'Foreign face of Daegu' on building a career in Korea beyond teaching English

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'Foreign face of Daegu' on building a career in Korea beyond teaching English

Published: 23 Dec. 2025, 16:54 Updated: 23 Dec. 2025, 18:16

YOON SEUNG-JIN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Jason Addy poses for a photo at this year’s Tteokbokki Festival in Daegu during a shoot for his social media content. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

[Hired in Korea]

As more internationals look to build careers in Korea, many find themselves facing practical hurdles — from limited guidance to a lack of firsthand experience. To bridge that gap, the Korea JoongAng Daily talks with professionals who have carved out their paths in diverse fields, offering readers real-world insights on how to start their careers in the country in this series “Hired in Korea.”

Jason Addy, from New York City, was working as an educator when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. With classes moving online and social activities coming to a halt, he found himself feeling bored and disconnected — unable to attend parties, meet friends or teach classes in person.

So, he decided to return to Daegu, where he had previously taught English through a teaching program and had formed close bonds with a host family. Although he had not originally planned to settle in Korea long-term, Addy fell in love with the Korean language, which led him to pursue a master’s degree in interpretation and translation at Chung-Ang University.

Today, Addy works as a professional translator, helping globalize popular Korean TV shows such as “King of Mask Singer” (2015-), “Radio Star” (2007–) and “I’m Solo” (2021–). In addition, he has become known as the “foreign face of Daegu,” hosting programs on the official YouTube channel of Daegu Metropolitan City.

“I enjoy both jobs, and they’re fun in their own ways,” Addy said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily. “Through content creation, I get to express my creativity, and through my main job as a translator, I get to watch entertaining TV shows while improving my colloquial Korean skills.”

When asked about hosting programs on Daegu’s official channel, Addy said he approaches the role with a strong sense of responsibility. As a foreigner representing a city he loves far from his home country, he feels both proud and deeply motivated.

“I’m proud of what I do because I can introduce so many amazing places in Daegu through the eyes of a foreigner,” he said. “I always try my best, because I think of Daegu as my second home.”

The Korea JoongAng Daily sat down with Addy to hear more about his journey, the challenges of being a foreign worker in Korea and his advice to those hoping to build a career here.

From left: Jason Addy practices interpretation in a booth as part of his training; Jason Addy poses for a photo wearing a T-shirt that reads "Daegu-born." [JASON ADDY, HWANG IN-SEON]

Q. So, what is your role at your company, and what kind of content do you create on social media?

A. I work as a translator in the globalization team. What we do is proofread and create subtitles for Korean TV shows.

We review the subtitles that freelancers translate, ensure they're formatted correctly and then send them to streaming services. And sometimes we proofread and translate scripts for dramas, or we do synopsis translation for TV shows.

I’m also a content creator.

My experience is unique as a foreigner living in Daegu and staying there for such a long time, to the point where I use the Daegu dialect a lot, and a lot of the content is based around that.

And then other content is just me experiencing different things in Korea through a foreigner's eyes.

How did you start creating content, and what has changed the most for you?

I never intended to make content, but people around me would always tell me to start.

A lot of my friends would tell me, “If you start a YouTube channel, it will be really popular and many people will enjoy it.” But I'm not very tech-savvy, and I'm not good at marketing myself, so I didn’t try. But a friend of mine told me he would do everything, like filming and editing for me, so I decided to start.

What I think has changed the most in my personal life is how I go about expressing my creativity.

I’ve done so many things, like taking part in a singing contest and starring in television shows like “Ask Us Anything Fortune Teller” (2019-), leveraging my unique characteristic of using the Daegu dialect.

And because of that, a lot of people, especially those from Daegu, started recognizing me more. There have been a few times when strangers said hi to me and said they recognized me from YouTube or television shows.

Screen captures of short-form videos featuring Jason Addy, set in Daegu. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

What keeps you motivated to pull double duty?

Well, first of all, I enjoy both jobs, of course. But I keep my main job as a translator also to keep my visa, which is really important for foreigners, because just by working as a full-time content creator, I can’t really keep it.

I do both jobs because they’re fun in different ways. Through content creation, I get to visit so many interesting places and try lots of delicious food for free, and it lets me express my creativity.

Through my translation job, I get to watch TV all day, and I think it also helps me with keeping my reflexes as a translator sharp. Translating colloquial Korean is harder than translating a speech by the Minister of Finance because all those words are very cut and dry.

It’s like “how am I supposed to say that in English to a native English speaker in a way that they'll understand?” So, having to always think about those kinds of things is fun and helpful at the same time.

How do you feel about being featured on Daegu’s official YouTube channel? What’s it been like representing the city?

