines though which is decent enough for there. here it would barely cover living expenses on a paid for apt.

I'm just saying in terms of equal pay and equality for foreigners; they should be careful in what they wish for it might come true.