Job in south korea for foreigner: Foreign Jobs In Korea – Korea Professional

How to Work in South Korea as a Foreigner

Have you always dreamed of living and working in another country? Are you interested in Korean language and culture? South Korea is a small country with a thriving economy, especially in the automotive and technology spheres. While the job market in Korea is very competitive, jobs often come with good pay, benefits, and stability. Let’s learn more about getting a job in Korea as a foreigner.

Table of Contents

Is speaking Korean necessary to work in South Korea?

The short answer is no; however, it really depends on the type of job you want.

The most common type of job for foreigners in South Korea is English teacher. Some English teaching positions in Korea require zero Korean language skills. There are also a lot of part-time jobs requiring But knowing some Korean can will definitely make living in South Korea a lot easier.

On the other hand, many jobs will require a TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) score of at least 4 to be considered, which is also the typical requirement to enter a university in South Korea as a student.

That being said, having some knowledge of Korean will be helpful in any job and in your everyday life in South Korea. Having the ability to read 한글 (Hangeul, the Korean writing system) and exchange basic greetings will help your day-to-day life go more smoothly and will win you some points with your Korean co-workers.

So if you wish to work in South Korea someday, it’s better to start learning Korean right now. You can use Korean learning apps like LingoDeer to master Korean with 15 minutes a day.

Types of jobs for foreigners in South Korea

Teaching English

Teaching English is a very in-demand job in South Korea and there are many different types of teaching jobs available to foreigners. The most common teaching job is teaching English at a public school, private school, or academy (학원, hakwon). You may also be able to find a job teaching a different subject (such as: math, science, or social studies) at an international school where the primary language of instruction is English.  

The requirements to teach English in Korea are pretty strict due to the visa laws. Here are the requirements:

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited university
• An English teaching certificate (TEFL, TESOL, CELTA, etc.) 
• Citizen of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, or South Africa
• Physically and mentally healthy

Apart from the requirements above, you also need to have a good command of the English language and enjoy working with children. Because most English teaching jobs in Korea involve teaching elementary-aged students.

It is also possible to find jobs teaching English at the university-level. These jobs have many of the same requirements as above with the addition of needing a master’s degree or Ph.D, typically in a related field such as: English, TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages), or linguistics. If you are not a native English speaker, it may also be possible to find jobs teaching other languages in Korea, however, these jobs will often be at the university-level and will also require a master’s degree related to language or language teaching.

Office Jobs

If teaching is not for you, there are many office jobs available in Korea as well. South Korea’s largest industries are electronics, automotive, telecommunications, shipbuilding, chemicals, and steel. We also cannot forget the thriving entertainment industry. Typically, to work in these industries, you should already be an expert in your preferred field.

The job market in South Korea is highly competitive and you must be able to compete with Korean applicants who have the advantage of cultural awareness and Korean language knowledge. Many foreigners are able to find jobs with international companies in Korea, especially if the job requires working with international clients who also do not speak Korean. If you do speak Korean (and especially if you are able to obtain a TOPIK level 4 or higher) and you have expertise in a particular field, you can really increase your chances of finding employment.

If you are more advanced in Korean, you can also find work as a translator or interpreter. These jobs can be in any field so having some field-specific knowledge will be helpful. Translation and interpretation jobs will often require you to have a TOPIK level 5 or 6. Translating and interpreting between English and Korean is most common but there is a need for other languages that companies might do business with such as Chinese or Japanese. The requirements for these jobs vary a lot but you must have a bachelor’s degree or higher in your field and experience is always a plus. 

Part-time Work

Part-time positions are also available to foreigners who already have a visa. If you have an F-series visa (marriage or residency) you are allowed to take up any type of employment you want. If you are studying in Korea on a student visa (D-2 visa), or a language trainee visa (D-4-1, D-4-7) you also may be eligible for part-time employment.

Popular part-time work you can do in South Korea includes tutoring, translation, marketing, etc.  These jobs are often a popular choice for students studying in South Korea at universities or Korean language schools.

How to find jobs as a foreigner in South Korea

Now that you know the types of jobs available to foreigners in Korea, you may be asking, how can I find a job in South Korea? As is the case in most places these days, the best place to start your job-seeking is online. You can search postings in online job boards or go to a company’s website directly and look through their job listings. There are even phone apps available for finding full and part-time work in Korea. If you want to teach English, you can search through job boards, find a recruiter, or apply directly to the government English teaching program, EPIK (English Program in Korea). 

