Teach English in South Korea.
Everything you need to know about the Placement Program — the job, the money, the visa, and how to apply. Jump to any section, or just scroll.
Already certified?
Your paid teaching job
in South Korea.
A weekend orientation in Seoul, then a guaranteed job — free apartment included.
There are two placement routes to Korea.
A weekend culture trip — welcome meal, Hanbok experience, palace tour, Bukchon Hanok Village — then straight into your paid placement.
A culture and language week in Korea, then a 120-hour teacher-training course with practice teaching in a local school — then your paid placement.
Same schools, same salary, same free apartment — the difference is whether you need the teaching qualification first. We also run three more Korea programs — a 6-Month Placement, an Education Assistant and an English Companion — ask at your interview. Not sure which fits? We'll help you choose.
"Feel the fear and do it anyway."
TEFL Heaven started when I invited myself on a girl's flight to Bangkok. She said yes — and seventeen years later we've sent more than 3,000 teachers abroad, and it's still a family business.
Korea is the one people pick when the maths matters: the highest saving we offer, with the apartment thrown in.
Seventeen years of putting people on planes.
"Over 17 years we've placed more than 3,000 English teachers in classrooms from Bangkok to Buenos Aires." A family business, still run by the person who started it.
The biggest package in Asia.
$1,600–$1,900 a month, a free apartment, your flight reimbursed and a 13th-month bonus. Teachers here save $400–$1,000+ a month — and spend weekends in a country built for them.
A weekend that makes Korea yours.
- Welcome meal— with the people you’ll know for years
- Hanbok experience
- Gyeongbokgung Palace tour
- Bukchon Hanok Village
- Then your placement— into a paid job with a free apartment
Already certified means already close. Your 120-hour TEFL, TESOL or CELTA (or a B.Ed) is your ticket in — send it with your application.
Public school or hagwon. Your pick.
Monday–Friday, 8:30–16:30. Classes of 25–30 with a Korean co-teacher. 21–26 paid vacation days.
5–15 kids, you teach alone. Younger learners 9:00–18:00 or older learners 12:00–22:00. 11 paid vacation days. Contracts run 12 months and renew.
Kids aged 4–16, English only. 40-hour weeks with 25–35 teaching. Placements anywhere in Korea — top areas are around Seoul (Gyeonggi-do), Daegu, Ulsan, Daejeon, Sejong, Gwangju and Gangwon-do. Public-school rounds fill in windows — Fall 2026 is closed, and we’re placing for Spring 2027 now.
The package that does the saving for you.
Korea hires to the school calendar.
Apply by December 1. The big spring hiring round.
Apply by June 1. The second major round of the year.
Hagwons hire all year round — placements can start most months. Sign up at least 4 months ahead (5–6 is better), and move your start free with 35+ days’ notice.
Two payments. Months apart.
Your place is held and the work starts — placement prep and visa guidance.
Due 3 days after you accept your school’s offer — or 90 days before you fly, whichever comes first.
$695 + $1,002 = $1,697 — the whole price. The deposit is part of it, never extra on top.
And the program can pay you back. $200 every time someone books through your affiliate link — free place on our Digital Marketing Program.
What your fee covers.
- A guaranteed paid teaching job— with a free apartment from your school
- Lifetime placement guarantee— it covers Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, as long as you’re eligible for that program
- The weekend orientation— Seoul culture trip and welcome meal
- Flight reimbursement— up to $1,000 from your school
- 13th-month bonus— one extra salary on a 12-month contract
- 40-hour Korean culture course— plus an online Korean language course
- CV, video and interview help
- Full visa guidance— through the E-2 process, step by step
- Trip coordinator— and a 24/7 support line
- Free place on our Digital Marketing Program — earn $200 per booking through your affiliate link, plus paid content work
Not included: accommodation during the TEFL course and orientation (budget roughly $500), medical insurance, visa fees, food, fun and daily transport. Your school covers health insurance after your first three months — bring travel cover for those.
You arrive with friends already made.
