EFL Geek 3.0 - ESL & EFL in Korea - Have you been blacklisted in Korea?

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Have you been blacklisted in Korea?

Copied in full from View from the Fence. See also the Marmots hole for other comments.

There has been a discussion recently on the Koreabridge Korea Job Advice Forums about a blacklist that has been posted by the Korean Foreign Teacher Recruiting Association. This is a list of foreign teachers who for some reason have been deemed unworthy to get a job in Korea. The site is entirely in Korean and there does not appear to be any method for teachers to offer a rebuttal for what they have been accused. Teachers are listed by their full name, gender and country of origin. In the entries they even put their Alien Registration Card Number AND their passport number along with other personal information and their ‘offence.’ Attempts to have explanations or rebuttals added or to have names removed have seemingly been met with silence.

One teacher who felt wrongly accused and added to the list contacted the Job Advice Forum and was given several suggestions for places to go for help. The poster finally decided to go to the Seoul (Korean) Bar Association where they received help in English and a lawyer who was evidently gung-ho to prosecute the case. I’ll post the note below for those who cannot access Koreabridge.

In the end, the teacher’s name was simply removed from the list at the teacher’s request. No law suit was filed and that appears to be the end of it for this teacher. However, there are many other names on that list. Some of those people may not even be aware that they are on a blacklist. So, if you are a teacher who thinks that you might have been put on a blacklist, then you should check out the site.

IF YOU ARE ON THE LIST: guilty of what you are accused or not, you can sue this organization for libel and according to the information below, you would NOT have to pay anything! PLEASE, Contact the Seoul (Korean) Bar Association. Directions are included in the post below.

From Koreabridge Korean Job Advice Forums:
i went to the korea bar assoc on monday afternoon - they have an english interpreter there from 2-5 pm on mondays - she was very very nice, very sincere the lawyer was adamant i sue and he wanted me to sue right then and there!! he wanted to sue the school and the website - !! wow i was so impressed but i told him i was worried it could affect me getting a new visa so we talked some more and he had his asst call the website owner - well, they just laughed and didn’t take it serious that anyone would actually sue!! in the end, he convinced them tho, don’t know what exactly was said (obviously) but my name is no longer on the site. but it’s not over yet, there are SO MANY teachers’ names on there - i can’t imagine why some koreans think this is ok - it’s NOT!! it’s so totally bullsh*t i really hope more people hear about this so this guy has to take the website down, it’s really ugly. oh by the way, if i had let the lawyer sue, i wouldn’t have had to pay anything (really!) so it’s definitely worth it to go there if you have a serious problem. seoul bar asso, mondays from 2-5; seocho station line 2; exit num 8, go straight take first (almost immediate) left, go about 30 meters, on the right there’s a large stone building which is on the corner, the entrance is around the corner and actually says “Seoul Bar Assoc.” in english.