What the ... EPIK?!?!

My take on the current EPIK fiasco, did they or did they not plan on dumping training costs on teachers, is that it could easily go either way.

A recruiter getting the info wrong and misrepresenting it is plausible. God knows Koreans tend to suck at putting things out in English. Just look at the post on Culture Tips. For whatever reason they just don't get people who understand English to check the stuff.

It is also EASILY believable that EPIK screwed the pooch and is just trying to cover it up. I almost said sadly it is believable. It is sad because Korean employers tend to fuck over foreign teachers a lot. It seems to be the norm. Whether it is cheating you out of money, 11th hour firings, or worse.

Just last year the Seoul Metropolitcan Office of Education (SMOE) told 100 foreigners who had been hired to come and teach that they weren't needed. They told them this at the last minute, when the people were getting ready to get on the plane and come to Korea.

Look at how an agency of the South Korean government dealt with foreign governments when the changes to Immigration procedure were being brought in a few years ago. They didn't consult with them until after the fact. They gave out false information telling people that their Embassy in Korea would provide criminal background checks.

When they did actually "consult" with the relevant Governments it was yet another cluster fuck. They told the governments what they expected. They were told no quite clearly from most of them. Yet they still expected to have their way. The US Embassy actually had to post a disclaimer on their website about what Korean Immigration was telling people.

Bad information is commonplace when foreigners deal with branches of the South Korean Government. Just as being dicked over by Korean employers is commonplace. It is because of bullshit like this that it is quite easy to believe EPIK really did this and are now trying to cover it up.

My money would be on the recruiter fucking things up, but I would not be surprised if we learned later that it was really EPIK.