I also got good support from management whenever I had an issue or problem. I never felt like they were trying to cut corners or screw people. I know some of the other people on this list, and they are just bitter because they didn’t act like an adult at school. They were coming in late and not doing their work. I think it’s sh**ty of them to put down the school, because of the stupid things they did. You’ll notice that the really bad reviews don’t have a name, because they are just trying to bring the school down. I have worked in Korea for almost 6 years and the Junggye branch is one of the best schools I worked at.

I know that they had issues a couple years back, but that has all been resolved now and i would fully recommend working for this school.

The owner, Mr. Lee, and the President, Jun, promised again and again to pay our severance and pension (which they claimed they didn’t realize they had to pay) at the end of our contract. Then they said they had to take out bank loans to pay us. It wasn’t until we got an excel sheet detailing over a million won in bogus deductions that we realized that in fact our bosses, who had pretended to be our friends, were actively trying to reduce their liability and inevitably not pay us what we were owed.

They succeeded. We went back to the US with our tails between our legs and they didn’t pay us a bek won.

It is also important to note that Topia headquarters ignored repeated cordial requests for assistance. If I had it to do over again I would not work for any Topia branch since they do not support their teachers and they look for every way to cut corners. And they do it all with a grin and a free bottle of soju so you think you are among friends.

As for taxes, they gave me a statement of income and I went to the tax office myself and filed my taxes. And I certainly didn’t get back 200,000won, I actually had to pay 2,000 won in extra taxes. So if you could explain to me how to get that extra 200,000won I would really be happy. I even had a Korean help me do my taxes, and everything was done correctly and 200,000won was not given to me.

As for pension, when my contract was up, I just contacted the pension office and got my money… easy.

My experience with Topia was fine, I had to do a few things myself, nothing was done for me, but then again back in my home country I had to do my own taxes as well.

The Bad:
They’ll screw you.
They’ll transfer you even if you negotiated to be placed in the area if it’s most profitable for them.
If you say ‘that’s not in my contract’, they tell you that your contract doesn’t really matter, even if you just got there. Or, “it’s Korean culture, deal with it”
They don’t tell you if your doing a good job, they just criticize you when they get a complaint about a student not circling a word test answer or something. They do not judge your teaching performance, at all.
They downsized recently and continue to do so and “lay off” teachers by firing them for cause and taking away their plane tickets, deposit, severance, etc. when you have only 3 months to go….
They do not pay pension. As a result, you pay higher taxes. They also don’t give tax refund forms to get your taxes refunded, so you loose 200,000 won on top of that.
They don’t discipline students. If the foreign teacher takes a student to the office, they just laugh at you and are friendly with the student. As a result, all the students take advantage of the foreign teachers and theres very little you can do…

Overall, it’s a terrible campus, terrible management, terrible place to work. TOPIA used to be a very good school, but not anymore. They’re going broke and in order to turn their school around, they are cutting costs by screwing people over and refuse to kick out bad students (which causes classes to suck and other students to drop).

No logic.

If you work at Topia, you WILL get paid on time. You WILL get a great apartment, much nicer and bigger than most. You WILL work set hours and have paid planning time. You WILL have a set syllabus and minimal planning (it took me 30 minutes of planning for every six classes, and I planned more than most). You WILL live in a beautiful part of Seoul and be able to experience some “real” Korea while still being in an urban area with big supermarkets, western restaurants, etc.

There’s really nothing like hiking up the mountain that’s literally across the street from your flat, and then getting soused on makgeolli (cheap rice wine) with a bunch of old Korean guys at the top. Better yet, head to the local joint for some Korean BBQ, and when you’re drunk enough on baeksaeju (another variety of rice wine) go and embarrass yourself in a private karoke room with your buddies. That part is all fun and games.

