Hagwon

{{Transliteration|ko|rr|Hagwons}} are private educational institutions that are often compared to cram schools in the West. They teach a variety of subjects, for many purposes, to a variety of different age groups. As of 2020, South Korea had 73,865 {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}}.{{Cite journal |last1=Piao |first1=Huiyan |last2=Hwang |first2=Hyuna |date=2021-05-17 |title=Shadow Education Policy in Korea During the COVID-19 Pandemic |journal=ECNU Review of Education |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=652–666 |doi=10.1177/20965311211013825 |issn=2096-5311 |doi-access=free}}

{{See also|College admissions in South Korea}}

Competition for education and jobs in South Korea is widely considered to be extreme. Nearly 70% of students in South Korea participate in higher education, compared to 51% in the United States and 57% in the United Kingdom. This makes college admissions in South Korea, and especially the entrance examination (College Scholastic Ability Test), highly competitive. In 2023, it was reported that over half of test takers in the Gangnam and Seocho Districts retake the exam a year later because they were dissatisfied with their previous scores.

A significant majority of South Korean children begin attending {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} by the age of five; it was reported in 2017 that 83% of five year olds attended at least one. A minority of students begin at age two.{{Cite web |date=9 January 2017 |title=83 percent of five-year-olds in Korea go to hagwon |url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170109000747}} In 2022, it was reported that 78.3% of students between the first to twelfth grade attended at least one and spent an average of 7.2 hours in {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} per week. Attendance of and time spent in {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} is higher for elementary and middle school students.{{Cite web |last=Jun-hee |first=Park |date=2023-03-07 |title=Spending on private education surpasses W26tr in 2022 |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230307000508 |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=The Korea Herald}}{{Cite web |last=Seo |first=Jessie Yeung,Yoonjung |date=2023-07-01 |title=South Korea is cutting 'killer questions' from an 8-hour exam some blame for a fertility rate crisis |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/01/asia/south-korea-college-exam-fertility-pressure-intl-hnk-dst/index.html |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=CNN}}

Some students attend until late at night. A number of {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} offer private bus or shuttle services to bring the children back home, although the safety of these services due to cost minimization efforts has been criticized.{{Cite web |last=Herald |first=Korea |date=2014-05-14 |title=[Uniquely Korean] Shuttle buses show Korea's educational zeal |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140514000985 |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=The Korea Herald}}

Parents spend the most money on English language {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}}, with mathematics and Korean taking second and third place. Science and the humanities are also popular, although less so. {{Transliteration|ko|rr|Hagwons}} are also seen as a critical place to prepare for the college entrance exams.{{Cite magazine |last=Ewe |first=Koh |date=2023-07-07 |title=Why South Korea's Latest Cram School Crackdown Is Doomed to Fail |url=https://time.com/6292773/south-korea-crackdown-hagwons-cram-schools-competition/ |access-date=2023-08-04 |magazine=Time}}

While most {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} focus on meeting educational needs, many also exist for a variety of nonacademic subjects, including music, art, swimming, and Taekwondo. A variety of {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} for adults also exist, including some to train flight attendants.{{Cite web |last=Sung |first=So-young |date=2013-02-13 |title=Pants vs. skirts: Flight attendants fight for choice |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2013/02/13/features/Pants-vs-skirts-Flight-attendants-fight-for-choice/2967070.html |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=Korea JoongAng Daily}}

File:Hakwon street 1971-07-24.png of Seoul (1971)]]

In 1885, Henry Appenzeller founded the Paichai school (배재대학교) as a cover for his missionary work. At the time it was illegal to preach other religions in Korea. Although his main goal was to spread his faith, it was still used by Koreans to learn English.{{cite web |author=Andrei Lankov |date=4 October 2009 |title=(470) Original English Boom |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2007/10/165_11302.html |access-date=1 September 2009 |work=The Korea Times}}

