Just Landed in South Korea? Your First 7 Days

Korea has some of the fastest and most reliable mobile and home internet on earth, with strong 5G coverage even deep underground on the subway and across rural areas. Prepaid SIMs are easy to buy on arrival with just a passport, but the cheapest long-term plans, offered by budget MVNO 'alseom' carriers, almost always require an ARC before they will activate. Home broadband install is fast, often within a day or two of ordering.

Typical cost: A prepaid tourist SIM runs roughly KRW 30,000-60,000 for the first month; a full postpaid plan with unlimited data is KRW 40,000-70,000/month on the big three, or KRW 20,000-33,000 on a budget MVNO once you have an ARC. Home fibre broadband is around KRW 25,000-45,000/month.

Korea is overwhelmingly card- and mobile-based; even market stalls, taxis and street vendors usually take cards, and contactless is standard everywhere. Foreign-issued cards work in most shops but occasionally fail at automated kiosks and older machines, so carry some cash for traditional markets, small eateries and older taxis. Digital wallets such as Samsung Pay, Naver Pay and Kakao Pay dominate once you have a local card linked.

Opening an account: To open a full account you generally need your ARC plus a Korean phone number; KEB Hana, Woori and Shinhan have the most foreigner-friendly branches and English-speaking staff, and KakaoBank offers a well-regarded app-based option once you are registered. Before your ARC arrives, several banks offer restricted passport-only accounts with tight daily transfer and withdrawal caps, which are enough to receive a salary or pay a deposit.

Cash: Cash is used less every year but remains handy at street-food stalls, older restaurants, traditional markets and for informal deposits. Withdraw from convenience-store 'Global' ATMs, which run around the clock, and note that some cap foreign-card withdrawals per transaction. Keep small notes for markets, where change for a KRW 50,000 note can be awkward.

Tipping: Tipping is not customary and is genuinely not expected in restaurants, taxis, cafes or bars; prices are final and menus almost never add a service charge. Leaving change on the table can confuse rather than please staff. The main exceptions are some Western hotels and a small number of high-end venues that build service into the bill.

Foreigners intending to stay longer than 90 days must obtain an Alien Registration Card (ARC) from the immigration office with jurisdiction over their address; this card is your legal identity number for banking, phone contracts, healthcare, deliveries and most online services. You book the appointment through the HiKorea portal, attend in person with your passport, photos, visa documents and proof of address, and pay a fee of around KRW 30,000. The physical card is posted or collected a few weeks later, and you must report any change of address or job within the window your visa specifies. Registering your residential address, usually done through your district office or at the ARC stage, is a separate legal step tied to your lease.

Deadline: Within 90 days of arrival for long-stay visa holders

Where: Your local immigration office (Ministry of Justice), appointment booked via hikorea.go.kr

Public transport is cheap, punctual and extraordinarily extensive: Seoul's subway and bus network is one of the best in the world, and a single T-money card covers buses, the subway and taxis with automatic free transfers between them. The base subway fare rose to KRW 1,550 in mid-2025, and heavy users can buy a Climate Card for roughly KRW 62,000-65,000 a month of unlimited subway, bus and public-bike travel. Intercity KTX and SRT high-speed trains link major cities at up to 300 km/h.

From the airport: From Incheon (ICN), the AREX Express Train reaches Seoul Station in about 43 minutes (roughly KRW 11,000), or the all-stop AREX for around KRW 5,000. Airport Limousine buses serve most districts for KRW 10,000-17,000, and a metered taxi to central Seoul runs roughly KRW 60,000-90,000 depending on traffic and time of day. Gimpo (GMP) is much closer to central Seoul and connects via subway lines 5 and 9 and the AREX.

Korean renting is unusual and catches most newcomers off guard: 'jeonse' means a huge lump-sum deposit (often 50-80% of the property value) returned in full at the end of the lease with no monthly rent, while 'wolse' is a smaller deposit plus monthly rent, which is what almost all foreigners use. Estate agents (budongsan) charge a regulated commission based on the deposit and rent, paid once on signing. Most short-term newcomers rent a compact 'officetel' or 'one-room' studio near a subway line.

Typical rent: A one-room or officetel studio in Seoul on wolse runs roughly KRW 550,000-1,300,000/month plus a deposit, with central and Gangnam-area units at the top end; provincial cities and outer Gyeonggi are noticeably cheaper. Maintenance fees (gwalli-bi) of KRW 50,000-200,000 for cleaning, security and shared utilities are usually charged on top.

Deposit norm: Wolse deposits are commonly KRW 5-20 million, while jeonse requires tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won. Always verify the landlord's identity against the property register (deungbon), never wire a deposit before signing, and file your lease and move-in date at the district office (confirmed-date registration) to secure your legal priority if the landlord runs into debt. Deposit fraud is a real and rising risk, so use a licensed agent.

Korea has excellent, affordable healthcare delivered through the compulsory National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), which covers residents and heavily subsidises the cost of visits, tests and medicine. Standards are very high, waiting times short, and major hospitals in Seoul and Busan run international clinics with English-speaking doctors. A routine clinic visit with NHIS often costs only a few thousand won out of pocket.

How to access it: Once enrolled in NHIS, walk into almost any clinic (uiwon) or hospital directly; you rarely need a referral for a first visit, though large university hospitals prefer one. Bring your ARC to register. Clinics and pharmacies (yakguk) sit on nearly every block, many specialise narrowly (dermatology, ENT, orthopaedics), and pharmacists can advise on minor ailments.

Insurance: NHIS enrolment is mandatory for most long-term residents; employees are typically enrolled from their first day, while other residents are automatically enrolled and billed after six months of stay. Premiums are income- or property-based and deducted or billed monthly. Private top-up insurance (silbo) is optional and popular, and you should hold travel or private cover for any gap before NHIS coverage begins.

• Use both hands when giving or receiving items, business cards, drinks or payment, especially with anyone older or more senior than you.
• Take your shoes off before entering homes and many traditional restaurants, guesthouses, temples and some clinics; look for a step or shoe rack at the entrance.
• Age and seniority shape everything: wait for elders to sit and begin eating first, and pour drinks for others rather than yourself, turning your head slightly away when drinking with a senior.
• Keep your voice down on public transport and reserve the priority seats for the elderly, pregnant and disabled even when the carriage is empty.
• Bow slightly when greeting, thanking or apologising; a small nod is enough in casual settings and reads as warmer than a handshake alone.
• When dining in a group, expect one person to pay the whole bill rather than splitting, and offer to reciprocate next time rather than dividing on the spot.
• Accept food and drink offered by hosts or colleagues with a bit of grace; flatly refusing can feel like a snub, so at least try a little.

• Do not stick chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice; it resembles a funeral offering and is considered bad luck.
• Avoid writing someone's name in red ink, which is traditionally associated with death.
• Blowing your nose at the table is seen as rude; step away or excuse yourself if you must.
• Be careful with direct confrontation, blunt criticism or public disagreement, which can cause loss of face and are usually softened or handled privately.
• Do not assume casual first-name informality; titles and honorifics matter, and Koreans often ask your age early to place the relationship correctly.