Kongbubang: Legal private tutoring in Korea

Private tutoring in Korea without a permit is illegal. The teacher could be fined up to 5 million won and/or up to 1 year imprisonment. Getting a permit for “kongbubang” is easy and it does not cost anything!

Who can apply for a private tutoring permit (officially called 개인과외교습자)?
– Korean citizens
– Spouses of Koreans, those with F-6 visa
– Temporary residents, those with F-2 visa
– Overseas Koreans, those with F-4 visa
– Permanent residents, those with F-5 visa
Gather the required documents:
– Korean ID card or ARC
– 2 ID pictures
– Diploma and transcript of records, notarized by the Philippine Embassy in Korea and the Korean Embassy in the Philippines (if you finished school in the Philippines)
– application form
Information you need to prepare:
– Name, address and ID number
– Subject (you’re going to teach), rate (hourly, weekly, monthly) and schedule (daily, MWF, TTH, etc)
– Address of the place where you’re going to teach (if not your home)
Where to apply:
– Go to the Education Office (교육청) in your district.
– Look for the 평생교육건강과 division.
How to apply:
– Tell the officer that you want to apply for a 개인과외교습자
– The officer should give you the application form to fill in.
– Hand your documents to the officer to be encoded in the computer.
– The officer will tell you to wait for three~five days to receive the certificate.
– There is no fee for the application.
What to do next:
– After you receive the certificate, go to the TAX OFFICE nearest you.
– Here, you will register your private tutoring and get a tax identification number.
– At the Dongdaemun Tax Office, I just handed over my documents (the Private Tutoring Certificate and my ID) to the officer. He encoded the information and asked me when I would start my “business”.
– A few minutes later I was handed the registration certificate.
– I was at the tax office for less than ten minutes!
Now that you’re ready to start your legal private tutoring, you could now advertise your business.
~ Post an advertisement in your apartment’s bulletin board. Make sure to get a permission from the Apartment Management Office.
~ Wait outside the elementary/middle/high school and hand flyers.
~ Ask your Korean mom friends for reference.
Some points to remember:
~ You are only allowed to teach a maximum of nine students in one class.
~ You can only teach the levels you applied for. If not, then apply for a revision at the Education Division.
~ You must provide receipts to your students (or their moms). Failure to do so could mean a fine of up to 3 million won.
~ You don’t need a permit to teach relatives or disabled people.
~ You are only allowed to have classes until ten o’clock in the evening.
~ You don’t need to have a BACHELOR’s degree to do private tutoring, but you should have finished at least three
The permit for private tutoring in Korea is free. However, you will have to pay for your pension (about 62,000 won a month) and mandatory health insurance (19,000+ won) every month since you are considered self-employed. At least you won’t have to worry about your money-making activity ;p