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Staff Reporter
William Kapoun, 26, loved teaching kids. But the young, confident American will not be able to continue what he loves ― at least for a long while. About 10 days ago, a fire broke out at his apartment at dawn and left him with third-degree burns over 70 percent of his body.
The part-time teacher at Bulam Elementary School in northern Seoul is now in intensive care. He will have to endure reconstructive surgery on numerous occasions and a lengthy recovery. Despite the will to live, however, he lacks the means to fight the brutal battle.
The blaze not only altered his body and dreams but also laid bare working conditions that are void of shelters or insurance schemes against such terrible accidents. His full treatment is estimated to cost roughly $130,000.
His parents flew over immediately. They are also shocked by the staggering costs as he has no health insurance under his contract . ``He lived in an unsafe apartment. There was no sprinkler system or fire alarm and he had only one exit, which was blocked by the fire,’’ Dan Kapoun, 53, father of William, told The Korea Times at the hospital in Seoul.
The father lamented the absence of any clear insurance policy. ``I think whoever hires someone should take responsibility for making sure there is insurance,’’ he said.
He said his son was very happy when he decided to go to Korea. ``My son was very adventurous. He thought it would be a very good thing to teach English here, not only for him but also his students.’’
Kapoun Burn Fund
Bulam Elementary School, the employer of the victim, said that the school is not obliged to provide any insurance coverage to employees working less than 15 hours a week in line with the Labor Law. The school has some 10 other part-time foreign teachers working under similar conditions.
William initially started to teach at a hagwon before transferring to the ``after-school’’ English programs that paid him some 2.2 million won a month. He has worked here for 14 months. He holds a double-bachelors degree in history and economics from Indiana University, his home state school.
With his parents in a difficult financial situation, his friends and colleagues are joining hands to launch a campaign to raise funds via the Internet at http://www.billkapoun.com.
Calling on educational authorities to take measures to install systems to protect foreign teachers, they also lamented the absence of any organized representative body for teachers to rely on when disaster strikes.
Matthew Sellar, a part-time teacher at an elementary school in Seoul, said that the terrible situation could happen to other foreigners as well. ``The fact that William was uninsured is indicative of the larger issue that many foreign English teachers do not have insurance,’’ he said. ``I wish it was easier for foreigners to report illegal activities without fear of being fired, deported, or arrested. I love Korea. I love teaching my students.’’
Faulty Hiring Procedures
Apart from some 4,000 full-time foreign teachers at public schools across the country, many other schools employ native-English speaking teachers for their `after-school’ programs through recruitment agencies.
In Seoul alone, there were 833 English programs after school hours. While full-time foreigners get benefits such as health insurance, pension and severance, part-time workers are not entitled to such basic packages.
Most schools hire teachers through agents and many of the part-time teachers have difficulty in communicating with their employers. That’s because agents do not care much about them once schools hire them. Some agents don’t even give contract copies to foreign teachers, William’s friends who were gathered at the hospital said.
Korea Immigration Service issues E-2 visas to foreigners as long as the employers are trustful such as public schools. Under the immigration law, holders of E-2, or working visa, are not automatically entitled to insurance coverage. There should be contracts guaranteeing insurance coverage for them to be protected by insurance.
``As far as I know E-2 visa holding foreigners are not eligible for insurance policies without contracts containing insurance coverage,’’ said Kim Young-guen, an immigration official.
Adam Mueller, another native-English speaking teacher also asked the Korean government to give more attention to their difficulties. ``The situation that our friend William is in is the ultimate nightmare for a foreigner in Korea; huge medical bills, difficulty getting information and no easy access to solutions,’’ he said. ``Teachers considering working in Korea will naturally have some concerns about their new life.’’
If the Korean government does more to make foreigners feel confident about their safety and access to information, Korea will be able to attract more and better English teachers, he added.
Warren Franklin, who is teaching at a university, said ``If a teacher is working for an `after-school’ program and is given an E2 visa they should be entitled to insurance at least.’’
Meanwhile, police have yet to figure out the exact cause of the fire. They say it will take one or two more weeks to determine exact reasons.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
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