Hire English teachers in South Korea

What it costs to hire in South Korea

Budget well past the monthly salary. Most Korean teaching packages include either housing or a housing allowance, a contract-completion bonus of roughly a month's pay, severance, national health and pension contributions, and in many cases a flight. A school comparing its offer only on headline salary will read as uncompetitive against one that includes an apartment, so state the whole package in the listing.

Visa sponsorship and your obligations

You sponsor the E-2. The teacher must hold a bachelor's degree from a country where English is an official language and produce an apostilled degree certificate and a national-level criminal background check, also apostilled. You issue the contract and supply the business registration and related school documents so the teacher can apply at a Korean consulate. Getting those apostilles is the slow part and it happens in the teacher's home country, not yours.

When to recruit, and how long it takes

Public school programmes recruit on fixed intakes built around the academic year, which starts in March, with a smaller September intake. Hagwons hire year round and move much faster. For a March start, be interviewing in the autumn. Allow a couple of months between signed contract and first day for documents, visa issuance and the flight.

What the contract has to spell out

Korean teaching contracts are expected to be specific, and vagueness is read as a warning sign by experienced candidates. Spell out teaching hours as distinct from office hours, exactly what the housing provision is, severance and completion bonus terms, paid leave and national holidays, health insurance and pension, and the notice period on both sides. Never take custody of a passport or an Alien Registration Card.

How this goes wrong

Advertising a salary band without saying whether housing is included, then losing every good candidate to a school offering less money and an apartment. The other common one is starting recruitment for a March intake in January, by which point the teachers who can actually assemble apostilled documents in time have already signed elsewhere.

Questions schools ask

Who pays for the visa and the flight when hiring in South Korea?

Practice varies, but the market expectation is that the school covers the bulk of it. Most competitive packages include either an inbound flight or a flight allowance, and schools commonly reimburse visa issuance costs once the teacher arrives. The apostille and background check are normally obtained and paid for by the teacher in their home country, though reimbursing them is a cheap way to look serious.

Can we hire a teacher who is already in Korea?

Yes, and it is much faster, because the documents already exist. A teacher finishing a contract can transfer sponsorship rather than start a fresh application, which removes the apostille wait entirely. If your start date is tight, weight in-country candidates heavily.

What qualifications must a teacher have for an E-2 visa?

A bachelor's degree in any subject, held by a passport holder from a country where English is an official language, plus a clean national-level criminal record check. A TEFL or TESOL certificate is not a visa requirement but is a genuine signal of classroom readiness, especially for candidates without teaching experience. Confirm current requirements with Korean immigration before you contract.

How long does it take to fill a teaching role in Korea?

From signed contract to first day, plan on roughly two months for a teacher applying from abroad, dominated by document and consulate processing rather than by your own hiring. In-country transfers can be far quicker. Start the search well before that window.

Immigration and licensing requirements change. Confirm the current position with the relevant ministry or authority before you contract a teacher.