This is the last in a series of articles on illegal private tutoring.
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
An immigration officer indicated that the government may consider revising the current regulations to allow foreigners to tutor legally for money.
"We understand that the efficacy of the law banning private tutoring for foreigners is questionable as we don't have sufficient manpower to root out the illegality.
"However, this doesn't mean foreigners are allowed to breach the regulations," Kim Jeong-do, an immigration officer told The Korea Times.
He added that foreigners are informed that they are only permitted to work at the workplaces designated by their visas, so not being aware of the illegality of private tutoring should not be an excuse.
"In Japan, they don't restrict the workplaces of foreign nationals. If calls demanding that the restrictions should be lifted grow, we may consider it, but we don't have any immediate plans to do so now," he said.
The Korea Immigration Service has maintained that foreigners should not engage in any other activities beyond those their visa status permits.
Currently, foreigners violating the Immigration Law are subject to deportation. However, education and tax authorities see that legalizing private tutoring by foreigners could be a solution to the problem.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, which deals with foreigners holding F-series visas, are authorized to arrest illegal tutors but the heaviest punishment is a fine.
Kim Chul-woon, director of the Private Institute Monitoring Team at the ministry, said, "It is hard to control the mushrooming illegal private tutoring, so it would be better for immigration offices to allow foreigners to tutor privately and impose taxes on that income."
The National Tax Service also supports the idea of opening the tutoring market to foreigners and making them pay taxes on the money they make.
"We have tried to root out SAT tutors who charged high fees to parents. But, it's hard to uncover illegal private tutoring as the parents and tutors are closely connected," said Oh Sang-hoon, a tax official.
According to some parents and students in Gangnam, southern Seoul, many foreigners there earn 50,000 to 70,000 won per hour for private English tutoring sessions.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
