SMOE Benefits

The following are SMOE benefits offered to each teacher placed in the SMOE program. Some SMOE benefits such as the Entrance Allowance and Settlement Allowance are only available to 1st year teachers. Please inquire with your recruiter as to which benefits you will be eligible for.

SMOE Teachers are entitled to rent-free single housing furnished with basic furniture and appliances. If your school cannot provide housing, they will provide a housing stipend of 500,000 KRW a month. Key money however, will not be provided.

SMOE provides reimbursement for the cost of your plane ticket to Korea in the form of the Entrance Allowance. The 1,300,000 KRW entrance allowance is given in your first month after you have arrived in Korea.

Worried about how much it will cost to settle down in your new housing? Don’t worry, EPIK has you covered. EPIK provides a one-time 300,000 KRW Settlement Allowance to help you buy things like supplies and other furnishings for your apartment.

Anytime you complete a 1-year contract you are entitled to an additional full month of extra salary pay as a bonus for completing a contract. The amount is cumulative depending on how many contracts you complete while in Korea, and will be paid to you upon your exit of your school.

SMOE teachers will receive 1,300,000 KRW to cover the costs of their plane ticket back to their home country. The payment will be provided in the form of reimbursement after leaving South Korea and sending a scan of their flight itinerary and boarding pass to their school.

SMOE teachers are entitled to 21 days of paid vacation per contract (weekends are excluded). Generally, vacation is allowed to be taken during the summer in August and in the Winter in January when the students are on break.

EPIK Teachers are allowed to take up to 11 sick-days. Missing consecutive days will require a doctor’s note. Sick days are not able to be “rolled-over” to a renewing contract.

In accordance with the National Medical Insurance Act, your employer will pay fifty-percent of your medical insurance premiums each month, with the remaining being automatically deducted from your paycheck. Provided medical insurance is full-coverage and include health, vision, & dental. Teachers do not have to worry about enrolling, as they are automatically enrolled upon the start of their teaching contract.

For those that wish to teach for another year at the same school will receive a Renewal Allowance of 2,000,000 KRW. This benefit only applies to those that continue at the same school. Those transferring to another school within the SMOE program will not be eligible.

Renewal Allowance is no longer available.

Newly arriving EPIK and SMOE teachers get to enjoy a special and all-expenses paid 9-day orientation. There, EPIK will help teachers to assimilate into South Korea by offering teaching strategies classes as well as Korean language and cultural classes. Lodging and meals are all paid for.