Korean Job Discussion Forums

m10z10n · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Location: Orlando, FL

What advice can you give for those travelling to Korea for the first time and have signed a one year contract.

How much cash to bring?

Is it better to convert dollars before I arrive or once I land?

American credit cards? Fees for using these? Well recognized ones?

Should one carry travellers checks?

Your experiences with banks?

Bank transfers, anyone done this --from US bank to account in Korea?

How you survived the first month? : ) I expect some interesting ones here!

Any and all advice related money at the start will be appreciated. Peace.

butlerian · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Location: Korea

jaykimf · Joined: 24 Apr 2004

If you have a debit card to access your U.S. account via ATM and a U.S. credit card for purchases, you really don't need much cash. ATM fees are pretty low, plus whatever your bank charges. Watch out on the credit cards, some U.S. banks will tack on a fee of 1-3% for foreign transactions. Check what your bank does.(the disclosure will probably be buried in the fine print) As for cash, you'll probably get a better rate if you change it in Korea. It's easiest and fastest if you change some at the airport when you arrive.

moosehead · Joined: 05 May 2007

2 things you really need to know - (1) atms are not 24/7 here - they close around 10:30-11 pm and (2) not all atms accept foreign cards - you'll need one that's called a global atm - you can tell because it will say "Global atm" on it and have pictures of various cards like visa, mastercard, etc.

if you haven't left yet - find a bank that has good online banking and open an account there before you leave - you'll be glad you did.

nomad-ish

bellum99 · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: don't need to know

SAVE MONEY! The number one rule is to make sure you have enough money that you will be fine. Don't drink , party or send all of your money. Keep enough so that you will be fine. When it rains in Korea...people drown.

nicholas_chiasson · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Location: Samcheok

twg · Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Location: Getting some fresh air...

articulate_ink · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:14 pm Post subject:

If you can arrive with a couple of thousand US/CDN, that would be wise. It's enough to get out of here in a worst-case scenario. It's also enough to buy more furniture, houseware, linens, and food for your apartment. You'll also need a few hundred thousand won to get set up with a mobile phone. You have to buy them here; you're not likely to be issued one when you sign the contract (which is a cheaper way to go than the prepaid kind).

Your employer may encourage/compel you to open a bank account with the bank he or she already uses. This is probably the expedient thing to do when you're fresh off the plane. Do a search on the banking threads here, though, and read them carefully. If possible, do not settle for being told you can't have an ATM card for the first 3 months; go elsewhere, or get your boss to rip the teller a new one. If you intend to travel outside of Korea, you'll either have to keep an account at home and wire money back so you'll have access to cash via an ATM, or you'll have to go to Standard Chartered here and specifically request an international ATM card. My banks are Standard Chartered and KEB; between the two, I'm as content as I'm going to get with Korean banking. (That's not saying much.)

If you're working for a hagwon, you probably won't be able to get a credit card here.

Korea doesn't have separate checking and savings accounts the way other countries do. One way to save money is to set up two bank accounts. Use one as your current account and transfer a certain amount of money (you can do this at any ATM, even from one bank to another) every month when you get paid. It took me a while to figure this out. I might have saved more if I'd realized you didn't have to physically withdraw cash and deposit it elsewhere. You might need a few months before you can get into the saving habit, because you'll be buying things and kind of flailing at first. It becomes easier once you're more established.

Be very careful about identity theft if you travel. Be careful with your cards and your info. After six months my American bank (Washington Mutual) has finally managed to close a compromised account, and now they're implying I owe them almost $4000 of the roughly $8000 (or was it $9000? I've lost track) that was stolen. It's a monstrous pain in the ass dealing with this stuff from the other side of the planet. Don't let this happen to you if you can help it.