Job-related expressions in Korean

Work culture in Korea can be quite different than in other parts of the world. Let’s look at some polite ways to address your co-workers and other work-related words you can use to help you integrate more easily into your workplace.

Job Titles in Korean

Workplace culture and hierarchy is very important in Korea. You must address people by their correct title and never use terms like 오빠 (oppa), 형 (hyung) , 누나( noona), or 언니 (unnie) in the workplace. In fact, it can even be rude to call someone by their name! This is because Korean has strict speech levels.

Here are some job titles you should know. When using them to address the person directly, especially if they are older than you, you can add -님 (-nim) to the end of the title (for example, to say “hello” to the company’s president, you could say: 사장님, 안녕하세요? sajangnim, annyeonghaseyo?)

• 회장 (hoejang): chairman or CEO. The person holding the highest position in a company.
• 대표 (daepyo): This position is very similar to 회장 but it feels younger. Younger companies tend to use this title more than 회장. You may hear this a lot in modern K-dramas.
• 사장 (sajang): president/COO. This person is also typically pretty high up in a company. Someone who is an independent business owner can also go by this title.
• 전무 (jeonmu): This is the CFO or finance director. 
• 상무 (sangmu): This person is a senior director and the head of a department.
• 이사 (isa): This person is also head of a department, but usually younger and/or has less experience than the 상무.
• 부장 (bujang): This person is the head manager or team lead. Typically, 10 years of experience is required to hold this position.
• 차장 (chajang): This is also a team leader or senior manager but with less experience.
• 과장 (gwajang): This is a manager who typically has at least 7 years of experience. They are typically the project leaders.
• 대리 (daeri): This is the assistant manager. They assist with projects and perform administrative duties.
• 사원 (sawon): This is a regular staff member but may be considered slightly higher up than a entry-level employee.

If you are in a higher position, you can refer to people who are lower than you with their first name plus their title. If your name is 박서준 (Bak Seo-Jun) and you are an assistant manager (대리) your team lead (부장) can call you 서준대리 (Seo-Jun daeri). You would call the team lead 부장님. In some bigger companies or more modern-leaning companies, people have begun to call each other by their first names plus -님. However, in other companies, this could be considered very rude so it is important to pay close attention to how people address each other and, when in doubt, default to using job titles and -님. 

Work-related vocabulary in Korean

Here are some basic words related to work and jobs

• 직업 (jigeop) : job/occupation
  • 직업이 뭐예요? (jigeobi mwoyeyo?): What do you do?/What is your job? 
• 직장 (jikjang): workplace
  • 제 직장은 서울에 있어요. (je jikjangeun seoure isseoyo. ): My workplace is in Seoul.
• 일하다 (ilhada): to work
  • 저는 현대에서 일해요. (jeoneun hyeondaeeseo ilhaeyo.): I work for Hyundai.
• 쉬는 날 (swineun nal): day off 
  • 오늘은 쉬는 날이에요. (oneureun swineun narieyo.): Today is a day off.
• 그만두다 (geumanduda): to quit
  • 회사에서 스트레스를 많이 받아서 제 직업을 그만뒀어요. (hoesaeseo seuteureseureul manhi badaseo je jigeobeul geumandwosseoyo.): I received a lot of stress from my job, so I quit.
• 회사원 (hoesawon): office employee
  • 우리 동생의 직업이 회사원이에요. (uri dongsaengui jigeobi hoesawonieyo.): My younger sibling is an officer worker.
• 경력 (gyeongryeok): work experience/career
  • 저는 학생이라 직업 경력이 없어요. (jeoneun haksaengira jigeop gyeongryeogi eopseoyo.): I do not have any work experience because I am a student.
• 승진하다 (seungjinhada): to get a promotion
  • 드디어 승진했어요! (deudieo seungjinhaesseoyo!): I finally got a promotion!
• 은퇴하다 (euntoehada): to retire
  • 지난달에 우리 아버지는 은퇴했어요. (jinandare uri abeojineun euntoehaesseoyo.): Last month, our father retired.

How to Find Jobs and Internships in Korea for Foreigners

Looking for non-teaching jobs and internships for foreigners in South Korea can be a tough assignment. A quick Google search does not always have all the answers and a lot of the critical information is not available in English.

We at Asia Options understand the feeling. So we can hopefully make your life easier with the following summary of everything we know about finding a job and internship in Korea!

Job Websites

PeoplenJob – Best Korean job search engine for foreigners, including job opportunities with international firms and embassies. Some jobs are posted in English.

Seoul Professionals – A good site with job opportunities for varying levels of experience. Targeted at professionals rather than English teaching opportunities.