In the 1970s and 1980s, {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} were reportedly seen as optional for remedial studying.{{Cite web |last=Sussman |first=Anna Louie |date=2023-03-21 |title=The Real Reason South Koreans Aren't Having Babies |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/south-korea-fertility-rate-misogyny-feminism/673435/ |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=The Atlantic}} Private education, known as gwaoe (과외), was banned by President Chun Doo-hwan in 1980. It was felt the advantage of private education unfairly burdened the poor and to promote equality, all access to it was made illegal. Through the years the government has relaxed the restrictions on private education by increasingly allowing more individuals and organizations to offer private education{{cite news |author=Casey Lartigue |date=28 May 2000 |title=You'll Never Guess What South Korea Frowns Upon |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4679 |access-date=28 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090816111458/http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4679 |archive-date=16 August 2009}} until the ban was ruled unconstitutional in the 1990s.{{cite web |author=James Card |date=30 November 2005 |title=Life and death exams in South Korea |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GK30Dg01.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051204085223/http://atimes.com/atimes/Korea/GK30Dg01.html |archive-date=4 December 2005 |access-date=29 August 2009 |work=Asia Times}}

Korean courts have ruled that it may violate the constitution for the government to limit the amount of money {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} can charge.{{cite web |author=Yoon Ja-young |date=13 August 2009 |title=Cost of Daily Necessities Soaring |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/08/123_50060.html |access-date=28 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}} In early 2008, the Seoul government was working on changes to the regulations to allow {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} to set their own hours, citing individual choice as trumping regulation.{{Cite web |author=Bae Ji-sook |date=13 March 2008 |title=Should Hagwon Run Round-the-Clock? |url=http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=20687&categoryCode=117 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913051431/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=20687&categoryCode=117 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 September 2012 |access-date=30 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}} However, the government reversed its position five days later.{{cite web |author=Kim Tae-jong |date=18 March 2008 |title=Seoul City Council Cancels All-Night Hagwon Plan |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/10/117_20937.html |access-date=30 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}} The regulations were criticized as ineffective because the city council possessed limited resources to monitor and enforce them.{{cite web |author=Kim Tae-jong |date=26 October 2008 |title=Hagwon Easily Dodge Crackdown |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/include/print.asp?newsIdx=33321 |access-date=30 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}}

Along with these restrictions, {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} had to disclose their tuition amounts to the government so people could complain if the schools attempted to raise the tuition.{{cite web |author=Kang Shin-who |date=28 October 2008 |title=Hagwon Face Sterner Supervision |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/10/117_33465.html |access-date=30 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}} The licenses of {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} caught running false advertisements will be revoked. {{Transliteration|ko|rr|Hagwons}} are required to issue cash receipts.{{Cite web |author=Kang Shin-who |date=19 October 2008 |title=Rules Toughtened for Hagwon Operation |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/10/113_32922.html |access-date=30 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}} In July 2009, to help catch violators of these new regulations, the government started a program to reward people who reported them.{{cite web |author=sshluck |date=14 August 2009 |title=Lee seeks to cut educational costs |url=http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/08/14/200908140039.asp |access-date=28 August 2009 |work=The Korea Herald}}

The regulations were intended to reduce the cost of private education. However, some {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} added weekend classes to compensate for shorter weekday classes. Other parents have sought out private tutors to make up for lost study time.{{cite web |author=Lee Soo-yeon |date=17 August 2009 |title=Hagwon close, but late-night education goes on |url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2908856 |access-date=28 August 2009 |work=Korea JoongAng Daily}} Other {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} simply ignored the regulations. It was reported in April 2009 that 67 percent of {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} sampled were found to have overcharged for tuition. Forty percent were found to have charged parents over two times the registered tuition amount.{{cite web |author=Kang Shin-who |date=14 April 2009 |title=67 Percent of Private Cram Schools Overcharge Parents |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/04/117_43184.html |access-date=30 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}}

In March 2008, the government prohibited school teachers from creating test questions for {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}}. It had been found that some teachers were leaking tests and test questions to {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}}, giving the students who attended those schools advantages when it came time to take the test.{{cite web |author=Kang Shin-who |date=23 March 2008 |title=Teachers Banned From Making Test Questions for Hagwon |url=http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=21176&categoryCode=117 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728013120/http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=21176&categoryCode=117 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 July 2011 |access-date=29 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}}