As a joke, I say I’m the ambassador of Daegu, and actually, I think hosting a show on Daegu’s official YouTube channel is a big deal. I think Koreans might find it extra interesting. I'm really honored to have that opportunity and be the foreign face of Daegu.

Compared to Seoul, what do you think are the pros and cons of living in other regions like Daegu?

The biggest pros are that the cost of living is much lower in other cities, and they are less crowded than Seoul. So, if you're looking for something less hectic, living in a place like Daegu is a lot better.

However, the infrastructure is definitely better in Seoul, and it has more variety in many aspects.

And the biggest difference is the job opportunities.

For foreigners, unless you want a teaching job and manual labor, there are almost no job opportunities outside Seoul. So, if you want to do some kind of office work, Seoul is a much better option.

I, myself, had to move to Seoul from Daegu to get a better job.

Jason Addy talks with the producers of Daegu Metropolitan City's official YouTube channel at a cafe. [JASON ADDY, HWANG IN-SEON]

Going back to your job as a translator, what kind of education or training was required for your current position, and did you get any certifications or do internships?

To work as a professional translator in Korea, you need to get a master's degree in translation and interpretation. I did my master’s at Chung-Ang University, and I’d say it was extremely hard.

You get critiques from your colleagues and professors every day, all the time, based on what you translated or what you interpreted. That is sometimes so embarrassing and stressful.

Passing the graduation exam to finally get the diploma and getting a job are also pretty intense since every single professor and interviewer has different tastes.

At some point, it’s about preference as long as you are well prepared: there is no right answer.

Jason Addy puts subtitles on TV programs as part of his work as a translator. [JASON ADDY]

Was getting a job as a translator easy?

On top of the demanding interview process, where you have to translate or interpret the given passages on the spot, I think the job hiring process in Korea, in general, is too long.

But for some of the jobs I applied to, it was like you pass the application stage, then you have to do this test and then you have to do some assignments. Then there is what’s called a personality test, and then you have to go in for the interview and then after the interview, you wait, wait and wait until they tell you whether or not you got the job. So sometimes you're applying for like four months for one job, which I think is really stressful.

Based on your experience with Korean companies and workplace culture, what do you think are the strengths and areas of improvement from a foreigner's perspective?

If you look online or on YouTube, there are a lot of content creators who share working experiences in Korea as if it were some sort of horror story. But it hasn't been that bad.

I think one of the strengths of Korean company culture that could also be a weakness is that everybody works together like one team. I think that's just a reflection of Korean society, like the collectivist part of it.

But I think for a foreigner, that might seem uncomfortable because sometimes you just want to like do your own thing, or you might want to work by yourself.

I’d say sometimes it boosts teamwork, but at the same time, it's so inefficient. Many Korean people and companies think that more work with more people equals more efficiency, but that's far from being true.

And there's also the hierarchical structure. Maybe someone down here might have a good idea, but they're never going to suggest it because it has to go through so many rungs in the ladder.

So I think that part needs work, but I mean that's going beyond just the company culture.

Jason Addy's headshot [JASON ADDY]

Which visa are you on, and did you face any difficulties with visa issuance?

It was insane. I think if you want to do any job outside of teaching English or entertainment, getting a visa can be crazy.

I heard the D-10 job-seeking visa has been extended to six months recently, but before, I had to get a job almost right after I graduated.

So, I feel like a lot of foreigners might feel pressure to just take whatever job they get because they need the visa.

In my case, something that almost happened to me while I was looking for a job was that I got a job offer from one company, but the salary was super low, like the lowest possible number they could offer.

Getting a visa might be really hard, so be ready for that. I was lucky enough to get a job within the time limit. So, now I’m on the E-7 skilled worker visa, which you can get only if the company sponsors it.

I feel like companies are just hesitant because it's really hard for them too. My company was going to get the process done on its own, but they ended up hiring an administrative officer to do it for them.

During the process, they asked me for my Topik score, and I forgot to submit it, which got me in trouble.

Is there anything you would like to say to foreign readers who want to work in Korea or create content about?

For any job, really, you should know exactly what you want.

Korea has become super popular, and a lot of people just think, “I’m going to move there and get a job.” But you should know what you want and what you’re getting into, so specify your goals.

When it comes to content creation, if you’re going to create content, you need something that sets you apart. There are thousands of people doing cafe tours in Korea. Finding a good niche is really important. That’s part of why I wasn’t that into content creation before. I kept thinking, “There are already so many foreigners who speak Korean. What makes my content different?”

If you can find a niche you can really target, content creation becomes a lot easier and more people are likely to find it because it’s unique.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [[email protected]]