Craiglist – Mainly English teaching and part-time opportunities. Still though a good resource to look for different opportunities or a part-time job to help pay for your Korean study or living expenses while you search for a professional job.

Seoul Global Center – Support center for foreigners which has a limited but regularly updated jobs board.

Kopra – Excellent resource for internships, particularly for those from EU nations. Lists opportunities not just for Korea but all over East Asia.

Korea Professional– New startup in Korea which is focused on providing professional opportunities for foreigners.

Seoul Start Ups Job Board – New platform hosted by Seoul Start Ups, which provides job listing from within the start-up community.

LinkedIn – Korean companies are increasingly using services such as LinkedIn to advertise positions for foreign talent. Typical companies that advertise positions are Google Korea, Apple Korea, and Samsung.

Internship Programs

Yonsei Summer Internship Program – The Korea Summer Internship Program offers YISS students direct exposure to global corporate settings in the heart of Seoul, Korea.

AmCham Korea Internship Program – AmCham offers internship opportunities in Seoul for foreign applicants.

Company Career Websites

Lately, Korean Corporations are much more active in seeking out foreign talent. Most will have their own careers page (with an English option). One good way to find out about a certain company is to type the company name and careers in Korean (sometimes English too) into the Naver search engine.

Here is a list of the major Korean companies to assist with your own search.

University Courses

Korean language students often have access to a wide variety of cultural activities, TV appearances, and job opportunities. They also provide a free board which will normally have many tutoring or part-time opportunities as well as internship programs. We also have on this site a special post on how to get TV jobs in Korea? Finding media and entertainment opportunities in Korea

Yonsei Korean Language Institute Job Board

SNU Graduate School of International Studies 

Sogang GSIS Jobs & Internships Board

Korea University

Yonsei Summer Internship Program 

Korea University Summer Internship Program 

Networking

Online and offline networking is arguably the best resource for finding a job or internship in Korea. Chambers of commerce in Korea all run a variety of networking opportunities and have internship opportunities. LinkedIn is also a great resource for opportunities with many professional jobs listed on the site as well as providing members with the opportunity to join a plethora of expat networking groups.

AustCham Korea

AmCham Korea 

EuroCham Korea 

Internations

Korea Business Central

Job Fairs

The major universities will hold job fairs usually in September – October. Do your research on the times and dates. This is a great opportunity to talk to recruiters directly and to find out if they have any international internship opportunities. There is also a major fair held every year at Co-ex aimed at foreign students – this is a must-attend event!

Read more about attending Job Fairs in Korea here.

Visa Issues

The most obvious issue that may affect you in finding an Internship is your visa status. Korean companies are unlikely to sponsor your visa just for an internship. If you are an Australian or from a country in a h2 Working Holiday visa with Korea then check out your options. This visa gives you the flexibility to study and work for a year.

Language students on D4 visas can also work for 20 hours a week but are only eligible to apply for this additional permission after 6 months. You will need to visit immigration and apply specifically to gain permission to work, this application will usually require your employer to also sign the form. D2 student visas are given to full-time university students. These visas also have the option of continuing post study to work in Korea.

Many graduates looking for their first job in Korea will have problems in obtaining the appropriate visa. Most foreigners working in Korea are placed on E7 visas. This visa allows companies to sponsor foreign workers to work at their companies. However, the provisions of this visa are based on the grounds that you (As a non-Korean) are providing a skill and experience that a Korean cannot. This is a key issue considering the low employment rate of Korean youth. As such to be eligible for an E7 you must have a relevant degree and work experience in a particular field. More technical fields will require greater work experience – for example, to get a visa for a marketing job will require a degree in Marketing and also one year experience in a marketing job. Of course, there are loopholes to this system and the major corporations are well informed as to how to best “classify” a job to ensure a smooth visa process but then deploy you into a different role which had tougher visa restrictions.

Please check the Korean immigration website before making any major decisions and for an in-depth guide as to the E7 visa requirements. Read more about other handy visa categories to have on your radar here.

Wages

Most internships in Korea for foreigners are unpaid or severely underpaid! Expect to earn between nothing or 1,000,000 KRW/Month. Paid or not, it will be difficult to support yourself on this kind of salary especially working full-time hours so make sure you have your own funds before embarking on an internship. Most embassy and Korean government internships will provide a daily stipend for food and transport but that’s it.