A petition was made in October 2009 by parents, teachers, students and {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} owners to challenge the government's legislation regarding {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} closing times in Seoul and Busan. The constitutional court ruled that the laws did not violate the constitution.{{cite web |author=Park Yu-mi |author2=Kim Mi-ju |date=31 October 2009 |title=Despite protests, court says hagwon ban is constitutional |url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2911944 |access-date=6 November 2009 |work=Korea JoongAng Daily}} The restriction was put in place for Seoul and Busan in the summer of 2009.{{Cite web |author=kswho |date=8 July 2009 |title='Hagwon' Curfew to Be Set at 10 pm |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/07/113_48122.html |access-date=6 November 2009 |work=The Korea Times}} In making the ruling the court said, "Because it's important to secure sleep for high school students to overcome fatigue and for the sake of their growth, it's difficult to say that [the ban] excessively restricts basic rights."

In April 2010 it was reported that there were over 25,000 {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} registered with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, with nearly 6,000 being in the Gangnam area.{{Cite web |author=Park Su-ryon |date=9 April 2010 |title=Gangnam scores for most hagwon, closures |url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918954 |access-date=9 July 2010 |work=Korea JoongAng Daily}} It was also revealed that local government councils other than Seoul had decided not to implement the 22:00 curfew. The curfew was seen as not having an impact on education fees and not addressing the real concern with private education.{{cite web |author=Kang Shin-who |date=1 April 2010 |title='Hagwon' Curfew Backsliding |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/04/113_63489.html |access-date=9 July 2010 |work=The Korea Times}} Despite the curfew, there have been attempts to get around this curfew among {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} in Seoul.{{cite news |last=Kim (김) |first=Hye-yeong (혜영) |date=11 March 2011 |script-title=ko:학원, 대놓고 수업하는 곳은 없지만 10시 넘자 셔터 내리고 '보충' |language=ko |work=Hankook Ilbo |url=http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/society/201103/h2011031102322921950.htm |access-date=2011-03-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319200946/http://news.hankooki.com/lpage/society/201103/h2011031102322921950.htm |archive-date=19 March 2012}}

Teaching as a whole in South Korea is essential, especially for the rigorous and fast-paced curriculum. There have been recorded cases of teachers' behavior regarding academic discrimination and ignoring students' learning process and effects.{{source needed|date=March 2025}} Hagwons not only impact students but parents and teachers as well. In 2022, a mother was so concerned about her son not having enough time to study that she advertised for someone to sit with her son at a study cafe and to wake him up anytime he fell asleep studying.{{cite web |author=Ko, J. |date=2022-05-04 |title=A mother in Gangnam will pay you to keep her son awake during his studies |url=https://www.koreaboo.com/news/korean-mother-will-pay-wake-son-falls-asleep-studies/ |website=Koreaboo}} In an article by Suzy Gardner, she interviewed a previous hagwon educator and was told that though her job was to teach English, she "illegally" taught ballet because the hagwon she worked at didn't have enough employees to support all of the classes that they offered. The individual also said that they were so understaffed that they had to watch over at least three rooms at once, with one room containing students aged four. According to The New York Times, students are overworked and exhausted. The average South Korean student works up to 13 hours a day, which is more than half of the day, leaving only 5.5 hours of sleep at night (far below the recommended 8-9 hours of sleep).

Despite South Korea's now decreasing population and lowest fertility rate in the world, spending on education has only grown. In 2022, Koreans spent {{KRWConvert|26|t|convert=usd}} on private education, at an average of {{KRWConvert|410000|lk=no|year=|convert=USD}} per month. Becoming the most expensive country in the world to raise a child, which sparked many concerns for the South Korean economy, according to Time magazine.

