Hello! I’m going through a weird/awkward/makes-me-wanna-cry situation, and I think I need legal advice. So please, if you have any suggestions (about lawyers), let me know! Your comments and insights are also appreciated, especially if you’ve gone through something similar.
For context, I’m on an F-6 visa, so my residency isn’t tied to my employer.
I started working at a hagwon on October 1st, and within my first week, I realized the position wasn’t a good fit for me. I have several years of English teaching experience, mainly with elementary-aged children and older students, but I was assigned a kindergarten class of 12 five-year-olds. During recruitment, I was under the impression that I’d initially be teaching a smaller group, and I only received two days of training.
There were also some unexpected changes to my schedule and responsibilities, including having preparation time reassigned to teaching duties.
Long story short, I decided that I wasn’t the right teacher for this particular position, and I genuinely believe the academy would be better off finding someone more suited to this age group.
On October 8th, I submitted my resignation in writing, initially offering to work until October 30th.
My contract has a clause requiring 60 days’ written notice before resignation, despite also having a three-month probationary period. It’s also a fixed-term contract.
The director responded with a lengthy email saying she was unwilling to accept my resignation on October 30th. She calculated December 7th as the earliest possible final working day under the 60-day clause.
She offered me two alternatives:
Stay until February 2027, with an additional 100,000 KRW per month and a recommendation letter.
Stay until a replacement teacher is found and trained, without a definite end date.
She also mentioned the academy’s lawyers and labor attorneys, potential lawsuits, and possible claims for damages if my departure caused disruption.
I’m not going to lie, that email intimidated me quite a bit.
At first, I panicked and emailed back saying I’d honor the 60-day notice period and work until December 7th.
Then I consulted a private lawyer. During a consultation on Friday, I was advised that the 60-day clause wasn’t necessarily legally enforceable as a mandatory restriction on resignation and that I could leave on November 25th, the first salary payment date stated in my contract.
Based on that advice, I sent another email confirming November 25th as my final working day.
However, I subsequently received free legal advice through a foreigner support center in Itaewon, and that lawyer gave me a somewhat different interpretation.
He explained that agreeing to a 60-day notice period isn’t inherently unlawful and that, although an employer cannot physically force someone to continue working, leaving early could still raise contractual liability questions.
He also questioned why November 25th would be the safest date and suggested that November 30th might make more sense depending on the applicable legal rules and salary calculation period.
He referred to Articles 660 and 661 of the Korean Civil Act and explained that the distinction between being able to leave and being free from potential liability is important.
At the same time, he felt that an actual damages lawsuit would be unlikely to succeed in practice, particularly given how briefly I’d worked there and the advance notice I’d provided. He also suggested that withholding or deducting wages might be a more realistic concern.
So now I’m confused because I’ve received two different legal opinions. To make matters worse, I’ve recently heard that the academy may already be involved in approximately three other lawsuits. I haven’t verified the details, so I don’t know whether they’re employment-related, but it’s made me nervous about the possibility of being sued.
I’m not trying to disappear overnight, refuse to work, or leave the academy without warning. I submitted my resignation during my first week, offered to continue working during the transition, and have been trying to handle everything professionally.
But I also don’t want to be forced to stay in a job that I know isn’t right for me, especially when I made that decision so early.
Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced, English-speaking labor lawyer in Seoul who has experience with hagwon employment contracts?
Has anyone dealt with a 60-day resignation notice clause in a fixed-term contract?
Has anyone actually been sued by a hagwon for resigning early, or personally known someone who was?
Has anyone used the Korea Legal Aid Corporation or another affordable legal assistance service as a foreign resident?
If you’ve been in a similar situation, how did you eventually resolve it?
I understand that Reddit isn’t a substitute for professional legal advice, which is exactly why I’m trying to find someone qualified to review my contract and correspondence.
I just want to leave as soon as legally possible without risking a lawsuit I genuinely cannot afford to defend.
Thank you in advance to anyone who takes the time to read this. I’m pretty stressed about the whole situation, so any practical advice or recommendations would mean a lot. :’)