Korean company salary structure and average wages guide

Language

Korean ability while not entirely essential to the job is extremely recommended. Most internship opportunities will be the subject of heavy competition and a candidate with Korean ability will always be chosen over another. Korean language ability is viewed by recruiters as a statement that the foreign applicant can adapt to the Korean workforce and customs. If learning Korean is not a realistic goal then there is always hope in applying for internship positions with foreign government agencies, embassies, chambers of commerce and other foreign companies. Do your research and look for opportunities within your community!

To work out where you should study Korean based on your what goals and budget, check out our Korean Language Program Review Guide.

Resumes

Now that you know where to look for work opportunities in Korea, now it’s time to hone your resume skills. Think it’s the same as the West? Well… think again! Check out the next article on how to write a Korean Resume complete with a free template.

Click on other useful feature articles to get more insider tips and tactics to find jobs in South Korea:

• How to write a Korean resume
• How to get TV and modeling jobs in Korea? Finding media & entertainment opportunities in Korea
• Applying for a job in Korea – What you need to know
• Korean company hierarchy, structure and business titles
• Korean company salary structure and average wages
• Korean over time and why Korea has the second longest working hours in the OECD
• 6 reasons to get involved with start-ups in Asia
• Your Guide to Teaching ESL in Korea
• Korea’s OASIS Start-up Visa Program for foreigners
• Navigating South Korean Visa Regulations

why living here is good, but very difficult for a foreigner / Sudo Null IT News And now we want to talk about South Korea – you can already get hired here from abroad, but is it worth it? To find out, we talked to Igor, who has been living in Seoul for over 12 years and has recently retrained from a translator to a programmer.

He will tell you how IT is doing here, what features of the mentality are striking and how ordinary life works.

How I ended up in South Korea

I am from Uzbekistan, but I am an ethnic Korean myself. I first came to South Korea in 2003, at the age of 16, under the state education program. I liked it here, and at the age of 26 I moved here consciously. I chose Korea, among other things, because it is not far to fly from Seoul to Tashkent, and there have always been many direct flights.

In Korea, I worked as a Russian/Korean medical translator, but the pandemic has shown that the profession is unreliable — the medical tourism industry has been hit hard. Therefore, I decided to retrain as a developer: I took several courses, got a job in IT. Since I moved not on a work visa, but as an ethnic Korean, there were no problems with a break in work, and no one could cancel my visa.

How IT works in South Korea

A sharp jump in IT took place just a few years ago. Because of this, most applications have a serious Legacy architecture, a lot works on Java and PHP, even government portals. Some companies rewrite applications for new technologies, but many continue to work in the old way.

Lately there have been a lot of vacancies for Python, Javascript (React, Vue), but there are also jobs for C-like languages.

And the local specificity is such that there are very few own developments. Almost all companies use technologies and ideas taken from abroad: from China or Europe. Sometimes these are just separate tools, sometimes they are entire applications and services, only slightly adapted for South Korea.

The situation with hiring IT engineers from abroad is ambiguous here. There are many companies and vacancies, the scheme for hiring foreigners has been worked out, but there are several nuances:

• In most companies, you still need to know the Korean language to work. Only with English you can get into startups opened by foreigners, but this greatly limits the range of available vacancies.
• Newcomers from abroad are almost never hired here. Jun has a chance to get to Europe or the USA, but almost certainly not to Korea. They do not like to engage in training here, and only locals take the inexperienced. It is easier for middlemen and seniors, but Koreans always have priority anyway.
• The visa system is designed so that if you lose your job, you only have two weeks to find a new one. After that, you will have to leave the country. The term is too short.
• The E-7 work visa is considered for a rather long time, and a lot of documents are needed for it. I won’t say exactly which ones, since I live here on a different visa. But acquaintances said that there were problems with getting it.

Jobs in IT in South Korea can be found on specialized websites Rocketpunch and Wanted. Or in general – Saramin and Jobkorea. There are a lot of vacancies, there are now more than 3000 of them on Rocketpunch, about 500 vacancies for Python, and enough for the rest.

By the way, for Russians there is an option to enter here without a visa, look around and submit resumes to a couple of companies. It will be more convenient than dealing remotely. You can enter at 90 days per year, no longer than 60 days at a time.

How the Korean mentality affects the specifics of work

In South Korea, there are mainly two categories of companies: large corporations like Samsung, LG, Celltrion, NCSoft, Naver, Kakao, Daum, Coupang. And startups – there are hundreds of different ones. Many strive to get into large corporations – they pay well and stably there. But you need to be prepared for some features:

• The requirements for developers from abroad are very high. And without knowledge of Korean, you are unlikely to be hired.
• The Korean spirit of “guessing” is especially strong in them. Its essence is as follows. Imagine that your boss had a fight with his wife and decided to stay at work until 21:00. Nobody tells you anything, but you have to guess about his situation and also work until 21. Otherwise, no one will directly condemn you, but after a couple of such situations, they may be fired.
• Work regulations are quite strict, although this is typical for large corporations around the world.
• Workers are generally very lack of initiative, because they are afraid of condemnation. If a question is raised at a general meeting, everyone is silent, so as not to accidentally say stupid things and earn reprimand from the authorities.

