In response to a sexual act on a student committed by a 50 year old teacher teaching in Daegu, the Korean immigration office has decided to no longer accept state checks from American teachers and is now only accepting FBI checks as of January 2011.

While the new rule could result in more protection for Korean students, it will almost certainly cause problems for schools looking to hire teachers in a hurry as well as for teachers looking to teach in Korea, as the checks can take up to 3 months to process.

Our advice for anyone looking to teach in Korea is to plan as far ahead as possible. Even if you are not thinking of teaching until the New Year, it is good to apply early so that we can prepare you for the necesssary documents that you will need to obtain.