2011 Teacher Salaries - When considering teaching in a public school in South Korea it should be noted that salaries are not negotiable.  Your salary is determined on a set of pre-determined criteria and there are no exceptions.  The following information shows you the breakdown of this criteria for the 2011 Ministry of Education Teacher Placements in South Korea.

As a teacher in Korea you have several options to get money home:

• bank transfer
• Western Union
• certified bank cheque  

Surprisingly, few first time teachers heading to Korea think about the implication how exchange rates will effect earning potential.

The Won is a currency that fluctuates but you also have to consider your local currency, is your home currency strong right now or weak... when you are abroad, earning money in a foreign currency, your consideration of your home currency is 100% different from if you were at home.

You want the money at home to be worth LESS.  That means that if it is worth less you can BUY MORE with the currency of the foreign country where you will be/are earning money.

 

Legally there are certain limitations as to the amount of money you can send home while you are working in Korea.

There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. the Korean government would much prefer that you spend your money in Korea rather than take it all back to your home country.
2. the Korean government doesn't want you to be working illegally.

For those of you on the standard one-year contract with a work visa to go along with it, you are permitted to send home 60% of your earnings. This percentage is not certain... some banks allow you to send 80%, others 100%, others don't care and don't stamp your passport...

When coming to Korea, make sure to bring along some starter money as you will likely not receive any pay for the first month of your time here. For ease of transport, peace of mind, and ease of exchange, I recommend using American dollar travelers cheques (checks) and bringing a couple hundred dollars to exchange into Won when you first arrive - the airport is generally the worst place to get a good exchange rate but sometimes you just have to deal.

Personally I recommend coming with about $500 in TC (Travelers Cheques) and another $200 in cash to change at the airport.

Western Union is a fast and efficient was to send money but someone has to be available to pick it up and process it on the other end.

Bank transfers are far more appealing in most cases because you can access bank account information online. There is a standard fee of about $70 for this service and they make a bit on the exchange rate (which is never as good as the posted bank rates).

Things you will need:

The long awaited 50,000 Won note is now available to the public as of June 23rd, 2009, and you can be sure it is going to be popular.

For teachers it means you don't need a briefcase or a backpack to collect your salary or head out for a night on the town and for Koreans it is very, very long awaited.  The highest note previously was 10,000 Won and that was introduced back in 1973.

Koreans typically deal in cash.

This will be readily apparent on payday. Do not be alarmed if, as happened to me, you are summoned to a darkened office with your school's director and s/he smiles a bit disconcertingly at you while tapping a thick envelope on the desk. You are just getting paid. There is something extremely satisfying about receiving an envelope stuffed with bills every month, though.

Pay day is fun - especially for those of you who are going to be paid in cash... remember that the highest bill denomination is 50000....(it used to be 10000... how many does it take to get you 1000000.... Love it!)  When I made my first million in Korea...

All bills are pretty much equal. It can be good to have a collection of 1000 Won notes for making exact change. 5000 Won notes seem to be less common than the others, but still aren't exactly rare, and the 10000 and 50000 Won notes will be the green that fuels your life. Use them all well, or at least entertainingly.

It is important to note that exchange rates vary from bank to bank.

No matter what bank you go to in South Korea, you can negotiate on the rate they provide.  As you unbdoubtedly know, image is important.  Dress the part.  Whenever I went in to send money home I wore a suit.  I always got preferred treatment, IE) ushered to the manager's office, coffee brought in to me and I always got better than posted rates on my exchange transfers.  Try it...