Safety & reporting
Most Korean employers are legitimate. Here's how to handle the ones that aren't.
Red flags — stop and ask questions if…
- Anyone asks you to pay money for a job, a placement, or "visa processing". Employers pay
recruiters — you never should.
- You're asked to send your passport scan, diploma, or apostilled documents before you've had an
interview and a concrete offer from a named, verifiable employer.
- The contract differs from the listing — different salary, more teaching hours, a different
employer name, or housing that quietly disappeared. Compare every number against the listing and its
Job Quality Report before signing.
- The salary is far above market (full-time hagwon roles typically pay ₩2.1–2.8M/month) with
urgency attached. If it looks too good to be true in ESL, it is.
- You discover you'd actually sign with a different company than the one on the listing —
an undisclosed recruiter or staffing arrangement.
- You're pressured to sign immediately or told a lawyer or a translated copy "isn't necessary".
Before you sign anything
- Get the full contract in writing, in a language you can read, with the employer's legal name.
- Check the listing's Job Quality Report: anything marked "not stated" is a question to ask
in the interview — especially severance, pension, and health insurance, which are legally required
for full-time employees in Korea.
- Confirm who sponsors your visa and who pays you — they should be the same entity you sign with.
- If a clause worries you, get qualified advice. LucyESL provides educational guidance, not legal advice.
How reporting works
Every listing has a Report this listing link — no account needed, and the employer is not told
who reported. We review every report. Depending on what we find, we take the listing down, require the
employer to fix it, or remove their verification. Serial offenders lose access entirely.
If something happened off-platform (after you applied), email
hello@lucyesl.com with the listing link and what happened.
Your data
LucyESL never sells applicant data, and schools only receive what you send them yourself when you apply
by email. To have data we hold deleted, email privacy@lucyesl.com —
details in the privacy policy.
In an emergency in Korea: police 112, medical/fire 119.
Employment-rights complaints: Ministry of Employment and Labor 1350.