The last point is characteristic of Koreans in general. I also met him at the startups where I worked, but there the leaders are trying to wean employees from this approach to business. But in large companies, you need to be prepared for the fact that colleagues will condemn you for being too proactive.

It is generally not accepted here to fight off the team. If after work everyone goes to drink, but you don’t go, they will look at you strangely. If you do not go regularly, there is a risk of quarreling with colleagues or even losing your job.

What else can be unusual for a Russian person in South Korea

You need to understand that this is an eastern country, and it differs from Russia much more than Europe or the USA. I am from Uzbekistan, and many things were quite comfortable for me, but for Russians they may seem strange and greatly interfere with life. Let me tell you about the key differences.

Strong respect for elders. Koreans have a Confucian upbringing, and the word of the elder in the family is law. The experience of parents is put above any knowledge of youth.

Complete misunderstanding of sarcasm. There were many situations when I or my Russian friends tried to make a sarcastic joke, and the Koreans took it at face value. I had to explain that this was a joke and we meant the complete opposite. The younger generation “fumbles” a little better, as it sits on foreign sites on the Internet, but this number will not work with the older ones.

Other traditions of friendship. It is customary for them to look closely at each other for a very long time, sometimes to be friends for years, and only then open up and let them in. Becoming good friends for a couple of meetings will definitely not work. It is not yet accepted to invite guests – they usually meet in cafes and restaurants.

Very spicy food. Really sharp. If you have ever tried Korean Samyang noodles (you can buy them in Russia), you should know that this is not the limit – many dishes are spicier.

Even without regard to spiciness, the kitchen may seem very unusual. For example, they sell very few dairy products – milk and yogurt, nothing else can be found.

Unusual real estate lease scheme. Housing in Seoul is not that expensive – about 500-700 dollars a month. But there is a catch – the deposit for it starts from $ 5,000 and can reach up to 50% of the cost of the apartment. The larger the deposit, the lower the rent. Without a deposit at all, you can rent either a closet in a hostel with a shared kitchen and a toilet, or a damp basement, or a good apartment, but for a lot of money. At the end of the lease, the deposit is returned, but it is very difficult to accumulate such an amount. Usually, visitors first live in unsecured closets, then save up for housing with a small deposit, then gradually save up more and more collateral. I did the same, now I live in an apartment in this residential complex:

There is also a strange rental scheme that I have not seen anywhere else. You pay about 80-90% of the apartment price as a deposit, move in for 2-3 years and pay nothing. And after the eviction, the deposit is returned. It was very popular before – the owner of the apartment received a deposit, put it in the bank at a high percentage and earned. Now the interest on deposits has fallen, but they still do this, for example, to raise money for business.

But renting a house in Seoul is very easy – there are realtors at almost every intersection, along with a pharmacy and small convenience stores. You come and immediately get different options, with or without a deposit, depending on your capabilities.

Humid climate. In summer, humidity reaches 90%. We have a dehumidifier constantly turned on in the summer – a humidifier, on the contrary, draws water from the air. He takes in 4 liters of water every day. Mold develops in all places, it needs to be fought. The temperature in summer can reach up to +38 °С.

And it is quite cold in winter – in late January-early February it can be -15 ° C and strong wind, which makes it even colder.

The most comfortable time is in spring and autumn — temperatures up to +25 °C, light sun, little rainfall. The best time for tourists.

Difficult language. It is oriental and very far from Russian, English and European languages. By the way, contrary to popular belief, not hieroglyphs, but the alphabet. Each sign is a syllable, which consists of signs-sounds. For example, the word “mother” is written as 엄마. These are two syllables: 엄 is made up of the sounds ㅇ, ㅓ, and ㅁ, and 마 is made up of ㅁ and ㅏ.

The language as a whole is quite logical, but there is a nuance. If you even make a slight mistake in pronunciation, Koreans either do not understand or pretend not to understand. You need to pronounce it perfectly, and it takes a lot of time and effort. And without knowing the language, there is almost nowhere.

_{Another strange thing is that there are droppers hanging on the trees. With fertilizer}

Advantages of living in Seoul

I like living in Seoul. I have long been accustomed to the minuses, and the pluses are serious enough to stay here to live.

