Episode 1: Prepare to Work in Korea—Your First Safe Checklist

prepare to work in Korea: Preparing for a Korean job begins before you buy a ticket or report to a workplace. Confirm that the work fits your own immigration status, identify the real employer and workplace, receive the conditions in writing, and keep the same records on your phone and offline.

prepare to work in Korea: There is no single visa checklist for everyone. The safe result is a verified route for your own case plus written job conditions that you can compare before you act.

What you will accomplish

Finish with one verified folder containing your official route, employer identity, workplace, written conditions, required documents, costs, accommodation details, and emergency contacts. You will also be able to ask the 20 first-check questions politely in Korean.

Before you pay, sign, travel, or start work

• Use the Korea Visa Portal or the immigration information service to check the status and activity that match your own nationality, purpose, and job. A friend’s visa or a recruiter’s message is not proof for your case.
• For an EPS route, use the official EPS process and records. The Ministry of Employment and Labor describes the sequence as selection or registration, employer permit, labor contract, visa and entry, then employment education and workplace assignment.
• Ask for the legal company name, workplace address, responsible person’s name, telephone number, job, start date, pay, hours, deductions, and accommodation in one written message or document.
• Read the labor contract before signing. The current MOEL standard contract materials are the reference point for written items such as the workplace, duties, working hours, days off, pay, payment date, and social-insurance fields.
• Keep your passport original under your control. Share only the copy required for a confirmed official process and record who received it and why.
• Do not begin work only because someone says the paperwork can be fixed later. Confirm permission for the activity first through the responsible official channel.

prepare to work in Korea: The safe order to prepare

prepare to work in Korea: This preparation becomes manageable when you keep the immigration check, employer check, work conditions, documents, costs, and copies in one sequence.

Follow these five steps

1. Step 1. Write down your exact route: visa or stay status, permitted activity, responsible authority, official application page, and the next action. If you are already in Korea, check whether the proposed job is allowed under your current status before agreeing to start.
2. Step 2. Verify the employer and workplace. Match the company name, address, contact person, telephone number, job, and workplace across the offer, contract, and official process. Ask about any difference in writing.
3. Step 3. Build a condition sheet. Record contract period, duties, normal hours, break time, workdays, days off, pay amount and calculation, payday, overtime terms, deductions, accommodation, meals, transport, and insurance information.
4. Step 4. Build a document and cost sheet. Separate documents you must prepare, documents the employer provides, official fees, travel expenses, and any other requested payment. Do not treat an unexplained cash request as an official fee.
5. Step 5. Save the final pack twice: one copy on your phone and one offline or with a trusted contact. Include the signed contract, employer details, official application references, receipts, accommodation address, arrival plan, and emergency contacts.

20 Korean phrases for the first checks

Use the learner-friendly reading first and RR as a standard romanization reference. Both are approximations; listen to Korean audio or a Korean speaker when possible.

20 essential words for this step

Replies you may hear

• 여권 사본을 보내 주세요. — Please send a copy of your passport.
• 허가가 나온 후에 일을 시작하세요. — Start work after the permission is issued.
• 근무지는 계약서에 적혀 있어요. — The workplace is written in the contract.
• 숙소비는 월급에서 공제돼요. — The accommodation fee is deducted from the salary.
• 계약서를 확인한 후에 서명하세요. — Sign after checking the contract.
• 필요한 서류 목록을 문자로 보내 드릴게요. — I will send the required-document list by text message.

Two short dialogues to practise

Dialogue 1

근로자: 제 체류자격으로 이 일을 할 수 있나요?

담당자: 확인한 후에 답변드릴게요.

근로자: 확인한 기관과 내용을 문자로 보내 주세요.

Worker: Can I do this job with my status? / Contact: I will check and reply. / Worker: Please text me which authority you checked and what it said.

Dialogue 2

근로자: 숙소비와 식비는 얼마예요?

담당자: 월급에서 공제돼요.

근로자: 공제 금액을 계약서에 적어 주세요.

Worker: How much are accommodation and meals? / Contact: They are deducted from salary. / Worker: Please write the deduction amounts in the contract.

Keep these details in writing

• Official route and responsible authority
• Legal employer name and registration details supplied through the process
• Actual workplace and accommodation addresses
• Contact person’s name and reachable number
• Contract period, duties, hours, breaks, days off, and payday
• Pay calculation, overtime terms, and every deduction
• Required documents, official fees, payer, payee, and receipts
• Signed contract copy, application references, and emergency contacts

Copyable Korean confirmation message

안녕하세요. 한국에서 일하기 전에 확인하려고 합니다. 회사 이름과 주소, 근무지, 업무 내용, 계약기간, 근무시간, 월급과 지급일, 초과근무 수당, 숙소비와 식비, 보험, 필요한 체류자격과 서류 목록을 서면으로 보내 주세요. 제가 내야 하는 비용도 이유와 금액을 적어 주세요. 서명한 근로계약서 사본도 부탁드립니다.

Hello. I would like to confirm the details before working in Korea. Please send in writing the company name and address, workplace, duties, contract period, hours, pay and payday, overtime pay, accommodation and meal costs, insurance, required status of stay, and document list. Please also state the reason and amount for every cost I must pay, and send me a copy of the signed labor contract.

Stop and verify when you see these warning signs

• You are asked to start working before the responsible authority confirms permission.
• The company name, workplace, or job differs between messages and documents.
• The contract is blank, incomplete, unreadable to you, or replaced after signing.
• Large cash payments are requested without an official basis, named recipient, and receipt.
• Pay, hours, deductions, or accommodation are promised verbally but omitted from the written conditions.
• Someone asks to keep your original passport without a confirmed official need and clear return arrangement.

Episode 1 completion checklist

• I checked my own status and permitted activity through an official channel.
• I have the employer’s legal name, workplace, contact person, and telephone number.
• The job and workplace match across the offer, contract, and official process.
• I received the contract before starting and understand the important conditions.
• Pay, payday, hours, breaks, days off, overtime, and deductions are in writing.
• Accommodation, meals, transport, and their costs are in writing.
• I separated official fees from other requested payments and have receipts.
• I have a copy of every document I submitted and every final document I signed.
• My passport original remains under my control except for a confirmed official need.
• My phone, offline copy, and trusted contact have the final information pack.

Information and links checked on 25 August 2026. Visa, eligibility, required documents, fees, and procedures can change. Confirm your own case through the official service or responsible authority before paying, signing, travelling, or working.

Prepared by the BSKorean Editorial Team. Korean expressions were reviewed for polite workplace use; legal and administrative facts are limited to the official sources below.

Official sources checked

• Korea Visa Portal
• Ministry of Employment and Labor: International Cooperation and EPS
• Employment Permit System: official foreign worker services
• Easy Law: Employment of Foreign Workers
• Ministry of Employment and Labor: 2025 standard labor contract materials

Practise before the real conversation

Cover the translation, read each Korean sentence aloud, and replace the company, date, amount, workplace, and document with your real details. Ask for important answers in writing.

Practise Korean vocabulary and listening in the BSKorean app →

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