While some see {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} as filling a need not being adequately met by the public school system,{{cite web |author=Hyun-Sung Khang |date=8 June 2001 |title=Education-Obsessed South Korea |url=http://static.rnw.nl/migratie/www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/region/asiapacific/korea010608.html-redirected |access-date=29 August 2009 |publisher=Radio Netherlands Worldwide}}{{dead link|date=October 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} others see them as creating an unequal footing between the poor and rich in Korea.{{cite web |author=Andrei Lankov |date=1 January 2009 |title=(509) Gangnam Fever |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/03/165_37117.html |access-date=29 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}}{{cite web |author=Kim See-bong |date=23 January 2008 |title=Are They Criminals? |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/04/162_17816.html |access-date=30 August 2009 |work=The Korea Times}} Although most Korean children attend {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}}, according to CNN, studies have still shown a measurable difference in educational outcomes based on the income of the parents.

Efforts are now being made to try and curb the amount of private spending on {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}}, although some observers are skeptical that they will be successful. The Korean government has even provided 150 million won ($125,000) to each of the 400 schools that were selected nationwide to refurbish after-school programs and other classes. The Ministry of Education states that the 60-billion won project is expected to halve the private education costs for middle or even lower-income families. Some even stated that the use of hagwons won't be required as the curriculum will be revised. Headmasters would be provided the authority to hire additional educational professionals.Ji-Sook, B. (13 May 2009). [https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2023/12/113_44856.html "Schools to compete with Hagwon"]. The Korea Times.

Research shows hagwons are associated with South Korea's pervasive academic elitism and educational inequity due to their provision of supplementary education.{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Sunwoong |last2=Lee |first2=Ju-Ho |date=2001 |title=Demand for Education and Developmental State: Private Tutoring in South Korea |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.268284 |journal=SSRN Electronic Journal |doi=10.2139/ssrn.268284 |s2cid=154704818 |issn=1556-5068|url-access=subscription }} Many students rely heavily on hagwons to improve their grades and to perform well on the College Scholastic Ability Test, which determines whether or not a student will be able to apply to certain universities. A 2023 statistics indicate a notable increase in hagwon spending, disproportionately benefiting students from wealthier or geographically advantageous backgrounds.{{Cite news |date=2023-03-23 |title=Korea's Education Costs Hit New Record High in Blow to Fertility |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-23/korea-s-education-costs-hit-new-record-high-in-blow-to-fertility |access-date=2023-10-02}} Daechi-dong, a neighborhood in Gangnam District, Seoul, which is known for its heavily concentrated wealth and high standard of living, is dubbed the "mecca of private education" in South Korea.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} According to a report released on March 7, 2023, by the Ministry of Education and Statistics Korea based on data collected from January 2022 to December 2022, the monthly average expenditures on hagwons and other private education for households at the bottom of the five-tier, income-based categorization with children aged 13-18, were \482,000 – only slightly higher than the 481,000 won these families spent on food.{{Cite web |last=Jung-joo |first=Lee |date=2023-06-28 |title=Thriving on anxiety: Korea's multibillion-dollar hagwon industry |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230628000655 |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=The Korea Herald}} Research shows that there is extremely high demand for private education in a highly competitive academic environment, contributing to educational inequality.{{Cite journal |last1=Bae (배상훈) |first1=Sang Hoon |last2=Choi (최기호) |first2=Kee Ho |date=2023-07-02 |title=The Cause of Institutionalized Private Tutoring in Korea: Defective Public Schooling or a Universal Desire for Family Reproduction? |journal=ECNU Review of Education |volume=7 |pages=12–41 |doi=10.1177/20965311231182722 |s2cid=259702076 |issn=2096-5311|doi-access=free}} Data reveals a significant representation of students from high-income districts like Gangnam-gu and Seocho in these universities and that the matriculation rate at SKY Universities was inversely proportional to students' household income – students from lower-income households matriculated at lower rates.{{Cite web |date=2012-05-18 |title=Posh Seoul areas send more kids to top universities |url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2012/05/18/etc/Posh-Seoul-areas-send-more-kids-to-top-universities/2953081.html |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Korea JoongAng Daily}} The influence of hagwons on South Korea's education system is also a common theme in media. In "SKY Castle", the plot centers on upper-class families destroying each other's lives by committing identity fraud, murder, and suicide in order to send their children to the top universities and secure lucrative career paths.