Complete safety. There is no theft here, everything is studded with cameras, very few crimes are committed. People leave their cars running – they don’t get stolen. I somehow forgot to close the windows, and nothing was stolen from the car for a week.

Cleanliness and free toilets. Everywhere is very clean and you can find a free toilet anywhere. If there is no separate one, you can go to any cafe and they will let you in. Somehow, at 4 o’clock in the morning, I even urgently ran to the police station, since everything around was closed.

Excellent roads. There is practically no off-road in all of Korea, it is very comfortable to drive everywhere.

Close to the sea. From anywhere in Korea, you can drive to the Yellow Sea or the Sea of ​​Japan in three hours. That is, a weekend at sea is not a fantasy, but a reality, even if you live in the capital.

Good and convenient medicine. The insurance is about $100 per month, and it gives impressive discounts on doctor visits. Moreover, you can come to any clinic – you do not need to choose whether it is public or private. You just come to the office closer to home and they treat you there. A doctor’s appointment with insurance costs $2-3, medicines are also paid for by 60%.

Excellent communication. Almost the entire country is covered by 5G, the Internet is incredibly fast. At home, I generally have 500 Mbps over cable, and now even 100–200 Mbps seem very slow to me.

Life in South Korea is not for everyone. The difference in mentality, difficulties with rent, and the need to learn Korean can turn many people away. But now the country has become much friendlier to foreigners, and if you like the culture of South Korea, then living here and working as a developer is very good.

Didn’t the disadvantages of Seoul outweigh the advantages for you? Or maybe they have established themselves in the desire to stay in Russia? The telegram bot @g_jobbot has many vacancies from Russia and other countries, relocation/office/remote work. Subscribe, we will send vacancies, taking into account your interests.

UPD: salaries, bonuses, basic expenses

Salaries

Salaries in South Korea are completely white, each company has its own bonuses, goodies and other joys of life that are added to the basic salary. Here is the average salary for a pythonist in a hospital:

Prices are in 10,000 won (another difference from the whole world, which counts in thousands). Jun earns an average of 32,640,000 won ($30,000) and a senior with 10 years of experience earns 72,280,000 won (69.000$) per year. The taxes here are progressive, so a jun will get 2,423,840 won ($2,200) a month, while a senior will have to be content with 4,938,593 won ($4,600). This is about basic salaries.

Bonuses

First, about what 90% of companies offer:

• 4 types of insurance (medical, against industrial accident, pension insurance, against job loss due to the fault of the employer)

  7

• Work laptop/computer
• Payment for various SaaS, books, programs (IDE, Adobe package, Sketch, etc. )
• Payment for conferences / forums / meetings
• Flexible working hours: 9-6, 10-7, part-time remote (3+2, 4+1)
• Unlimited days off (usually in Korea there are 12 paid days off, and by tacit agreement you can’t use more than 3 days in a row. You can take half a day off to go to the bank / hospital, for example)
• Lunch / dinner at the expense of the company. (Although if there is dinner at the expense of the company, then it means that you need to stay late at work, and this is not very good)
• Complete medical examination (every 2 years)

What do companies that want to stand out offer:

• Options (usually vestable after n years)
• Free snacks at work: coffee, tea, buns, chips
• Ability to bring pets to work / work in the office with pets
• Promise to pay university tuition for children of employees who have been with the company for more than 10 years

What the big companies offer:

• Discounts on their products (on holidays up to 90% – I bought a $350 coffee machine for $10)
• Salary 10–30% above the market average
• Line in resume

There is no point in raising salaries to infinity, you need to pay more taxes. For comparison, with an annual salary of 100 million won (~$95,000), a person will receive 6,567,943 won (~$6,200) per month, and with a salary of 200 million won (~$190,000), a person will receive 11,404,666 won (~$10,000) per month. ). Therefore, it is easier for companies to issue bonuses when they reach a certain threshold: one acquaintance receives 60 million won a year in a white salary and the same amount in a one-time bonus.

Basic expenses:

I can write down expenses if the developer lives alone, for convenience I will write all prices in dollars, the exchange rate for today is 1 to 1.144:

• Salary after paying taxes and insurance –

• 500 – apartment
• 100~150 – communal
• 100 – Internet (20) and phone (80 for unlimited 5G and 2-year installment plan)
• 1000 – for groceries + frequent trips to a cafe with friends
• The rest of the money is spent on clothes, coffee, entertainment, of which there are a lot, payment for various services and in a piggy bank for a deposit for the next apartment.