You will NOT get your pension without a lot of hassle. If you put pressure on Topia via the Korean government, you would most likely not be able to work in Korea again. You will NOT have any job security, and may well be fired near to the end of your contract as a means to dispose of you without paying severance. You will NOT have a good foreign supervisor. You WILL go absolutely crazy teaching a bunch of hyper Korean kids for six hours every day, after they have already been in “normal” school since 8am.

Basically, you can totally slack off as long as you look like you’re busy, kiss ass to the management, and put on professional airs. On that front, the job was easy. If the kids like you and the Koreans think you’re charming, you should have no problem, whether or not you’re a good teacher. Don’t come to work visibly hungover or smelling like booze (that shouldn’t have to be said, but there it is), look presentable, and do your job (however minimally), and you will have $2000USD in your pocket each and every month.

It’s a trade-off. I wouldn’t do it again, but I took my money and traveled for several months before relocating to another country, and THAT was all worth it.

Topia also received an investment a few years ago the Carlyle Group (yes, the same Carlyle group involved with the Bush family). For a while, the owners were probably on cloud nine, just rolling in their $20 million investment. Due to the recent economic crisis, however, I heard rumors that the Carlyle Group has decided to either reduce their investment or just cancel it altogether. Therefore, Topia may now be in a dire financial state, having to rely strictly on income from its customers (i.e. parents). Much of the above mentioned chaos may be due to their current rocky economic situation. Just a warning.

While I was there, there were three foreign “coordinators.” They are supposed to be on your side, but their job is basically to be a subservient slave for the Korean staff. One of them was pretty good, one was lazy and apathetic, and the third (Manson–mentioned in other posts above) was a backstabbing power-monger who would most likely stab his own family members in the back if it meant any sort of benefit to him. He acts like your best friend in the world, but he is NOT on your side. He is the pet of the hagwon owners and will happily do anything they say, legal or illegal. He was involved in numerous shady dealings (firings, offers to pay money under the table, etc.) However, he is apparently gone from Topia now (back in Canada). But be warned that I believe he will return to Korea someday, as people like him are unable to function properly in a decent, Western society. He is way too “Koreanized” and will be back. If you ever have any contact with him (a greasy dude with a cigarette constantly hanging out of his mouth), move away fast and don’t get involved with him in any way.

A few other random things that come to mind: Topia does not pay pension, as required by Korean law. All of your classes are on CCTV and are recorded. Topia management discourages the Korean teachers from engaging in social activities with the foreigners.
Overall, I have no regrets about going to Korea for a year. I had some great experiences (outside of Topia, that is) traveled a lot, did a lot of hiking, and met some great people, both foreign and Korean. However, if I ever go back I will definitely pursue a public school position and stay far away from the for-profit hagwon system.

They like to scrape the bottom of the barrel with everything they provide. The accommodation was disgusting (50,000 won is taken as cleaning fee and there was not a shred of evidence of any cleaning). They will take a 500,000 won housing deposit !

The so called head manager manson is an incompetent buffoon to say the least. He screwed up with a newly arrived couple and tried to cover it up by paying them under the table to be quiet. Suddenly inspired on a power trip he decided to write them a warning letter . They were outraged of course. He eventually got them fired under the guise of Mutual agreement. (At no point had they indicated to leave). In the end the couple did not decide to pursue this illegal and unfair dismissal as they saw this as an opportunity to get out while they could. A number of teachers have been fired mysteriously .

Hagwon`s have the power to cancel your visa! Advice do not work in Korea, Its not a good place to work. Their seems to be a fair amount of stories circulating on these kinds of boards regarding mistreatment of foreign teachers by hagwon owners. My advice would be to try Japan. The power is with you!

No training is provided and you have NO orientation (confusion). They have a system that accommodates anyone to come in and do the job just fine regardless of experience. There is no dress code. The hours (2-10pm) will suck the life out of you after just three months. Would you put your Kid in a classroom on Friday night at 10pm? You should see the poor bastards !

They are an illegal moneymaking exploitative and slimy hagwon who will fire teachers at the drop of a hat. They will ONLY exploit you.