OK- so it is useless anywhere else, unless you are in LA or some other Korean town back home? Sure, maybe. But it can make your off duty time much more pleasant here, and improve service in stores and restaurants where you may encounter a Korean worldwide.
I was on vacation in Dublin, Ireland a few years back. Enjoying a Whopper at Burger King, and saw a Korean student reading a book in English. I greeted him in Korean, exclaiming about the nice weather that morning. A conversation evolved that was very pleasant. To say he was surprised would be an understatement! Wow! What if he had been a cute girl...

Most folks who will only be here for a year can do fine with speaking a few words well, and immediately see the positive reaction of the Koreans. As an example, how you would you feel about a foreigner in your home country?
If it was a Korean in your town, and he only spoke to you in Korean, and spoke louder when you didn't understand him, yet he made no attempt at English, then you can understand how YOU could get frustrated.
So understand how they might feel if you find yourself in an area where no one speaks English and you are trying to get directions. They may desperately want to help you, but are powerless to do so. This is often where misunderstandings and wrong directions get communicated.

Here is an insight you may not have seen before. Oriental folks are often extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable when they cannot communicate, and will actually give you any direction or say "Yes" in order to make you feel good and remove themselves from the uncomfotable situation! That's why, if you can't find the right subway track or direction, and you ask a local passerby, you may get a "Yes" or point in the direction they THINK would cause you to be more comfortable, and relieve their stress also! Even if they never understood one word you said.
Have you ever phrased a question to a Korean, like, "Is it too late to call Mr. Kim?". The answer may come back "Yes." Sometimes followed by, "Yes it is not too late." Sometimes not.
Saying "No" seems to be embarrassing in itself. A negative connotation could cause you to be uncomfortable, and that is never acceptable to the oriental mind.
Now that you are thoroughly confused, I again make my case for spending an entire day learning to read and write Korean. If it does nothing else, it will improve your pronunciation. And remember, in old English , "Nay" means no. "Yea" means yes.
In Korean, BOTH mean Yes!!! (Ah Nee Yoh means No.) Buenos Noches!

Hi ! How's everythings ?
Your post is very interesting.
yes, right. It's a problem of the english education in korea.
So, now a lot of native english teachers are working in most korean school.

I once climbed Mt. Fuji in Japan. There are 16 (give or take) stations on the way up where you can get a stamp (brand) on your walking stick. Each one costs 200 yen (around $2), so I only got a couple of them.

The Japanese use the Chinese character for rice to indicate elevation. So the elevation mark portion of the brand might say something like "米2015" if that station is at an elevation of 2015 meters. Of course, the higher up you get, the thinner the oxygen, and the slower the climbing goes.

I was resting on a bench at one station with a few other climbers. I was curious about the use of the rice character being used to indicate elevation, so I asked one of them about it (I speak Japanese almost as well as I speak Korean). The man answered me in Japanese saying he really didn't know. He then turned to his companion and asked him the same queston I asked, except he asked in Korean.

So I started speaking to them in Korean and that really threw them for a loop!

You never know where you're going to run into some Koreans.

I speak the Korean because it's my mothertongue.. I think it's one of scientific languages in the world.. Even though it's very hard to learn this for foreigner :)

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Sadly, my Korean (Hangul and Hangukmal) skills need improvement after 14 years of living/working here in Korea. Can anyone recommend a competent, professional language school for foreigners in the Seoul area? I did a Yahoo and Google search but the results weren't concise enough for me to research.

I have 6 hours of Korean classes via University of Maryland here in Korea so I'm not totally ignorant of the structure and basic grammer rules. Still, I need to really improve since I live here and still can't effectively communicate to the honey at the post office "...I'd like to pay my electric, water, cable, and phone bills, please...".

Also, I have some legal paperwork I need to translate for me and I want to ensure I do it well enough to understand it and to share what it says to my foreign buddies.

Thanks in advance.

One of our members, Sunja, should be able to help, as she had some experience with translations. We'll see if she is still active.
You really need a good teacher. right now the classes at Yongsan Ku office behind the Yongsan Post Office are closed due to vacations. I'll try to see if they open in October. They are free.
Perhaps someone else can suggest a Korean class? I study at home. I can still use my old Univ. Of Maryland books, and a couple of Korean college books. I don't recommend tapes and disks: you need conversation.