By the way, in South Korea there is a separate bonus for all companies – for each year worked in the company, a monthly salary is set aside (the 13th salary) and upon dismissal, you can receive all the money collected at once. Some banks are now offering to give this money to them and charge interest on the deposit.

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• “Phuket is not a village”: why the capital developer moved to Thailand
• Life behind the Great Wall of China: how is China doing with IT, censorship and integration into society
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• Developer in Singapore: find your happiness in Southeast Asia

South Korea and Russia today: relationship, how to get a job and how much you can earn in April 2022 | 59.ru

Permyak Maksim Yashin has been living for several years in the scientific and technical capital of South Korea, the city of Daejeon (on the right in the photo is one of the views of this city)

org/Person”> Photo: Maksim Yashin

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Since April 1, South Korea has returned a visa-free regime with Russia. Until the problems with transport are resolved: there is no direct air communication between our countries. But the Russians once again have the opportunity to visit Korea, take a closer look at the developed Asian state and, if they wish, even stay there to work or study.

Is it difficult to gain a foothold in South Korea, how do they react to visitors here, how much can you earn and how much money will you have to spend on living? Permian Maxim Yashin, who has been working as a teacher in this country for several years, told 59.RU about this.

The cancellation affected only short-stay visas. To work or study in South Korea, you need to get one of the long-term (there are more than thirty types), and this is not easy. To do this, you need to enroll in a Korean university (then you will be eligible for a study visa), be officially invited to work by a Korean company (for a work visa), and so on. It is also possible to obtain a unique specialist or researcher visa and work in the field of science. A business visa is given if a person has invested at least 500 thousand dollars in the country’s economy. Marriage – if you marry a Korean woman or marry a Korean.

Visas issued by the Republic of Korea (this is the official name of the state) to foreign compatriots stand apart. In 1937, many Koreans were deported from the Far East to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Many descendants of the deportees live in these countries, as well as in Russia today. For them, a relocation program is running in South Korea, according to which a large number of people arrive every year. They are given a lift here, ethnic Koreans have the right to work officially.

The Republic of Korea is bordered by three seas and one strait

Photo: Maxim Yashin

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Of course, there are people who come to South Korea on a tourist visa and stay illegally. But first, it’s illegal. Secondly, illegal immigrants can only count on a few types of hard work, that is, the so-called 3D: dirty, dangerous and difficult (dirty, dangerous and hard work). This is the collection of algae, harvesting watermelons, weeding fields and so on.

South Korea is a mono-ethnic country. More than fifty million people live here, but only two million of them are foreigners, and half of them are Chinese Koreans. That is, those who were born and lived in China and then came to Korea. It turns out that there are only a million “real” foreigners. Therefore, the attitude towards visitors from other countries is somewhat wary. Moreover, there is a gradation: most of all, Koreans respect Americans, in second place – Europeans, only after that – people from Russia and the CIS countries.

There are many sights here: not only natural, but also man-made

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Russian speakers try to hold on to each other, one might say, they live in diasporas. Not far from Seoul is the city of Ansan, about which they joke that it has actually become non-Korean. About 100 thousand Russian-speaking visitors live in Ansan – not only from Russia, but also from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries.

The cost of living in South Korea is $1,050 per month (for a better understanding of the amounts, we give them in dollars, not in South Korean won). The minimum wage is $7 per hour. The average salary is about 3 thousand dollars a month, or about 35 thousand a year. But a lot depends on the profession. For example, a maid in a hotel earns about $1,800 a month, an electrician – $3,000, a policeman and a programmer – $4,000 each, a professor – from $8,000, a high-class IT specialist can earn $15,000.

All salary is “white”, no additional amounts in envelopes. It is important that you can only get a job if you have an appropriate visa – you must officially have the right to work in South Korea. Otherwise, you can only count on the already mentioned hard and dirty work with low pay.

At the same time, Korea is an expensive country: bread – up to 4 dollars, milk – 4.5 dollars per liter, meat – about 8 dollars per kilogram (read below about the cost of treatment and education).

But the high cost is redeemed by a high level of security. The car can stand on the street unclosed – no one will steal it. If you leave a laptop with a phone on the table in a cafe and go for a walk for two hours, then when you return, you will find all the equipment in the same place.

About 60 percent of Koreans are not homeowners, they rent it. So the rental system in South Korea is common. Negotiations are usually conducted in Korean. But real estate agencies – they are called pudongsan here – help to rent housing, leading discussions in Russian. You can choose from two options: wolse or cheongse.

