Work Place Harassment at my South Korea Hagwon 

My friend was disrespected in front of his class at his hagwon. He told them if they do it again, he will quit. They did it again and he quit on the spot. I had a coworker one time who could sense that he wouldn't get along with the new director. He left a month into her taking control so he would avoid flare ups.Stand up for yourself. You are not their slave. There are better hagwons than the the ones you hear horror stories about.

You sharing this makes me feel less alone. I suffered textbook workplace bullying at my last hagwon and very text book sexual harassment. It was upsetting and being my first job out of college, I felt like every job would be that way for the rest of my life. Those people made me feel so hopeless. Luckily I was fired, literally, because I took too long to come back from my second vaccine during the school day (i passed out after the first one and my boss thought that fainting was a choice) . My new bosses are women and they are neither bullies nor sexual harassing me.

As someone who also works in Korea but in the public schools, this seems to be a common occurrence and it's incredibly infuriating. Honestly the money part aside, I think the workplace harassment and the power these people think they have stems from the part of Korean culture where they're basically allowed to bully and abuse anyone they deem "lower". Which as a foreigner who's been here for 2+ years just trying to do their best, it's extremely upsetting to be spoken to like you have no brain, be purposely excluded from things, not have the rules bend for you but bend for the Koreans. Having a toxic work environment really puts a stain on your entire experience living here and I wish that it gets better because Korea itself is wonderful, Korean workplace is absolute hell (in my opinion, from personal experience and this video's example). :/

It makes absolute sense that it's your boss's job to make sure you can do your job and have time to do your job. That's a HUGE part of a boss's job. Thank you for sharing this Chen. I think this is helpful for newbies coming to Korea to teach

I don't think I've ever heard of a single happy hagwon worker :-(

My kindergarten hagwon told me that I needed better time-management to get my prepping done during work hours; HOWEVER, every single block was spent teaching phonics, math, art, social skills or P.E. I also had to teach art and science to elementary kids in the late afternoons. The only time to prep was at night. Plus I had to write 15 messages to parents every Friday night, and get report cards done (6 paragrapraphs per kid). PLUS I had to read children's books and write up test questions for Book Club. I ended up working 12 hours a day and many Saturdays. Also, my American co-workers were constantly getting into heated arguments in the office.

I feel like South Korea, well, South Korean society is one of those things that can be enjoyable, if you’re rich-as-well. Wealthy to the point that you don’t need to get a job.

Unfortunately so many people whether they are in the states or overseas will stay at a job being harassed and won't complain. Life is to short to stay at a place where you're unhappy.

They should have absolutely given you time or money compensation to do those things! Good on your for not being a doormat. They would have fully taken advantage of you had you not put your foot down

Really glad you stood up for yourself Chen. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's bullies... just makes my blood boil... One time my coward manager was also being a d*ck, and eventually I just yelled at him "F*C YOU!!" in front of the whole office.. After that I traumatized him, I could literally hear his voice shaking over the phone when he'd try to talk to me.. So it's good to stand up for yourself, otherwise they'd just do it over and over again... And also, pls give my regards to Payton 😅😅😅

Bullying people at the workplace is pretty common in Korea, not just at hagwons. There's a Korean word for the abuse - Gapshil. If you were treated like that in the U.S. or Canada, you'd sue. Often, in Korea, many feel if they can exploit you they will. The country was extremely poor, so it was deeply ingrained with dog eat dog thinking. And it's extremely materialistic, and sometimes they act as if they resent that they have to pay the teachers salaries, and some of them will cheat you. Of course, there are great hagwons out there. It's too bad the government hasn't cracked down enough on the bad ones.

I just have to say that I am shocked that this still goes on as I have been in Korea for almost 20 years and this is basically the reason that I stopped working at hagwons. However, I have to say that I admire your strength and how you stuck up for yourself. I have known a lot of teachers and have caved in and put in those extra hours not to rock the boat or simply just keep their job. There is some excellent advice here and I hope more new teachers see this and learn from it.

Well done for standing up for yourself! People in management often neglect to realise that you don't work for them, they work for you and if you are treated with respect and kept happy, then your performance will be of a consistently high standard.

so much respect for you. thank you for sharing your story, rooting for you!

