Thread: Wanna gig in North Korea?

Man, I worked in South Korea back in 95-96 and ended up bailing 8 months into a 12 month contract because I hated the place so much. As I found the people to generally be xenophobic and unfriendly, I could only imagine the joys in the North.


British Council is looking for three English language teacher trainers
as part of its "high-profile project [that] has been running since
2000."

The British Council website states:

Senior English Trainer - £28,240 a year, plus benefits

English Trainers (2 posts) - £24,877 a year, plus benefits

Contract from 1 November 2007 to 31 August 2008

Benefits including free accommodation, medical insurance and pension provision

JOB SUMMARY
The British Council/Foreign and Commonwealth Office English language
project in the DPRK aims to deliver quality programmes in
teacher/trainer training and to develop the curriculum and related
materials as well as assessment systems at leading institutions in
Pyongyang. This high-profile project has been running since 2000, and
we are now seeking three experienced English language teaching
professionals to fill the above posts, which will be based at these
institutions.

For all posts you will have: a diploma level qualification in TEFL (eg
UCLES DTEFLA/Cambridge ESOL DELTA, Trinity College London Dip TESOL);
a minimum of 3 years' ELT and teacher training experience overseas;
course/curriculum planning and materials development. Additionally:
for the Senior Trainer post you will have an MA in TEFL/Applied
Linguistics (or equivalent) plus experience of teaching ESP and of
people management. For one of the Trainer posts, content and language
integrated learning (CLIL) teaching experience is required, and, for
both posts, an MA in TEFL/Applied Linguistics (or equivalent) is
desirable.

Note: Local restrictions mean that UK passport holders only can be
considered for this post. These are unaccompanied posts, although in
exceptional cases the authorities might agree to a married couple.
Employment is subject to permission from the DPRK Ministries of
Education and Foreign Affairs.

WHO WE ARE
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for
educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in 110
countries and territories reaching millions of people each year, and
increase appreciation of the UK through the arts, education, science,
governance and sport.

HOW TO APPLY
Please apply using the materials below.

Information sheet
Behavioural competencies
Guide for external applicants
Application form
Guidance on completing the application form
Senior English Trainer - Information about the job
English Trainer (with CLIL) - Information about the job
English Trainer - Information about the job

Closing date for applications: 12 noon, Thursday, 20 September 2007.
Applications should be returned to TMP, initially by e-mail, then hard
copies by post. Interviews will be conducted on 4 and 5 October 2007
in Manchester.

Please return completed application forms quoting reference OA07016 to:

Lisa Hampton
TMP
Chancery House
53-64 Chancery Lane
London WC2A 1QS

Telephone: 020 7649 6046
Fax: 08700 339318
E-mail: britishcouncil@tmpw.co.uk

If you are unable to download the application form and details please
contact Lisa Hampton.

OUR RECRUITMENT POLICY
The British Council is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and
is keen to reflect the diversity of UK society at every level within
the organisation. We welcome applications from all sections of the
community.

We also offer application packs in the following formats: large print,
Braille, computer disk or audio tape.

We guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the
essential criteria.

We are the UK's international organisation for educational
opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as
a charity.

Wanna gig in North Korea?

I've already got two! Damn are they hot. Rough finding a meeting place tho.'

I am sending my app in.
No, I am very serious. I am sending my app in. For a year at 28k. A small sacrifice. Come back with about 20k to Thailand, if I spend any money at all.

^ Are you sure you want to do that? It could make for some very interesting stories to tell your children, and your children's children, and on, and on.. Good luck, whatever you do! Have any good Mexican lately?

If you do get the job, just make double sure that you never have to cross a US immigration checkpoint until you get rid of the passport with Kim Jong Il's visa. I'm sure they'd have a field day with it.

I have no first-hand experience of North Korea, but knew a couple of expats in the ROK who had worked there (one teaching, the other diplomatic corps). They said that they were generally treated very well and the Koreans in the North are, at least in outward demenour, not nearly as xenophobic as those in the South. Lots of other issues to contend with though - like finding food - and it certainly holds no appeal for me. A mix of TEFLing, Koreans, AND the British Council sounds like my idea of Hell.

You have to fly to China to enter NK, not via the DMZ. So the US immigration point is moot. And I renounced my citizenship in 2001, so fuckem.

App on the way.

PB, yes I will miss tex mex. But interesting job, nevertheless.

^ I'd recommend reading the book, "Comrades and Strangers, Behind the Closed doors of North Korea," by Michael Harrold, before you go. This memoir is about a British Man who worked and lived there for ten years. You can gleam some very interesting information about the place. It was published in 2004. ISBN - 0-470-86976-3.

Originally Posted by jimbo

Wanna gig in North Korea?

I've already got two! Damn are they hot. Rough finding a meeting place tho.'

lol naughty man!

Originally Posted by blackjack

In my experience that's quite possible if you skip superfluous luxuries like food.

Why not? It's what most North Koreans seem to be doing.

Originally Posted by AjarnYaiMak

US...I renounced my citizenship in 2001

Really.

Mind if I asked how you did it?

Many people contemplate this, but few ever follow through.

A little commentary would be entertaining here.

Thanks in advance.

LOL. BC may actually feed you as well. No where else to eat, from what I hear. I figure 8k to send home over a period of a year. That takes care of wife and mini me.

I was a naturalized. Long story short. I worked for a govt. agency (no, not CIA) for 12 years and got burned out, fedup with the politics of the job. I had fun doing stints in Mexico, Colombia and where I grew up as a foreigner, Bolivia. Got rubber gunned and told them to fuck off. Turned my passport over to the state dept., a notarized statement something to the effect of I, my stupid name, hereby renounce my citizenship attained in blah blah. Reasons are Bush got elected, got tired of busting 50 grams of MJ rather than the real stuff imported from the West into Missouri, got tired of this and that and the other... Left and never looked back.

Sorry, off topic, but had to answer the question.

And you hold a UK passport now?