{{See also|Mental health in South Korea|Hell Joseon}}

The {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} culture is widely viewed as extreme by both international and domestic observers. A number of experts have expressed concerns about the mental health impact on especially the younger attendees, and even on the parents who have to afford and carefully curate their children's education in order to have them be competitive. In 2017, it was reported that among OECD countries, South Korea had the highest suicide rate in the world.{{Cite web |last=Kasulis |first=Kelly |date=2017-12-31 |title=South Korea's play culture is a dark symptom of overwork |url=https://qz.com/1168746/south-koreas-play-culture-is-a-dark-symptom-of-overwork |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=Quartz}} This pressure on mental health is not only felt by the students but also by their parents, who often face the financial and emotional burden of ensuring their children's success in an extremely competitive educational environment. Some hagwons use "anxiety marketing" using phrases such as, "If not now, then when?" to evoke a sense of urgency amongst parents of students. In addition to mental health issues, there are also concerns about physical health implications due to the long hours spent in hagwons. According to a 2015 New York Times report, the average South Korean student works up to 13 hours a day, which is more than half of the day, leaving only 5.5 hours of sleep at night.{{Cite news |last=Koo |first=Se-Woong |date=2014-08-01 |title=Opinion {{!}} An Assault Upon Our Children |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/sunday/south-koreas-education-system-hurts-students.html |access-date=2023-12-11 |issn=0362-4331}} Research shows that a lifestyle of lack of sleep can lead to problems such as chronic fatigue, poor sleep quality, and an increased risk of physical health problems in the long term.{{Cite journal |last1=Chattu |first1=Vijay Kumar |last2=Manzar |first2=Md. Dilshad |last3=Kumary |first3=Soosanna |last4=Burman |first4=Deepa |last5=Spence |first5=David Warren |last6=Pandi-Perumal |first6=Seithikurippu R. |date=2018-12-20 |title=The Global Problem of Insufficient Sleep and Its Serious Public Health Implications |journal=Healthcare |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.3390/healthcare7010001 |issn=2227-9032 |pmc=6473877 |pmid=30577441 |doi-access=free}} As an effort to combat these issues, in 2010, the South Korean government implemented regulations to limit the operating hours of hagwons and reduce the academic burden on students.{{Cite web |date=2010-03-30 |title=Court upholds a law limiting hagwon hours |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20091030000074 |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=The Korea Herald}}

A higher-than-average concentration of {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} in the Gangnam District, specifically Daechi-dong (대치동), has been cited as the primary reason for an increase in real estate costs in the area. In the 1970s the Seoul government made some top schools relocate to the area. The schools there have become associated with entry into elite high schools and then elite universities. Many residents feel their children need to be associated with these schools to reach the upper levels of business and success.{{cite web|url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=1993657|title=An address some people will die for|work=Korea JoongAng Daily|access-date=29 August 2009|date=12 June 2003|author=Lee Sang-geon, Kim Myeong-ryong}}

As more parents try to move to the area to allow their children to attend these schools, the prices of real estate in the area have risen to 300 percent of similar areas in Seoul. In 2003 the government had planned to develop a {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} center in Pangyo to relieve some of the pressure on Gangnam,{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-24404792_ITM|title=Plan for satellite 'hagwon' town under fire|work=The Korea Herald|access-date=29 August 2009|date=15 September 2003|author=Choe Yong-shik}} yet after heavy criticism for only shifting the problem around and not solving it, the government canceled the plan only a couple of weeks later.{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-792322_ITM|title=Gov't Scraps Plan to Build Private Institute Zone in Pangyo|access-date=29 August 2009|date=27 September 2003|publisher=Yonhap News Agency |author=entropy}}

Top-rated hagwon slots are fought over by parents. Parents will stand outside all day to register and enroll students in top hagwons. Some believe that there is a disadvantage for low-income families as many of them cannot afford the costs of hagwons. Typically, financial assistance provides an education that helps differentiate one's value, this is where socioeconomic groups cause inequity in competition. Because of this gap, many students fight to find ways to "stand out" to compensate for not receiving the same level of education or opportunity.Suh, J. (30, April 2021). [https://jiminsuh.medium.com/the-core-of-education-inequality-hypercompetition-and-standardized-scores-75482ef1d7e4 "The core of education inequality: hypercompetition and standardized scores"]. Medium.

