- Work hours are hectic
This is partially true especially for Korean companies but recently Moon Jaein’s government (2020) changed lots rules, implementing new regulations to reduce work hours, details reference can be found on this link
This includes
- Monthly subsidies for parents with children under five
- Time recording of employees’ hours
- Adherence to a 52-hour limit on weekly working hours
- A designated a “family day” once a month
- Increase entitlements to paternity leave
- Extending the substitute holiday system
- Flexible working hours for parents of children under eight
As these proposals are in their infancy and there is limited detail regarding their implementation, At present employers will need to monitor their progress as substantial changes to employment practices in Korea and policies will be likely to get implemented if the proposals are passed into law which will happen sooner or later. In past Korean used to follow this unspoken law i.e. if you manager or boss is in office you need to stay in office till he/she leaves, this was kinds of inherited from Korean Army culture (Those who don’t know every Korean male needs to serve military for 2 years). But I don’t see anyone following this rule anymore.
- Seoul is very expensive City to live in and salaries are very low
If you compare salaries with salary for same position in USA then yes they are low but more than enough to survive in Korea. You also need to consider local tax regulations and minimum wages before blinding comparing salaries between two countries.
In short this argument is also partially true but it entirely depends on life style of a person, a normal working class person usually doesn’t spend too much money on life style, I have written blog on how expensive is South Korea so please refer to that link for detail information.
But inshort it’s not as expensive as it claimed to be, If your in hand salary is around 3,000,000 KRW to 4,000,000 KRW without children then it’s more than enough for you to survive in Korea with decent life style and savings as well.
3. There is racism in Korea
Korean racism is different than people may encounter in western countries, Almost all Koreans don’t attack anyone physically or verbally based on skin color or race or religion, As a foreigner you will face racism in form of being left alone in group activities, sometime no one will sit next to you in public transport and for all reason being “Korean don’t speak English very well” so they will be afraid that you may ask some question such as direction etc in English and they won’t be able to answer that. Korean gives preferential treatment to white skin people but that’s because somehow they feel proud of a white skin guy working for them, but this is my own observation by working in Korea from 2014
4. You won’t be promoted
This is actually true if you are doing monotonous work and expecting to get promoted based on noextraordinary work, Usually Korean likes to follow a Korean leader and it takes time to prove your abilities and performance in any organization, in my personal experience I got promoted with blessing of my local management and so far progressing well in my current company in 2020-21, I am getting opportunities to hire more people and expand my work beyond Korea as well.
5. Difficult to find job/change job
This is also partially true if you are trying to find a job without having a job in Korea or searching from aboard, but if you are already working in Korea and performing well, I am sure you will get job offers from your ex-colleagues and co-worekers if they like you or your work ethics. Usually companies are more open to accept transfer of visa (E7 from company to another) than filing a new visa entirely for a foreigner. If you network a lot and follow certain work ethics you will be approached with job offers while you are working.
I have covered some aspect of all above points in my podcast, please do listen and subscribe for more informative episodes in future.
LifeWhereWeLive 