I'm sorry that you went through that, no one deserves that. You seemed to handle it so well though so props to you. Glad you're starting to live the life that makes you happy and focusing on work that fits the life you want to have.

Hi Chen thanks for making videos like this especially the acting ones. I think you are one of the few RU-vidrs in Korea who is truly realistic/ honest and doesn’t make it seem like Korea is a real life K-drama. Especially when it comes to the entertainment industry and transferring to non-teaching jobs, what you can expect, what you might have to go through... You’re awesome I hope everything is going well with you and you’re getting a ton of fun entertainment projects. Josh

I am really grateful you shared it! Thank you! This experience is educating not only to those who work in Korea, but at any job out there. Especially when you don't have a super-clear list of responsibilities and you kinda need to figure out on the go and protect yourself from being used and get sunk in overhours. Really, thank you!

I am sorry that happened to you, well done on standing up for yourself. It was a good thing you were able to record it. Sounds like the other person was purposely attempting to cause you drama. It was beyond unprofessional especially knowing you had a class of students outside waiting to come in.

Your attitude and response to the harassment was truly inspiring. You are amazing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I would have def crumpled and quit. You are an extremely strong person.

I am Korean. Thank you for your upload. Some Korean people are so bad. They look down upon foreigners and take advantage. Very true. Also, I want to tell you, you are so beautiful.

I have to say I admire the way you kept your composure and asked the manager to leave when you realised you were getting emotional, I would have snapped but you handled it much better considering the situation.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I know it isn't easy to relive traumatic workplace experiences, but your story is an essential warning for other hagwon teachers here in Korea. Your story reminded me of my experiences with unreasonable expectations at one of my previous hagwon jobs. Before I started working there the English department manager complained about how her American coworkers were unreasonable because they "wanted to leave right at 5", which is the end of their contracted work hours. The next year I was given responsibilities to create homework worksheets and print them out for students. I barely had any breaks and there were only four computers in the teacher's office. I spent the school year printing the homework on Fridays during my short lunch break and the homeroom teacher said nothing about it. One morning in December she randomly approached the new English department manager, let's call her Kay. She asked Kay why I hadn't given her the homework yet. Kay immediately walked into the English classroom and yelled at me about not printing the homework. I explained how I normally printed it around lunch time because the computers were constantly being used by the homeroom teachers. Kay immediately accused me of "making excuses" and demanded me to "stay late or come in early" to print the homework. That accusation still irritates and hurts me to this day. She never even apologized for yelling at me. As you stated in your video, it's unreasonable to make an employee work extra hours without paying them overtime pay. Perhaps that's the norm in Korean work culture, but hagwons use their local work culture as an excuse to exploit foreign and Korean teachers for free, unpaid labor. The principals and management are the ones making excuses, not me. If they can't give their teachers enough time to finish prep work during their contracted hours then they can't expect each and every lesson to be perfect, A+ quality. Thanks again for sharing your story and reading mine.

Wow. I'm glad you had the presence of mind to record. Good on you for standing up for yourself!

Damn…. You would think that all these Hogwan horror stories would wake these private intuitions up bc Korea is so careful about their image with EVERYTHING… but so many foreigner teachers have these experiences.. too many of them. They need to start treating y’all like human beings. I’m part Korean but I grew up in the states but I know Koreans 😭 sometimes it’s just all projection and then dog piling culture. It’s crazy bc you wouldn’t think it was toxic from their soft economic gains (kpop/drama) that shield the country from people looking down on them for being SO INTENSE. Sorry about that you don’t deserve to be treated that way. Shit can get so nasty out there.

Really glad you shared this. If I were in this situation my anxiety would have enentually made me cave and just come in early. Your story tells me that if I do come across a similar situation I am completely in the right to fight for myself and for that respect. Also good call on the recording. How did you manage to start recording without her noticing? That is also something I worry about- them seeing me start to record and then completely changing their demeanor

Thank you for sharing your experience,it's very informative

Key point: Pick and choose your battles wisely when working for cramschools in Asia. This is very important.

There are alot of videos here talking about the WHY not to go there to teach. It actually is very sad. I wish that their will be better laws to protect teachers there. It is so discouraging to read these and see how many people go to try to make things better but get bullied and you have no voice.

