Ask a Waygook - Salary and Cost of Living of an English Teacher in South Korea?

Many people who have contacted me have asked me about my salary and my ability to save money while teaching English in South Korea.  This post should hopefully help readers better understand what the salary and benefits of being in English teacher in South Korea would be like.

First, the salary and benefits of working in South Korea of course subtly vary from position to position between public schools, private schools, after-school academies, and universities.  I posted a sample contract for the English Program in Korea (EPIK).  Anyone can read that to see exactly what they would be signing.  The contracts for G-EPIK and SMOE are also nearly the same as EPIK.  This covers probably around half of all the native English speaking teachers in South Korea (somewhere around 10,000 teachers?).

At the present time (September 5th, 2010) the exchange rate between the United States Dollar and South Korean Won is 1.00(USD) equals 1,181(KRW). The rate has remained close to the 1200 mark for over a year.  It is possible the won could depreciate (that is bad), but most articles I have read over the last year expect the won (along with other Asian currencies) to appreciate in the near future against the US dollar.

For the purposes of all the numbers rounding out better, I am going to say that 1USD = 1200KRW (even though the rate is a little better and might improve further in the near future).  All my math will be done using this exchange rate.  If you are from England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Ireland, just take the US dollar conversion I give at the end and change it to your currency.

As our example, we will use Mario.  Mario is an out of work plummer who decided to go back to school after he lost his job in the recession.  He recently graduated with a masters degree in communications from Toadstool University.  Unfortunately, he still could not find a job in the United States, so he looked at jobs aborad.  He recently took a job as a public school English teacher in South Korea.

Because Mario had a masters degree and no prior experience teaching, he was hired in at EPIK as a level 2 NET (native English teacher, sometimes called a GET or guest English teacher).

Mario's base salary is 2,100,000 Won a month.  That is $1750 dollars and he gets paid once a month.

Mario has a few deductions from his check every month:

-- Income Tax Withheld ~ 60,000 Won
-- Medical Insurance ~ 60,000 Won
-- National Pension ~80,000 Won

The amount of income tax paid by native English teachers is pretty low.  Mario also will pay no income tax in the United States as long as he earns less than $80,000 (no problem there). 

Additionally, Mario knows that if he lives and works in Korea for less than two years, he gets a complete lump sum refund of all the money he paid into Korea's National Pension program. If he works in Korea just two years and then returns home, the Korean government would give him a check for about $1600 when he leaves.  Yippee!

Mario's average monthly bills are as follows:

-- Cell Phone ~ 20,000 Won
-- High Speed Internet ~ 30,000 Won
-- Water, Electricity, Cable, Gas ~ 50,000 Won

Public transportation is abundant and cheap in South Korea, so Mario does not own a car (or go-kart).  He does not have to worry about paying taxes on it, insuring it, filling up a gas tank, or avoiding red turtle shells and banana peels.  Mario probably spends about 25,000 Won a week on bus, subway, and taxi rides going to work or going downtown for fun.  That means he spends about 100,000 Won a month on transportation needs in the city he lives in.

Food in Korea can be cheap if you get what is plentiful (like vegetables, rice, and fish), but Mario spends the big bucks on stuff less common in Korean diets like milk, honey, bread, peanut butter, 1-UP mushrooms, etc.  He probably spends about 300,000 Won a month on going out to nice restaurants, ordering his favorite Italian food, and buying whatever foods he wants at the grocery store.

Here is where Mario is at:

(2,100,000) - (200,000) - (100,000) - (100,000) - (300,000) = 1,400,000 Won

A best case scenario for Mario is planning on being able to save 1,400,00 Won a month.  That is about $1160 US dollars a month or around $14,000 US dollars for the year.

It is also worth mentioning the additional financial benefits that EPIK gives Mario:

-- First, an entrance allowance of 1,300,000 Won is given as compensation for the plane flight.  People who can find a flight that costs less than $1,000 dollars can keep the rest.
-- Second, upon arrival, EPIK gives a one time settlement allowance of 300,000 Won to help new teachers get setup in their new apartment.
-- Third, Mario pays nothing for housing.  A studio apartment is provided for or else an amount of 400,000 Won is given a month in addition to the monthly salary.
-- Fourth, Mario will get a month's severance pay upon successful completion of his contract.  That means he is actually paid for 13 months of work when he is only doing 12 months.
-- Fifth, Mario will be given an exit allowance of another 1,300,000 Won for his plane ride home at the end of the year.  Once again, if he can buy a ticket home for less than $1000, he gets to keep the change.

So here is the master formula for Mario's total worth to EPIK for a one year contract:

(1,300,000x2) + (300,000) + (400,000x12) + (2,100,000x13) = 35,000,000 Won

Mario's total worth and cost to EPIK is about $29,170 US dollars.

That number may seem low when compared to other English teaching programs, but the average cost of living here in South Korea is very cheap.  Common figures given say that South Korea's average cost of living is a third of the cost of living in Japan and half the cost of living in the United States.  Restaurants are cheap, services are cheap, transportation is cheap, and fun is cheap. This salary is extraordinary for most working Koreans and some native English teachers do, in fact, make more money than some of their Korean coteachers.

*** NOTE *** These figures do not include "fun".  Lots of native teachers spend 100,000 + won every week on alcohol and partying.  They then wonder why they can never seem to save money.  Cigarettes, smart phones and vacationing are also the biggest drain on a native teacher's budget.  Be warned.
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