By Kang Hyun-kyung
Canada requested Thursday that its citizens on the working holiday program in Korea be granted the same benefits their Korean counterparts enjoy in the North American country.
“We have about 5,000 Canadians teaching English in Korea,” David Chatterson, Canadian ambassador to Korea, told The Korea Times, explaining that they were E-2 visa holders and would not be eligible to teach if they were here on the working holiday program.
According to the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, the North American country allows Koreans on working holidays to find work in a broad range of fields, including teaching, while Canadians are not allowed to teach English in Korea.
The bilateral exchange program enables those aged between 18 and 30 to travel and work in each other’s country.
Chatterson, who has served here since September, said that his government has asked Korea to address the discrepancy.
If Korea accepted the Canadian proposal, it would mean that more Canadians would come to Korea and teach English.
“Most Canadians are here as English teachers but they can’t do it under the working holiday program,” Chatterson said.
He said the Korean government had rejected the request.
“I think it is discrimination… (in that) Koreans can do almost anything in Canada under the working holiday program,” he noted.
The Canadian Embassy claims Koreans on working holidays are allowed to work as teaching assistants in Canada, saying it has evidence that can support this.
The Korea Immigration Service failed to answer inquiries on this subject.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Embassy in Seoul noted Korea is the only country that does not allow Canadians on working holiday visas to teach English. The embassy said other East Asian nations that Canada has signed the visa agreement with allow this.
“Unlike in Korea, Canadians who participate in our other working holiday programs in East Asia, such as Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, are not prohibited from teaching English there,” it said.
“However, because Korea doesn’t allow working holiday visa holders to teach English in Korea, even as part-time private tutors, it is difficult for Canadians who want to come to Korea to benefit from the program.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade stressed not only Canadians but also those on working holidays from other countries with which Korea agreed to the visa program, are not allowed to teach English here, either.
“This is because the government issues a work permit, the E-2 visa, for foreign language instructors. Foreigners, who are visiting here under the working holiday visa, will receive an H-1 visa which prohibits them from teaching English,” an official said on condition of anonymity.
Canada’s complaint about Korea’s “discriminatory” visa regulations has erupted as there have been deep discrepancies in the number of Koreans and Canadians on working holidays.
Last year, nearly 4,000 Koreans explored Canada on the work and travel visa to learn English and pay their way there. In contrast, only 20 Canadians came here under the same program. The deep imbalance has continued since the two governments signed the visa agreement in 1996.
Chatterson believes that the “discriminatory” visa regulations here are largely responsible for the imbalance.
“The Korean government would like to double or triple that (the number of Koreans going to Canada under the working holiday program),” the envoy said.