English Teachers Bring Drugs to South Korea

When Jason Glunt quit working for his grandfather's floral business in Sacramento, Calif., he decided the next job must be, at the least, adventurous, if not different.

South Korean school children learn English in a classroom.

(ABC )
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A business major from San Diego State University, the 26-year-old's many Korean-American friends pointed him toward a decent paying job, with the added bonus of a fun and wild life -- in Asia.

Two years later, Glunt teaches English to elementary school students in one of the most posh residential areas in Seoul, South Korea. Arriving on a free round-trip ticket with guaranteed free housing, he teaches five hours a day, making $2,200 a month.

"English teachers here do make a good lot of money," he said. "And everything's quite cheap."

Glunt says he has been saving a fair amount of cash to bring back home, even as he continues to travel and entertain himself.

In this English language-obsessed country, vigorous demand and handsome salaries for native English speakers with bachelor's degrees have drawn 40,000 to 50,000 young English teachers like Glunt to work in South Korea. An estimated 40 percent of them are Americans, with others coming from Canada, Australia, Great Britain and New Zealand. Tens of thousands more work on tourist visas, which is illegal, according to the Korea Immigration Service. There is no requirement that they speak Korean.

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South Korean students have been taught English in Korea for decades, and President Lee Myung-bak's efforts to stengthen English education and improve his country's competitivenesss by teaching English classes totally in English, have met with resistance.

Still, the influx of young foreign citizens in Seoul has also brought some unwelcome cultural influences.

The South Korean media has reported many cases of drug use and document forging by foreign English teachers. And news of pedophiles arrested in Thailand in recent years, who turned out to have taught children in South Korea, sent jitters through parents' psyche nationwide.

Last year alone, the number of foreigners arrested for using drugs in this country jumped 76.4 percent from the year before. The Narcotics and Organized Crimes Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office linked the increase to greater use of English-speaking teachers from the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia.

The agency also noted that the offenders have introduced new kinds of drugs, such as "colorful ecstasy pills (MDMA) and ketamine."

In May, the Busan District Central Prosecutors' Office prosecuted a 25-year-old female, U.S. English teacher -- her identity protected under Korea's privacy law -- for bringing drugs to the country.

The Narcotics and Organized Crimes Department said a friend in the United States shipped her four alprazolam pills (brand name Xanax and Niravam) and 24.5 grams of marijuana (less than an ounce), via airmail. Investigations showed that the teacher smoked marijuana last year in the United States before departing for Korea and also in Thailand in February while on vacation.