You’re definitely right, and honestly I feel the same way you do, if I were in such a situation I would’ve recorded as soon as I stepped out of classroom

These people are clueless the job market is over saturated and new graduates know they have no future but companies still overwork underpay and abuse staff. Awhile ago I was playing with the idea of putting together an agency to bring qualified foreign teachers to the US but after a yr of work.. I still was struggling with my business plan the worst is the horror stories ppl getting here and disappearing abusive teachers the cons WAY Outweighed the Pro's insurance alone was a nightmare. smh anyway the point is we Americans simply work different and the rest of the world lags WAY behind too often we get in trouble simply by sticking our necks out but that is no vice you should be proud of your accomplishments. You've done a great job and nobody as determined as you ever fails for very long.. success is around the corner. You are an inspiration @ChenfromBklyn

Thank you for the information! Personally, I haven’t had any issues with my Hagwon during last few months I’ve been working there, but there’s a colleague who has been treated almost the same as you, and although she tried to sue them, she says Korea laws just protects the Hagwon over the foreign teachers!

I was fortunate in that respect because I had a kind, understanding manager. Never realised that until later.

As a teacher my self I am very proud of you standing your ground, Salute to you teacher!

Just randomly saw this and just clicked out of boredom, but wow that’s is crazy good for you tho 👏

This is why I don’t work in Korea anymore

You’re 100% right with everything you said. I’m an F visa holder (married) and I’ve been teaching in Korea for 6 years. I’m long term here, but I’m looking into getting out of teaching and into a different field. I’ve seen many great Korean teachers, leave and then get threatened with lawsuits and such because of disgruntled hagwon owners. Honestly I’m sick of the shadiness of the hagwon business.

Great video. Congratulations!

Sorry you went through this you seem so sweet. One thing that really stood out in bold that you said was "I already told you my answer, it's just not the answer that you want." That is disgusting and it unfortunately embodies that toxic Korean culture. Not that Korean culture in itself is toxic but that there are a lot of Koreans that act like this. Misery loves company as they say and miserable people want other people to be miserable too. Anyways, you are past that now and I hope you are loving your best life.

Your a saint for not sueing them 👼 I would of. It would be okay for you to be petty 😈 lol because they need to understand humans are not machines. Teachers need free time to do things. No breaks at all and they wanna ignore your message till the last minute. Then, that evil woman who isn’t your boss but wants to act as she has the right to insult your work. I’m glad your not with them anymore. You deserve better 💐 😊.

I keep hearing similar stories about the work culture over there.

If someone that doesn’t know their worth or to nice or says yes to everything those are the people they take advantage.

For me I love making tests so when I had to do things like that I just did it at home on my laptop. But the way they approached you should have been in a more gentle way I think. Here's a tip at any Korean workplace if you want to have management like you or anyone. Every morning go straight to the director or the principal whoever's the head they'll have their own office and always say hi to them then go to the Teachers Lounge and say hi to them. Once in awhile bring snacks for an energy drink to the teacher Lounge. You will stand out in the workplace and it will look better

I've only heard horror stories from Hagwons never positive ones

Too many people in too many countries taking too long to learn to respect their fellow human beings.

The way you refer to the other teacher as "Karen Teacher" is hilarious

do you think you can share the audio recording once you move out of Korea?

Why does every one have a South Korea horror story 😂😂

FACTS!👏👏👏

Are there any Hogwons you’d recommend?? I look Asian ish haha but I’m interested in teaching in Korea

This is when you press pause in your mind and do a kungfu kick in her face! Omg! I missed the small part I thought that she was a parent at first. Then it is understandable why she was in your face. But a teacher/co-worker?? Not her place to talk down to you. I got mad just listen to you. Brought back some memories 🤣 for me, but you are nice too. Def frustrating when people questioning work ethic and time. Those def will set me off. The diff thing plays into this was the Asian and American setting too. In U.S, they may can say this but you can easily report them to H.R and they will b in trouble so some would use diff tone. For Asia, there are not really that and protection so co-worker can def co far and feel like they have the right or it is ok to be in your business. So annoying!! Glad u got away. That's lady should at least get written up. Def not the first time she has done it.

