Sources for English articles about "6 month part-timers"

ATEK has released a statement about the reports of teachers breaking their contracts.

I was also asked about which Korean language articles influenced which English language articles, so I thought I'd post that reply.

The source of the story was a Yonhap article published at noon on September 29 which used incorrect statistics titled "Half of native speaking English teachers are '6 month part-time workers,'" which stated that

The percentage of native speaking English teachers not fulfilling their contract term (one year) and breaking their contract after six months steeply increased every year, from 46% in 2008, to 57.6% in 2009, to 66.1% in 2010 (to the end of July) [... T]he average rate of breaking a contract halfway through (after 6 months) over the last three years is 56.4% (950 people).

It was this article (above) that the Hankyoreh's English site used as a source for its news brief (Sept. 30, 12pm) saying that 66% of native teachers left after six months this year up to July:

"The report submitted by the MEST to the ruling Grand National Party lawmakers showed that as of July 2010, 66.1 percent of native English teachers ended their contract in six months, without completing their one-year contract period. The number of teachers leaving their job halfway through a contract has increased rapidly from 46 percent in 2008 and 57.6 percent in 2009. The average rate over last three years is 56.4 percent, which means one of two native teachers left school before the contract’s expiration."

Four hours after its first article, Yonhap posted an article with the new title "Severe regional disparity in procurement of native speaking English teachers (composite)," which sported some changes to the information:

950 native speaking teachers quit halfway through their contract over the last three years (4.7% of the total) and among those [who quit], the percentage who quit after six months steeply increased every year, from 46% in 2008, to 57.6% in 2009, to 66.1% in 2010 (to the end of July).[Emphasis added.]

The "4.7% of the total" comes from average percentage of those who quit over the past three years (5.53% in 2008, 5.57% in 2009, and 2.92% so far this year). This new paragraph makes clear that only 4.7% on average quit early, and of those 46% in 2008, 57.6% in 2009, and 66.1% in 2010 (to the end of July) quit at the 6 month mark.

Then, four hours after that article, Yonhap posted another amended article with the title "Severe regional disparity in procurement of native speaking English teachers (composite 2)," which changed the percentages of those who quit at or after 6 months:

950 native speaking teachers failed to fulfill their one year contract over the last three years (4.7% of the total) and among those who quit, the percentage who quit after six months totaled 34% in 2008, to 42.4% in 2009, and 34% in 2010 (to the end of July).

Suddenly the figures change completely, and since the hard numbers are not available, it's impossible to know why. The Korea Herald (Sept. 30, 6pm) used the final article as its source, including the term "part-time job," which all three versions of the Yonhap articles contained, despite the latter two containing statistics which disproved this:

"Some 950 teachers, or 4.7 percent, cancelled their employment contract in mid-semester within the first year and 34 percent among them (as of this July) quit during their first six months, according to the survey. About 28.3 percent of them resigned upon being admitted to a school or getting their desired job, indicating that English teaching is largely considered among native speakers as an easily accessible part-time job."

For some reason, other articles used the percentages of teachers who quit at the six month mark from the final Yonhap article, but did not include the fact that only an average of 4.7% had quit overall over the last two and a half years. Yonhap English (Sept. 29, 10pm) stated that

The report submitted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to the parliament showed 42.4 percent of native instructors ended their contract after six months last year, up from 34 percent in 2008. The rate again fell to 34 percent as of the end of July of this year.

The Joongang Daily's article (October 1) also omitted the 4.7% figure:

The report submitted to the National Assembly by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology showed 42.4 percent of native instructors last year ended their contract after six months, up from 34 percent in 2008. The rate again fell to 34 percent as of the end of July of this year.

Why that figure is missing from the latter two articles I have no idea. I can understand how the translators at the Hankyoreh missed the later two Yonhap articles with the corrections and used the stats from the first, but find it harder to figure out how the final Yonhap article could be used as a source and the 4.7% figure could be omitted.