How much does it cost to go teach in Korea?

On websites of agencies that recruit English teachers overseas, there are 3 main points they advertise:

1. Gain Teaching experience!!
2. Adventure! Travel!! Experience Culture!!!
3. MAKE MONEY with ANY DEGREE!!!!!!

While those first two points are what attracted me to teaching overseas, the third one is what steered me towards Korea.

Things that KOREAN recruiting agencies advertise:
You can go teach overseas with NO EXPERIENCE!
You will receive FREE HOUSING.
The school even pays for your PLANE TICKET!
Korea also offers new teachers more than ANY OTHER COUNTRY!
You can even save enough to PAY OFF YOUR LOANS!


However, what they do not advertise is the financial investment you must give to the process.

I really hate the process.

Here is a summary of what I have spent so far. It could differ from state to state, and would have been slightly less if the FBI hadn't messed up.

Gathering visa documents
Notarized copy of diploma.......................................$40
Apostille for diploma from WA Sec. of State.....$15
4 Passport Photos......................................................$10
Fingerprint cards......................................................$20
FBI Background Check..........................................$18
Apostille for FBI Check from Dep. of State........$8
Official transcript...................................................$10
The visa itself...........................................................$45

Mailing this crap around the country
USPS Priority.........................................................................$25
USPS Express (for when I was running out of time)....$80
UPS my documents to Korea.............................................$65

Oh, and by the way...
You need to buy your plane ticket, which will be reimbursed with your first paycheck.
Also, since you won't get paid for a month, you should take $500-1000 in cash (converted to Korean won) to survive the first month (buy cell phone, apartment supplies, etc).

So, is teaching in Korea a good way to pay off student loans as advertized? Only if you can scrape up enough cash to actually GET THERE! :)