9 November 2016 at 9:00 am
Oldest Korean education agency files for bankruptcy
Uhak.com, one of Korea’s oldest study abroad agency, filed for bankruptcy in September.
Korean local media reported that Uhak.com has failed to pay up to NZ$2 million in tuition fees to its partner education institutions around the world, impacting approximately 200 of Uhak.com’s clients.
Uhak.com had facilitated paying clients’ tuition fees to international education institutions. The company would receive the fees from parents two to three months in advance, and receive commissions from the overseas providers for the service. The company is alleged to have used clients’ tuition fees to pay its expenses.
Uhak.com sends around 3,000 students per year to education institutions around the world. Over the past two years, the agency had sent over 100 students to New Zealand’s English language providers.
Established in 1981, Uhak.com operated 12 offices in Korea and had branches worldwide including Auckland. The company’s revenue in 2015 was approximately NZ$13 million.
In 2014, Canadian education group Loyalist Group Limited acquired Uhak.com for NZ$10 million.
