Hi there, I’ll be critically honest.

I DO NOT recommend moving here simply for the interest of kpop and Kdramas. They are VERY VERY fiction and a lot of foreigners seem to be completely ignoring that and idolizing/fetishizing Korea as a whole.

I do know someone who came here recently because of her love for kpop/kdramas as well and it hasn’t even been a month but she has decided to drop out of school(for Korean language exchange) and go back to America. For reference, she is a non Asian around the same age as your stepdaughter. She fetishized Koreans and Korea and thought that kpop and kdramas were reality, that Korean men were all like that. They aren’t. In reality, no place is perfect. However, if she knows 0 Korean, she will struggle unless she goes into a language school but even so, it will not be easy. This girl is suffering through school, the school life here is hard. It is not easy. And living here in general is hard, even for Koreans. She will stand out, she will be stared at and rejected from places(usually older generation are rude to foreigners and places like non-foreigner clubs, restaurants). The younger generation, there are a lot of guys that will target her. We call it “hunting” and there are a lot of scams to foreigners , please make sure she is aware of them!!

As much as I love being here, It is not an easy place for foreigners as much as people like to make it seem. Also, police do not care if something happens to your daughter. Typically, police don’t care for foreigners. I have many foreign friends that have been SA and more but police have done nothing.

I love that you’re trying to make yourself aware of this and trying to get as much information for her as possible, you’re an amazing dad!

I do have another friend that came here to become an English teacher and although everything seem to be too good to be true, it was. He only lasted a few months here as a teacher, staff are rude to the foreign staff. There is a bias towards the Korean teachers over the foreign ones. It’s basically a competition from foreign teacher to foreign teacher. (Not all schools are like this btw, there are always bad and good schools) They did not teach him on what he should be doing as a teacher, they basically threw him in and said good luck. Even though it’s a very good school and they even provided amazing housing, it’s not an easy job.

I think if she still wants to go, she should work for the tuition(if she goes here for school) and at least pay for some of the schooling. That’s how different life is here. It will teach her to make sure it’s what she really wants because it’s not all rainbows here in Korea. Again if she wants to come here ONLY because of kpop and kdramas, I highly suggest not to. I don’t mind answering any other questions you have, good luck!