I have a question about airfares :D?

Ok, I'm an American who lives in Seoul, South Korea. I go to school here. Right now it's winter break with a little more than one month left before school starts. I missed a trip home during the holidays because of ridiculous ticket prices, and I was thinking of going if I could scrounge up the funds later on. I checked a few websites, www.cheapoair.com being the best so far. No matter what I do with dates and location, etc. it's always at least $400 cheaper to go from Chicago to Korea than it is to go from Korea to Chicago, despite using identical times and searching multiple alterations of my schedule. Do all international residents have to put up witt his abuse for air travel and having international origins, or are there any good places to buy tickets for what they're really worth? (example: Chicago to Incheon, $640. Incheon to Chicago, same days, $1400). I'm going mad with this selective pricing!