Korean Public Schools offer teachers an incredible opportunity to gain valuable experience teaching in a public school setting in South Korea. 

As a teacher in a South Korean public school, you are partnered with a Korean English teacher who you will work with to plan and coordinate lessons. While you won't be in the same class together, you will have the same classes – you teaching communicability and pronunciation, and them teaching grammar and writing. 

The Korean teacher will be your greatest asset in adjusting to life in Korea and teaching in a Korean Public School; they will also be an incredible resource to help you learn about Korean culture.

Teach in Korea where you can have a great quality of life AND where you can save money. 
Korea is one of the best countries in the world to teach in with respect to compensation and benefits:

This section contains a brief comparison of the private language schools (known as hagwon in Korean) and public schools in Korea.

*Please note that this is a rough guideline of some of the general differences between private and public schools in Korea. Some schools may differ from these for any number of reasons. This chart is for general reference only and not indicative of any particular contract nor a guarantee of any particular benefit.

Looking for a non-teaching job in Korea? Most jobs in Korea for foreigners are to teach English, however there are other jobs in Korea for ex-pats. In order to get a job in Korea (not including teaching English), you typically either need to be in the country or you need to get a transfer or co-op opportunity organized through your university or college. At this time Footprints Recruiting does not offer jobs in other fields. We exclusively offer jobs in Korea teaching English and in other countries.

There are many international schools in South Korea, most of which are DOD - Department of Defense - schools for dependents of personnel stationed in Korea and civilians working with the army, navy, marines and airforce. We are also aware of a couple of Korean children that attend these schools and a couple of American children who were not affiliated in any way with any part of the American military.

Quite a few public relations and advertising companies in Korea hire native English speakers to work as copy editors, and occasionally as teachers. These positions are difficult to land as they are quite popular with the resident English-teaching community. There are also opportunities to appear on television programs, movies and radio. Jeff Strachan, one of the Co-Founders of Footprints Recruiting, was a star on several Korean television programs. Most of these positions pay quite well and some provide housing assistance.

There are two types of teaching opportunties at the university or college level in South Korea.

Footprints Recruiting has reached an agreement to commence recruitment of native English teachers for public schools in Gyeonggi province again.

The GEPIK program is the biggest of the provincial offices of education in Korea and hires the most teachers of any single province. Footprints is happy to once again be opening this market to our teachers. Footprints has been a leader in recruitment for all the other big public school programs in Korea - most notably, Footprints has been the number one recruiter for EPIK for the past many years as well as the Seoul Office of Education before it's inclusion into the EPIK program again. 

Public schools in Korea began hiring native English speaking teachers in larger numbers in the late 90's. In 2003 the Ministry of Education sent out a directive to start an initiative to increase the level of English education in the public high schools. In turn, the high schools began looking for native English speakers to help them achieve the goal of increasing the level of proficiency in English among their students.

Today, Footprints is the single largest supplier of teachers to the public school programs in Korea - both EPIK and SMOE hire hundreds of teachers from Footprints each semester.

Private language institutes, also known as Hogwans or Hakwons, are found all over Korea.  Some institutes are well-known with many branches throughout the country while others are small and short-lived. The ESL teaching market in Korea is extremely competitive which leads to bankruptcies and sudden school closures.

Footprints screens these schools in an effort to minimize your risks so that your experience there is as positive as possible.

Many government agencies and some private companies operate research institutes.

Most of these institutes hire foreigners who have degrees in humanities, economics or business administration as full-time editors. Editors proofread correspondence and research publications, write speeches, and occasionally teach. Most institutes pay quite well, and some provide housing. Because these institutes tend to be government-run or closely affiliated with powerful corporate groups, their instructors seldom experience problems in obtaining work visas.

Many full-time English teachers teach part-time as well, either at another institute or with privately arranged classes. Many full-time contracts stipulate that teachers are not to take on additional private work. Many English teachers however do take on private students. Part-time instruction at a second institute is legal only with permission from the sponsoring institute and Korean immigration authorities.  MORE INFORMATION  about teaching privately in South Korea.

Most large corporate groups (called "chaebol" in Korea) have their own in-house programs.

The typical instructor can expect to teach more than 30 hours per week, teaching all day from early in the morning to late at night. Most are intensive residential programs where the students study for 3 to 6 months. Some employers provide full benefits including housing, but the instructor may be required to either live on campus or commute long distances from Seoul.