Class Refunds

[Anchor Lead]

A growing number of foreigners are learning Korean these days on the popularity of Korean culture and entertainment. But some Korean-language institutes catering to foreign students have been found to have very strict and even unfair refund policies.

[Pkg]

This institute teaches Korean to foreign students. A ten-week course costs over 1.7 million won, but one week after the classes begin students are not allowed to get refunds.

[Soundbite] (Official at Korean-language Institute (Voice Modified)) : "(You don't provide refunds after one week?) No, refunds are not given one week after the semester starts."

The situation is similar at other institutes in Seoul. Their terms and conditions say that refunds are not provided once one to two weeks of classes have begun. Refunds are only provided within one or two weeks but only when there are "unavoidable reasons." In some cases, it is up to the directors of the institutes whether or not students can get refunds. The Fair Trade Commission has ordered institutes to modify such unfair terms and conditions. Fourteen Korean-language institutes in Seoul, including those operated by Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University, have been found to have unfair terms and conditions regarding refunds. Six of them were found to have problems both with regulations on refunds and reasons for providing refunds. The Fair Trade Commission has ordered the institutes to determine the amount of refunds based on the period of studying and specify more detailed reasons for refunds, such as a student's failure to arrive in the country, permanent return to one's home country or in the case of terminating one's course of studies. Last year, more than 35,000 foreigners came to Korea to study the Korean language. In the first half of this year alone, some 11,000 foreign students received Korean classes at the institutes that were found to have unfair terms and conditions regarding refunds.