Anyone here working in Korea? Just starting a thread to share info and experience, organize meet ups, etc.

I'm just into my 2nd month working in Seoul. I can share my limited experience/knowledge thus far if anyone is curious.

This post has been edited by thurtin: Mar 15 2018, 04:45 PM

Yet to have a plan to go work there but interested.

Can you share how you come there for work, salary, living condition, expense..?

What do you do now and what do you plan to do there? Do you speak and write Korean?

Korea is not an easy place to find a job if you are not Korean. Period. The easiest and most popular job for non-Koreans is to be an English teacher but you have to be from the list of approved countries with English as the first language. Malaysia is not one of them. I heard and read that there is a demand for programming and engineering jobs for non-Koreans but I dont have the details. You are also unlikely to get a work visa without a sponsor.

As for me, I am in the communications field. I quit my old job in an international agency in KL and while on a break, I was asked to join my Korean branch. I don't need to write or speak Korean in my current job which is not very common in Korea.

Average salary in Korea for professionals is about 2k to 5k usd per month. Living expenses in Korea is probably medium-high, somewhere between Singapore and Hong Kong. Monthly expenses are from 500 usd to 1.5k usd per person excluding rent.

The rental system here is kinda complicated. You may need anywhere from 1k to 30k usd as rent deposit with monthly rent payments from 500 usd to 1.5k usd on average for a room or small studio.

what do you mean by asked to join the korean branch? Haven;t you already quit the job? Or do you have connections?

there is a rental system in korea called JEONSE/CHONSEI.

JEONSE/CHONSEI (‘KEY MONEY DEPOSIT’) is specific to Korea and involves depositing a large sum of money (usually works out to 30~60% of the property value/ price) with the landlord for the duration of the lease (usually 2 years). Once the tenant’s lease is up, the landlord must return the full amount. This is a very advantageous system for renters who have the money to make the key money deposit, which can range from KRW20 million to upwards of KRW300 million.

Under the Jeonse system the tenants pay a large deposit of money, usually about 25% – 70% of the value of the property, to the landlord. After this huge sum of money is paid no further monthly rent is required. At the end of the lease period (commonly two years) the landlord returns the key money without interest. Deductions can be made from the key money for repairs and damages. Also, If the landlord is unable to return the key money, the tenant can stay until the money is returned.

This post has been edited by COOLPINK: Jun 20 2018, 04:52 PM

Summary: Yes, I did quit my old job. So happen that while I was on my break, the Korean branch office was looking for someone that could read and write English well with the relevant experience. I was hired.

There are 3 systems actually:

1. Jeonse - pay a deposit between 50% to 80% of property value. Rent is then usually free or super low, like maybe less than 100k won.

2. Wolse - pay a deposit anywhere from 10 to 50 million won. Rent is then "market rate", anywhere from 300k to 1 million won depending on size and location

3. Western system - pay a deposit of 1 or 2 months rent in advance. Rent is then higher than market rate, about 20% to 40% higher.


It has always been option 1 or 2 all this while. A lot of Koreans cannot afford the deposit, so they have to ask their parents or take a loan from the bank. If you are foreigner, you have to figure out how to pay the deposit if your employer is not covering it.

Option 3 is getting more popular because bank interest rate is very low now. Landlords cant make money from the interest anymore, so they prefer to get more from the monthly rent.

-

This post has been edited by fx_53_xt: Aug 30 2019, 09:21 AM

Cool. Where are you based and what are you doing?

Base in suwon doing IC design.

Nice. Suwon is quite far from Seoul. Good luck and all the best.

Just an idea open for discussion. Is it possible to do airbnb rental since it might be a cheaper option to get a room? As i know airbnb can book up to 6 months by a cheaper rate. no need to fork out so much deposit

Yes for sure, i stayed for over one month in airbnb before i found a place to rent. Short term room rental is generally expensive and kinda hard to get in certain areas. Either they will want minimum one year or a very big deposit. Maybe in expat areas they can do short term, but its probably still gonna be expensive.

thanks.
btw can i know if it is possible to get a prepaid phone line without ARC ?
my ARC appointment is scheduled till the end of Oct

I read its possible just with passport, but depends on which telco and shop you go to. Some of the staff may not be familiar with the process. KT seems to the be one that is foreigner friendly. Try to go to the nearest one and ask. Good luck.

Wish to work there too

I guess there's not many Malaysian working legally in Korea.

Visit Seoul at least once or twice a year.
Since I am based in Tokyo now, will be visiting Seoul often.

I just got offered a job in Incehon and supposed to start as soon as i get my Visa, probably early next year. I have been to Korea many times for short trips in the past few years and lived close to 7 to 8 month there in total, accumulated.
I will be working in the same company as I currently do in Malaysia.

The Visa application is quite complicated and most parts I'm required to do myself.

May i know how was your visa application?

If you are applying for the E-7 visa, your Korean office is supposed to do most of the visa application for you. That's what I was told. My company hired a specialist lawyer to do this for me. I was only required to submit the necessary documents which had to be certified. Even that was a pain because the Korean government wanted things like proof of employment all the way back to my first job. lol.

Yes, i'm supposed to get the E-7-1 Visa, so should be similar.
They told me that i need to get my documents certified from my university then get it notorized after checking with Korean consulate. Not sure if they have specific Notary public's.

I will need to make a trip to the my old uni, i guess. I'm not from KL and my uni is also far away.
Which is kind troublesome. I probably need to call the embassy to make sure, so i dont need to do 2 trips.