Foreign English teachers cite stagnant wages, poor conditions amid drop in E-2 visas

Teaching English at a hagwon, or a cram school, in Korea was once considered a good opportunity to make decent money in a respected position while experiencing life in the country. However, these teachers are increasingly facing alleged mistreatment and battling poor working conditions with little wiggle room to confront employers because of visa restrictions and a decentralized workforce. 

A teacher who taught at a hagwon in Ulsan, who asked to be identified as Liz, told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Monday that wages at English hagwon have been stagnant for the past decade, saying she was lucky to start on 2.6 million won ($1,745) per month. 

"Most jobs offer 2.4 to 2.5 [million won]," she said. "That isn't necessarily enough." 

"Teachers are underpaid. Wages have not gone up in 10 or 20 years. We aren't allowed to work second jobs to make up income if we need to," Liz said.

Liz said her breaks were never longer than 5 to 10 minutes, if that.

"We couldn't leave, and we didn't get dinner," she said. "They always stated they would fix it and never did." 

She also stated that the accommodation provided to her, which is often part of the deal when working at a hagwon, was moldy.

Liz is currently involved in a legal dispute with her hagwon along with other teachers.

The Korea JoongAng Daily reported on May 7 that E-2 visas, which allow native English speakers to teach conversation classes in Korea, hit a six-year low in the first quarter of the year, dropping from 2,448 in 2020 to 1,286 in 2026. Many teachers say that the dramatic drop-off in visa applicants is due to low wages that have not kept up with the cost of living, poor working conditions and dodgy contracts. 

A wages crash course

The U.S.-based English teaching organization, the Council on International Educational Exchange, estimates that the average salary for an English teacher working at a hagwon is between 2.0 and 2.8 million won per month, with accommodation provided by the employer alleviating some living costs. OK Recruiting, a Teaching English as a Foreign Language recruiter, says that an average starting salary is between 2.3 and 2.5 million per month. 

Some private academies pay well, offering salaries upward of 3.5 million won per month, according to hagwon teacher Sean Cho. But these jobs normally come with experience and through trial and error. One Busan-based tutor, Matthew Wakeman, went through five academies in a single year due to poor conditions. For Wakeman, accommodation hadn't been a bonus even though it was free. "It was used as a tactic for control; I'd been threatened to be evicted by previous bosses."

Salaries can also differ from area to area. In southern Seoul's elite Gangnam district, Wakeman knew of colleagues earning a starting wage of 3 million won per month, compared to 2.5 to 2.6 million in Busan. 

The monthly minimum wage in Korea currently sits at 2.1 million won. These wages are normally paid to base retail, hospitality and manual labor workers. English teachers, who have desirable skills and are required to have a degree from a university, are paid salaries just above that figure. 

Jung Bong-soo, a partner and labor attorney at Kang Nam Labor Law Firm who has worked on E-2 visa cases for over two decades, told the Korea JoongAng Daily that English teachers should be entitled to double the minimum wage in pay.

"The problem is their salary has been fixed. About 15 to 20 years ago, they received 2 million won to 3 million won, but it has been 15 to 20 years, and they are still receiving the same amount of money."

Jung said while wages haven't increased, working hours have. 

"Working hours used to be 30 hours per week, and now [teachers] work 40 hours a week."

Tricky visas, trickier contracts

Cho, who has worked in many parts of Korea, including Seoul's elite Daechi and Gyeonggi's Bundang, Suji and Giheung, said another complication involves the process of signing a contract. 

"The contracts are the tricky part." 

Most English teachers work in Korea on an E-2 visa. The E-2 visa is reliant on the applicant receiving a sponsorship from a Korean educational institution — in most cases, a hagwon specializing in language education. This involves signing a contract. Without sponsorship and a signed contract, the application is invalid.

"Unless they are carefully reviewed, they include points that are next to slavery," said Cho. "Long working hours with no breaks, or limited breaks. No personal vacation time, sick days that are neither paid nor permitted without financial loss. Many hagwons argue that only time spent in front of students counts as work, but legally, any time you are under the 'direction and supervision' of the employer [including prep time] is work time and must be paid."

Because teachers are bound to their employers through the E-2 conditions, nullifying the contract terminates the workers' visa status in Korea and creates significant legal ramifications. 

Park Jung-yoon, an immigration lawyer and partner at Majung Law, said the Letter of Release policy means employers hold "significantly greater power compared to foreign language instructor employees."

"Because the visa is tied to the specific employer, a teacher cannot simply quit and find a new job," said Cho. "They must obtain a Letter of Release from their current boss to transfer the visa. This lack of mobility is often used as leverage to force teachers to accept contract violations."

Jung said contracts can also become confusing because of poor translation and a lack of knowledge of Korean market prices and rates. 

Eleventh-month firings were also known to occur at some hagwon, allowing schools to avoid paying severance pay. Park said that employers rely on foreign teachers being unfamiliar with Korean labor laws, institutional systems and immigration regulations. This causes some employees to fail to assert their rights and become deceived by employers.

Few alternatives

Wakeman said his first teaching experience left a mark. "I feel like I walked away from my first hagwon with PTSD [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder]. I was having nightmares about them for months after leaving."

He was working 12-hour days for months at a time, and had to go to the labor office twice to complain about unpaid wages and health insurance.

Wakeman said it got to the point where he would accept low pay "as long as the environment and working conditions are good." He said he was being paid 2.6 million won per month.

Jung said teachers can't live off just 2.6 million a month, taking into consideration inflation.

"I think many of the issues with hagwons could be solved with a change to the E-2 system that gives workers a little more rights over their visa. It's easy to feel trapped when you have no way out," Wakeman said.

E-2 visa holders are protected under Korean labor law, but many feel they are forced into desperate positions because of the consequences of ending their contracts.

The Korea JoongAng Daily contacted the KGLU Native Teachers Union, which represents English teachers. They declined to comment.

Attorney Jung said the main way to receive better working conditions is through collective bargaining or unionizing. He noted, however, that there are complications caused by E-2 visa requirements.

"They can make a union, but survival wouldn't be strong because usually they have a fixed-term contract," Jung said, pointing out that even if E-2 visa holders can unionize, hagwon operators wouldn't pay much heed because teachers' contracts expire quickly.

E-2 visa holders can only sign temporary 13-month contracts. If teachers did try to unionize, the school could simply not rehire them.

While teaching English can still be a great way to experience Korea, the constant trip hazards of shady contracts, legal technicalities and the fear of being taken advantage of are making the profession unpalatable to some teacher hopefuls.

In doing so, it could slowly drain a vital element of the country's education system, leaving many already in the industry feeling burnt out and undervalued, legal experts point out.

BY FERGUS GOODALL SMITH [fergus.gs@joongang.co.kr]