Korean Job Discussion Forums

maeil · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Location: Haebangchon

I'm traveling to Shanghai for a long weekend. The woman who is hosting me there tells me that I might be able to just purchase a local sim card, put it in my Korean cell phone, and have it work while there. Is this true? I don't really know anything about the different technologies that different countries use. My phone has a slot for a sim card, but doesn't currently use one.

Thanks for any info on this..

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

Are you sure the slot is for a sim card? Many of the phones in Korea have slots for banking, not sim cards...

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

Actually, after some research (asking around), I was told it may be possible on some phones. A big maybe.

So, try it when you go to China, and report back...

maeil · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Location: Haebangchon

No, I'm honestly not sure of anything. Maybe it is just a slot for banking.

joeyjoejoe · Joined: 24 Sep 2006

chances are....NO.

your korean phone is likely a CDMA phone with no SIM card slot or GSM capability. But i could be wrong, not knowing what model of phone you have makes guessing futile.
Chinese SIM cards require GSM phones.

mehamrick · Joined: 28 Aug 2006 Location: South Korea

I have a LG World Phone through KTF that has the ability to switch between CDMA and GSM... with a sim card slot. But I havent been out of country with it yet.. The test will come this August when I go back to the States.

Wangja · Joined: 17 May 2004 Location: Seoul, Yongsan

I have a Samsung worldphone with KTF SIM card installed. This worked fine a couple of weeks ago when I was in Manila and I expect it to work pretty well everywhere.

I do not know if dropping in a non-Korean SIM card would work. Perhaps next time I will try my UK SIM card.

samd · Joined: 03 Jan 2007

What kind of phone do you have?

Does it have a slot for a SIM card? Open it up and see.

If it does, is it SIM-locked? Ask your phone company.

If not, while in China buy a tri-band phone (I miss my Nokia Sad

) and get a cheap prepaid card. Then you can use that as your international phone, and your Korean phone here.

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

Well, it seems like alot of the phones have a slot from something. I went to an SKT store and they told me it was for a moneta chip for banking. But, the shape looks perfect for a SIM card to fit in there. Now I'm curious if a SIM card will work or not. So, if, and when, I travel to another country, I'll pick up a SIM card and try it out.