{{See also|Teaching English as a foreign language}}

Native English speakers were hired as early as 1883 in Korea, originally out of need. The first teacher hired at the government-run Tongmunhak was Thomas Hallifax. Due to the preference for having native English speakers teach English, many native English-speakers are still hired to teach at {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} in Korea. These {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} may be only English schools or they may also be schools which offer a variety of subjects including English.{{cite web|url=http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/InfoDetailR_en.pt?categoryId=2&parentId=382&catSeq=385&showMenuId=374&visaId=E2|title=Foreign Language teaching (E-2)|access-date=31 August 2009|publisher=Government of Korea}}{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/01/116_17625.html|title=Envoys Criticize Teaching-Visa Rule|date=20 January 2008|access-date=25 June 2011|work=The Korea Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121062724/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/01/116_17625.html|author=Yoon Won-sup|author2=Kang Shin-who|url-status=live|archive-date=21 January 2008}}

The minimum requirements for foreigners for such teaching positions are: citizenship of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, or the United States, a clean criminal background check at the national level, and a bachelor's degree obtained in one of the aforementioned countries.{{cite web|url=http://www.hikorea.go.kr/pt/InfoDetailR_en.pt?categoryId=2&parentId=382&catSeq=385&showMenuId=374&visaId=E2|title=Foreign Language teaching (E-2)|access-date=31 August 2009|publisher=Government of Korea}}{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/01/116_17625.html|title=Envoys Criticize Teaching-Visa Rule|date=20 January 2008|access-date=25 June 2011|work=The Korea Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121062724/http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/01/116_17625.html|author=Yoon Won-sup|author2=Kang Shin-who|url-status=live|archive-date=21 January 2008}}

In return for signing a one-year contract, the institute provides an instructor with a monthly salary, round-trip airfare from his or her country of origin, usually a rent-free apartment or housing stipend for the duration of the instructor's contract, a pension pay for some citizens, and an additional one-month "severance pay" at the completion of the contract.

Foreign instructors hold a mixed view of {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}}. Some have complained of poor housing, non-payment, disagreements, and getting fired on the 11th month before they receive severance pay; however, many instructors have had no significant issues with the {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} they have worked at. Some recommend looking at {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} blacklists or greenlists, but others say they are not necessarily reliable.

{{Transliteration|ko|rr|Hagwon}} owners have complained about the challenge in finding truly qualified teachers.{{Cite web|url=http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2898300|title=English teachers complain about certain hagwon|work=Korea JoongAng Daily|access-date=31 August 2009|date=8 December 2008|author=Limb Jae-un}} A group of English instructors first formed a labour union at a {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}} in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/include/print.asp?newsIdx=56894|title=English Teachers Establish Labor Union in Incheon|work=The Korea Times|date=8 December 2009|access-date=10 February 2010|author=Park Si-soo}}

In some English-speaking countries, {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} exist for ethnic Koreans. In North America, about 75% of Korean-language supplemental schools have affiliation with churches.Hirvela, Alan. "Diverse Literacy Practices among Asian Populations: Implications for Theory and Pedagogy" (Chapter 5). In: Farr, Marcia, Lisya Seloni, and Juyoung Song (editors). Ethnolinguistic Diversity and Education: Language, Literacy and Culture. Routledge, 25 January 2011. Start page 99. {{ISBN|1135183708}}, 9781135183707. - Cited: p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bHWMAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA103 103]. "These, too, exist as a result of efforts made by local ethnic communities. Chinese (buxiban) and Korean ({{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwon}}) schools are the most dominant of these learning environments, while Japanese heritage schools (hoshuko) also exist in certain communities." and "while the large majority (around 75 percent) of Korean schools are affiliated with churches; these began to appear in the early 1970s (Zhou & Kim, 2006)." As of 2006, of the {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} registered with the Korean School Association of America (KSAA), over 75% were affiliated with Korean churches. There are also secular formal {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} and secular informal {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}}.Zhou and Kim, p. 12 The {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} are equivalent to hoshū jugyō kō (hoshūkō) in ethnic Japanese communities and buxiban in ethnic Chinese communities. As of 2010, every year over 50,000 Korean Americans attend Korean heritage schools.Kang, p. 1.