My experience is not related to working in Korea but just teaching in general. I've been teaching a few kids who are slow learners over a period of one year now. I have 3.5 years of prior teaching experience and have dealt with kids who do have disabilities. And I'm well qualified to be doing what I'm doing. But I'm of a very timid nature, avoiding conflicts and if anything bad ever happens, I usually take it upon myself. That I'm at fault. I don't stand up for myself and I keep taking crap from others. Doing way more than what I'm paid to do just so that I can help my students. One of my students, who is mildly hyperactive has issues with attention and he forgets concepts very fast if not revised. I got covid in January of this year. Just a week before my student had his test to qualify for grade 1. Sadly he failed in his first attempt. And his mother just went bat shit crazy on me. Like you're the teacher! I pay you for this! It's a waste of my time and energy. And what did I do at that time? I sat quiet. But I was so hurt with the way she spoke to me. Like I've been working my ass off doing much much more than what I'm being paid for and then you have the audacity to behave like that with me. That's when I understood that I need to stand up for myself. I need to do just what I've been paid to do. When he had a second attempt at his exam, I was there. And he did incredibly well. He passed his exam so well that his teachers were just amazed. I understood that his parents were taking zero efforts to practice what I've been teaching him when I'm gone. I mean I just come for one hour each day. How do you expect a 5 year old to remember everything I teach them in one hour and then you take zero efforts to revise what I've taught? I did not set ground rules. I did not make things clear. I wasn't strict with his mother about a clear cut schedule for him. And in the end I felt like I'm not being respected. You need to really show that you ain't gonna take shit from no one. I mean, tez hung a child with a disability is the efforts from both sides. Chen's experience motivated me to speak about what happened to me. And don't ever let anyone put you down or underestimate you. Never

Maybe thats what they do when your coming up to your severance, so you'll quit and they won't need to pay it to you.

I think the moment you cried she felt that she was stronger that you, that how bullies work, I hate when i am not in control over my emotion and cry when I dont to cry

I think you watch korean drama..thats why got the idea thats its nice to go there and many oppa :)

My boss just bullies me and i try so hard not to break down. I just try to breathe and keep it together.

Oh nooo

Youre the only person ive heard not get attacked for refusing to work for free.

Your reaction and the way you defended yourself should be taught.

Wouldn’t it be important to have an education background to teach? The fact that you went to schools doesn’t mean you can teach. If you spent time in American schools you would get an idea of the work load. As an elementary teacher I had 3 planning periods a week. Taking work home is a given. It’s a tough job in the US too.

Good job on getting evidence on the karen

Corporate America. Really good money. Huge end of year bonuses. 😍😍😍

That's awful. I'm sorry.

You're very attractive; I'm surprised that you didn't get hit on by inebriated guys/bosses there. Maybe you were. I was stationed in Korea (plus taught at university/companies afterwards) years ago and saw some wild $hit there.

They are literally so stupid… to avoid all of this I would have just paid you overtime for a few hours a week to complete the damn test. It’s not that difficult. If they want more work than they need to pay for it OR I would have worked with you to find a solution to find more time for you to work on the test during your normal hours.

I mean. Try not working at a tutoring center might help. I know in Korea they call you guys “teachers” to be respectful but you’re not. You’re like a tutor at kumon if you work at a hagwon. A hagwon us not a private school like we know in the west. It’s an after school tutoring center.

Karen's teacher needs help and the administration needs to add a part time teacher. Work hours are for working and a job should have the proper amount of time to complete the task. Poor behavior should be corrected.

I've been teaching for 30 years and I've never ever heard anything good coming out of Korea. Why do foreign teachers go there? Perhaps there should be an international boycott by teachers. Let Koreans teach themselves English or let them be vassals of China or Japan again.

I think we should bully at work

You said that you worked in States. If your boss gave you something to work on it and told you that he needed tomorrow. You told him that I will not do it overtime? Also remember you are an elementary school English teacher and it is replaceable so easily. I worked in many companies in US and Canada. Do your work even you can’t finish them at least your boss knows your attitude. Otherwise you will be fired in every company in US even you had a degree from Ivy League school. Complaining is the worst thing one can do. Cheers