- You go as a group — you train together, explore together, and walk into week one already knowing people
- Proper in-person training — real classrooms and real students before your first paid lesson, with trainers who taught here themselves
- Support the whole way — a team that answers before you fly, while you train, and long after you’re placed
Most people sign up alone. Nobody finishes alone — the group you train with becomes your first circle of friends in the country.
Bring enough to reach your first paycheck.
It covers you until your first paycheck lands. Your apartment is free, so this goes further here than anywhere else we place.
We're telling you this early on purpose. If that number isn't realistic right now, you should know today — not after you've paid.
Korea's rules are the strictest we place for.
- Aged 21 – 40— older can work with a teaching degree
- A Bachelor's degree— from a university in the USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ or South Africa
- A native English speaker— from one of those seven countries
- A 120-hour TEFL / TESOL / CELTA— accredited and in hand (a B.Ed also counts)
- Clean police check— apostilled, no older than 6 months
- No partners, kids or pets— the E-2 route doesn't allow them
South Africans: public-school placements only right now. Small visible tattoos may be fine — tell us at signup. Religious dress isn't usually allowed in schools here.
The E-2, step by step.
Korea pays the most — and checks the most.
- The medical rules are strict. Epilepsy, TB, HIV, severe asthma and several other conditions are usually disqualifiers for the E-2.
- Mental-health questions matter. A "yes" on the visa form means rejection, and anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication can fail the drug test — you'd need 6 months off them and a doctor's note. Talk to us before booking if this touches you.
- It's a real 40-hour week — 25–35 of it teaching, and hagwon shifts can run to 10pm.
- Sign up 4 months ahead — 5–6 is better; public-school deadlines are Dec 1 for spring and Jun 1 for fall.
- Change of plans? Your date moves free with 35+ days’ notice — inside 35 days a $450 change fee applies. All payments for the program are non-refundable.
We'd rather you knew all of this today than at the consulate.
Reviews — in their words. ★★★★★
"I came for a year to save money for grad school. I stayed three. The morning freedom, the food, the travel — I didn't expect Korea to get under my skin the way it did. Left with $22,000 in savings, conversational Korean, and a group of friends I'll have for life."
"I paid off my student loans in 14 months teaching in Busan. Housing free, salary solid, costs low. I wasn't even particularly frugal — I ate well, travelled to Japan three times, and still saved more than I ever could at home. Korea is just genuinely financially different."
"Busan completely surprised me. I chose it over Seoul for the savings figures and ended up staying for two extra years because of the lifestyle. Haeundae beach in the morning before work. Japanese BBQ in Fukuoka on the weekend. The quality of life here is genuinely exceptional."
More video and written reviews — from our alumni, on teflheaven.com.
Your free place on our Digital Marketing Program.
You’re going to post about this anyway — this pays you for it.
- Full marketing training — courses, workshops, live sessions
- A Digital Marketing Certificate when you finish
- A private group and a monthly mastermind
Plenty of our teachers are still earning from this years after they came home.
Three steps to your classroom.
- Apply online — five minutes
- Video call interview — thirty minutes, everything answered honestly
- Accepted? Book your place — the $695 deposit holds it and the work starts
From there it’s guided the whole way — visa help, placement prep and your countdown to fly-out.
Start my application →The short answers.
Yes — from a university in one of the seven native-English countries. It's an E-2 rule.
Yes, if it’s an accredited 120-hour certificate. A Bachelor of Education also counts.
$1,697 total: $695 books it, the remaining $1,002 is due once your school contract is confirmed.
Yes — your school provides it. You pay utilities, about $75 a month.
Public = daytime, co-teaching, more holidays. Hagwon = small classes, evenings, 12-month contracts that renew. We'll match you.
Move your intake free with 35+ days' notice — inside 35 days a $450 change fee applies. All payments for the program are non-refundable.
Apply now. Talk to us.
Decide after.
Apply, then talk to us — the interview is where it becomes real — your intake, your school type, your route in.