Korean schools were first established in Hawaii after 1903, when the first wave of Korean immigration came to the United States.Kang, p. 2. The modern generation of Korean supplemental schools were first established in the United States in the 1970s. At the time they were weekend schools that had a mission to preserve the Korean-American identity in its students. They taught the Korean language, managed the assimilation of Korean-American children, and offered afterschool tutoring programs. There were almost 500 schools registered with the KSAA by the end of the 1980s. Beginning in the 1990s there were also {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} that were supplementary academic preparation programs like the ones in Korea.Zhou and Kim, p. 13 Despite this, some parents viewed the quality of American {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} as less rigorous than their South Korean counterparts. But in 2010, it was reported that some Korean parents in the United States viewed some {{Transliteration|ko|rr|hagwons}} in the New Jersey–New York area as being of similar quality.{{Cite web |date=2010-04-15 |title=Hagwon in US Go Korean Style |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2023/08/419_64258.html |access-date=2023-08-04 |website=The Korea Times}}

Kang Hee-Ryong, author of the PhD thesis White supremacy, racialization, and cultural politics of Korean Heritage Language Schools, wrote that the Korean heritage schools are "not simply a means of counter hegemony against the racializing forces" but instead the "product of compromises" between different generations of Korean Americans.

• Episode 9 (The Pied piper 피리부는 사나이) in Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022 South Korean TV series)
• Crazy Love (2022 South Korean TV series)
• Crash Course in Romance (2023 South Korean TV series)
• The Midnight Romance in Hagwon (2024 South Korean TV series)

• Education in South Korea
• Work–life balance in South Korea
• Ronin (student)
• Storefront school

• Kang, Hee-Ryong (University of Wisconsin-Madison). White supremacy, racialization, and cultural politics of Korean Heritage Language Schools (PhD thesis). 2010. {{ISBN|112454688X}}.
• Zhou, Min, & Kim, Susan S. (University of California, Los Angeles). "[http://www.centerforurbanstudies.com/documents/electronic_library/neighborhoods/social_capital_and_education.pdf Community forces, social capital, and educational achievement: The case of supplementary education in the Chinese and Korean immigrant communities]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120906061645/http://www.centerforurbanstudies.com/documents/electronic_library/neighborhoods/social_capital_and_education.pdf Archive]). Harvard Educational Review, 2006. 76 (1), 1-29.
• Kim, K. K. (2007). Jaemihanin Minjokkyooke Kwanhan Yongoo (A Study on the Development of the Ethnic Education for Koreans in the United States). The Korea Educational Review, 13 (1), 57–87.

{{reflist}}

• {{in lang|ko}} [http://www.kaoh.or.kr/ 한국학원총연합회] (Korea Association of Hakwon)
• {{cite web|url=http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=296120&v=43 |script-title=ko:학원 |trans-title=Hagwon |publisher=Nate Encyclopedia of Korean Culture |language=ko |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610072824/http://100.nate.com/dicsearch/pentry.html?s=K&i=296120&v=43 |archive-date=10 June 2011}}
• Ewe, K. (7 July 2023). [https://time.com/6292773/south-korea-crackdown-hagwons-cram-schools-competition/ "Why S. Korea's crackdown on private tutoring is just a 'band-aid' on a much larger problem".] Time.

Category:Academic pressure in East Asian culture

Category:Education in South Korea

Category:Test preparation companies