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[mingus]

More than serious.  Try very serious: if they flew him for a TT position (which would have to be one reserved for non-Koreans), then it is very likely that he was the only candidate.

[danny_boy]

Mingus, that's actually what I was going to say based on my own hiring experience here in Japan.  I just wasn't sure what it might mean in Korea.

I was flown out for an "interview" which I was very worried about.  In retrospect I realize that they had basically already decided to hire me and that this was just a last formality -- and I suppose a last chance for them to back out if I turned out to be a real nutjob in person.  I was also flown over (from Mexico) for a second time a month later to do some paperwork.

Ironically, I was not even aware that I was being hired with the Japanese equivalent of tenured status -- and didn't discover this fact until I had been here for several months!  Nothing in either the job announcement or contract spelled this out.  There was certainly no discussion of this at the interview.

BTW, I was informed before the interview (by a fellow expat) that under no circumstances should I discuss "business" (i.e. "money") during the interview.   It is apparently common practice for Japanese professors to accept a job without specifically asking how much they would be earning. 

I was also immediately given Associate Professor rank based on number of prior years of university-level teaching (essentially all of my 20+ year EFL/Applied Ling career).  A year later I was promoted to Full.  Strange.  Very strange.

[mingus]

Yes, danny_boy, quite a few Korean universities seem to work on the basis that you interview a person only after you have decided he/she is the best person for the job.  This need not require even a phone call.  Certainly, things like "collegial fit" (so important in the US) don't matter; and for research and teaching it suffices to look at the record. And, yes, as far as I can tell, salary is not a thing for interviews. One could bring it up after the offer is on the table; even then, the folks at Yonsei--I can't speak for other Korean universities--seemed surprised that I wanted to negotiate upwards from what they considered a pretty good offer.

[danny_boy]

BTW, bhavani, if it turns out you weren't offered the job, be assured that it "isn't you" but rather that old nebulous "fit."  At Japanese universities, ideas about "fit" can get truly bizarre from the Westerner's perspective, like when we turned down an outstanding candidate because of the high school she attended (which some of my colleagues felt was "elitist").  Or not wanting to hire a 36 year old as "she" might not be mature enough to deal with pressure from older colleagues.