Korea Poly School Pohang - Yes or No?

There has recently been an alternate opinion written of the Poly School in the comments of the previous post, allegedly by the director of the school himself, allegedly named "James Bond".

It was more likely written by his son, Woonki Jeon, whose current studies at the University of Pennsylvania have been sponsored by the naive Korean parents and the even more naive English teachers at the Poly School.

The most deplorable fact about those remarks is that they are written in perfect English while the real director of the school doesn't know a word of English, something that all the misfortunate ex-teachers there would be able to confirm.

For anyone having any doubt about whether to go to Pohang (or another rural place in South Korea outside of Seoul, Daegu or Busan), we have developed an informative chart that will help you make your final decision.

How Big of a Problem is Pohang's Pollution?

Recently, a person compared Pohang to any other heavily industrial city: Pittsburgh (the U.S.) or Hamilton (Canada).

However, these other cities don't even come close to the reality of Pohang. Just look at the satellite image below. What you see is the second largest steel factory in the world.
It's so huge that it takes up a quarter of the city. And that Mordor glow with smoke that you see on so many night-time pictures? Yes, it's all real.

For more images, take a look at Flickr here, here and here.

Of course, the steel factory is only one of many sources of pollution: there are frequent winds from over-polluted China with smoke and sand that cause breathing issues, there is constant illegal waste burning by the population... you pick your poison.

Teaching at POLY School Pohang: The Nightmare

POSCO in Pohang is the 2nd largest steel factory in the world. Try not to breathe when you're there.

Thinking of teaching English at Korea Poly School in Pohang?

They probably advertised it to you as a seaside town, they offered you a high initial salary, they did everything they could to convince you that it's a wonderful teaching experience in a pleasant Korean environment. However, what they didn't tell you us that most of it were lies.

If you value life, dignity and other things like some free time, then this school is definitely not for you.

This English teaching hagwon is well-known for many English teachers who got fed up with the poor working and living conditions and decided to do a midnight run, essentially abandoning Korea over night.

Note about the POLY franchise:

Please note that while Korea Poly School is a reputable hagwon franchise, the branch in Pohang (Korea POLY School Pohang) is its blackest sheep that is nothing like other Poly schools around the country.

POSCO looks like Mordor at night. The rest of the town is very unimpressive.

The pros and cons of being at Korea Poly School Pohang

+ The only positive thing about the Pohang Poly School is that it pays a higher initial salary than regular hagwons, they will likely offer you between 2.5 and 2.7 million Korean Won. Unfortunately, this is where the good points end.

- The first downside is that the Pohang Poly School director (and his co-director wife) will literally cam you for your Korean pension fund money (which amounts to 9% of your total salary) to which you are entitled to by Korean Federal Law. 

If you will bring up the issue with the director you will either get fired or not hired in the first place - which happened many times before.

- The Pohang Poly School school director is trying to evade taxes in every imaginable way (a frequent modus operandi in Korea), operating it in a very shady manner. 

He is also concealing the badly managed chaos of his school to both parents and the Poly School franchise headquarters, which keeps him from getting fired.

- The director will try to control your life in every imaginable way. He will try to make you come to him for any bank transaction and purchase you make in Korea. He will also try to keep some oversight over your mobile phone, bank account and your travels.

- The school itself is very disorganized, even though they claim to have a curriculum, the teacher has to adapt it daily to cater to every whim of the directors and the Korean parents.

- Even though they will say that you will teach for 8 hours, the reality is that you will have to be in school for 10 long hours, from 9.20 in the morning to 7.20 in the evening, with two to three 40 minute pauses in between - since you have to be prepared for the next class 10 minutes before its start, these pauses are barely long enough for a meal and you won't be able to make a use of them.

- The Korean children you will be teaching can be characterized as extremely spoiled devils. Korea Poly School in Pohang caters to the rich parents who send their spoiled children there. 

That means that A. you will have a very hard time controlling them in the classroom and B. the parents will make unreasonable demands regarding the curriculum to you. 

Both of these facts will erode your sanity even faster.

- As mentioned before, the Poly School in Pohang is known for several of its teachers running away, one after another, due to poor working conditions, shady management style, unmanageable children and the poor general living area.

Location

- Poly School in Pohang is located on the provincial northern outskirts of the town, a  very bumpy 30-40 minute bus drive to the city center. It almost doesn't deserve the "Pohang" tag. The area is heavily polluted and infested with garbage (that is not an understatement), a lot of people are wearing face masks due to air pollution (Pohang is home to world's second largest steel factory).

Be warned that your living options will be very limited. Once you get bored of local restaurants, you will soon realize that you are virtually trapped there. Pohang is not a lively or party town.

- You will be assigned an apartment withing a 10 minute walk from the Poly School, in the same heavily littered remote area.

- The area you'd be living in is filled with three things: garbage piles, square apartment houses and highrises (many of the last two still in the process of being built). It is not a pleasant sight. Do not expect a friendly or welcoming attitude from the local people.

- Another minor detail is that tap water is not drinkable so stock up on bottled water. Also, if you have sensitive skin you will likely get a rash every time you shower.

The beach and water in Pohang are not something to look forward to.

Bottom line

You should only decide to teach English at this hagwon if you are prepared to give up your life and soul and trade it for a bit higher initial salary (you can say goodbye to the Korean pension fund money and other things that you are supposed to get). 

By being there you risk developing depression, obesity (a lot of Korean food is heavily sugar based), suffering from low self-esteem (if you stay there) and high stress.

Don't count on spending time at the beach: the water in Pohang is dirty and the beaches are littered with garbage of all sorts.

If you can, avoid not just the Poly School in Pohang but the whole polluted region around Pohang.