Wolse system means monthly rent. On average, it will cost $400-$500 per month plus utility bills. In addition, you will need to provide a deposit to the homeowner in the amount of 3-5 thousand dollars. Of course, in Seoul and other large cities, housing is more expensive, prices are lower on the outskirts.

Unusual for Russians, the choncee system assumes that you provide the landlord with a deposit of up to 90% of the cost of housing – that is, approximately 200-400 thousand dollars. In this case, there is no housing fee. You only need to pay utilities. If the tenant moves out of the apartment at the end of the contract, then the entire amount of the deposit is returned to him. They can only deduct the cost of repairs if the apartment is badly damaged (for example, there was a fire). If the tenant moves out before the end of the contract, they will deduct penalties – about 10% of the amount.

They can offer an apartment, for example, in one of these houses

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The Republic of Korea is considered the Mecca of cosmetology, plastic surgeries are very common here. But all medicine is paid. There are no free procedures, and prices bite. An MRI of the head, for example, will cost $400. Dentistry is especially expensive in Korea: you will be charged 200–300 dollars for installing a regular filling, and this is not the limit.

At the same time, there is a system of state medical insurance for foreigners officially working in Korea. Contributions must be made every month, their size depends on many factors and can vary greatly. Insurance allows you to pay for medical procedures at a discount, in some cases even with 100%.

For example, a standard medical check-up with blood sampling, tests, and so on costs about $600. If you have insurance, it will be held free of charge every two years. But if you want to add some elements to the medical examination beyond the base, you will need to pay extra – right at the hospital.

Knowing Korean will help a lot during studies and when applying for a job. But the language is considered the second most difficult after Chinese.

There are 51 elements in the alphabet, 24 of them are letters in the usual sense, and the remaining 27 are combinations: double consonants, digraphs (signs made up of two letters. – Approx. ed. .) and diphthongs (double vowels pronounced together. – Note ed. .). You can memorize the alphabet itself in a couple of days – this will allow you to read signs, simple inscriptions. But the sounds of the Korean language for the Russian ear are difficult to distinguish. For example, it has six variants of “e”, which you will distinguish from each other only after a long practice.

However, it is possible to learn Korean, just be prepared to spend two or three years on it. There are various training courses in the Republic of Korea, some of them are even free.

In South Korea, many historical buildings have been preserved that allow you to visually get acquainted with the culture of this country. The locals generally understand it. But a lot depends on the city where you are. In the capital, Seoul, English is spoken by the majority, especially the youth. On the outskirts of the country, finding an English-speaking person is much more difficult. The profession is also important: for example, doctors and pharmacists usually speak English.

The problem is whether you can understand the local pronunciation. Korean English (it even has a special name for Konglish, derived from the addition of two words – Korean and English) is at first completely incomprehensible to foreigners. Need a workout.

Koreans are education freaks. They learn anytime, anywhere. Even on weekends, if you go to a cafe, half the hall will be occupied by students: sitting with some books, solving tests, while not forgetting to communicate with each other.

Korea has free public schools. But in fact, all education is paid: Koreans consider the level of education in public schools to be low and almost without fail (especially in high school) send children to private schools – hegwons. On average, a month in such a school costs from 200-300 dollars, but the price can be higher – it depends on the number of classes, the set of subjects, the level of teachers, and so on. In hegwons, they often teach according to the same programs as in public schools, but they are ahead of the curve.

In the twelfth grade, Koreans take a very important exam – sunun, an analogue of our USE. It is believed that this is an exam on which a person’s life practically depends. They start preparing for it from the ninth grade, high school students spend days and nights in preparation. In general, the Korean education system is sharpened by cramming. Koreans even call themselves masters of cramming.

If you get high scores on the sunun exam, you can get into one of the top universities in South Korea. There is a SKY triumvirate here: Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. It is believed that graduates of these universities are most likely to find a good job.

Korea differs from Russia in many ways

Photo: Maksim Yashin

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It is very difficult for Russian children in Korean schools, since all instruction is in Korean. There is practically no chance for a Russian-speaking child to pass a sunun for a high score. The exception is if he was born in a Russian-speaking family in Korea, went to a Korean kindergarten and learned Korean from early childhood.

Of course, in South Korea there are assimilation programs for Russian and Russian-speaking children. For example, every day they have one lesson in Russian or English. But this is incredibly small.

In addition, there is a whole network of private schools in Korea. For example, there are six Russian schools in the country. The size of the fee is different: in Russian – an average of 400 to 600 dollars a month, in English and American – up to 2000-2500 dollars a month.