Korean Job Discussion Forums

[april]

I could use some advice on how and where to get a cell phone upon arrival in South Korea. I am guessing I have to wait to get one until I get there, phones from the US wont work over there?

[ttompatz]

[Senior]

You may not need your ARC. They may accept your passport number then change it to your ARC number, when you get it. Get your co-teacher to take you to an LG store. They will give you a contract phone, no problems. The other providers were well known for only giving pre-paid second-hand "card" phones to foreigners. Though, this may have changed.

[UknowsI]

I don't how it works with the US net, but my phones from Europe will only work with the 3G net in Korea. However, when I find a 3G net I could call for 500 won a minute. I could only sometimes receive calls (much more expensive too), and I could never send or receive messages.

[Troglodyte]

You CAN use your 3G phone here but only for roaming. You can't use it to sign up for a Korean phone account.

I've found that most shops don't want to sell a used phone OR sign people up for an account (not even pre-paid) if they don't have the ARC yet. It's not a legal restriction. It's the policy of each particular shop. If you don't have an ARC yet, you really have to look around to find a place that will sell you a phone and/or activate an account with only a passport. The exception is in Itaewon. There you can find quite a few.

BUT if you look around, especially if you have a Korean with you (or you can speak some Korean phrases) you might find a shop that will sign you up for pre-paid with just a passport. If you do that, go back to them after you get the ARC and get your data updated. I've heard from others that if you register with only a passport, then the phone deactivates after 3 months. Not sure if it's true or not. It's just what I've heard (once or twice).

Note as well that if you get someone else to register the phone/account for you, make sure that it's someone you'll be in touch with for your whole year. The phone companies ask you to periodically come in to show your ID to prove that the person who registered the phone is still the user of that phone.

If you need some useful phrases for buying phone or signing up for an account, PM me and I can send you a set of phrases (english, hangul korean, romanised korean) that can help you out as you roam the city in search of a phone.

If you're in Seoul, just go to Itaewon and buy a second hand phone from one of the many shops there. (Bring your passport with you.)


A small note of caution. I don't think this is a big issue, and I've never met anyone myself who has been affected by it, but i bring it up because a few others on this forum HAVE had a problem with it. New phones often have 1 of 2 options in them for trackign. Either they have real GPS receivers in them, or they have something like GPS that uses the cell towers to get an approximate position. This in itself is great because you can easily find your way around a new city. If you are the person the phone is registered to, then you can give someone else permission to track the location of the phone. That's great if you have little kids because you can track them as they move about. So you're now asking what the problem is? The potential problem is that if your phone is registered to your employer (or girlfriend, or wife) then that person can go to the phone company and give permission to check on the phone location from their other phone. So..... if you call in sick but really you're at the beach or you were at the bar the night before, or if you tell your wife you're working late but really your at a late night barbershop, you're lie becomes very transparent, very quickly. As well, your boss can find out how often you go to the bar, what time you come home, what you do in your free time.... It's just something to keep in mind.

[uhnothanks]

On a related note, my recruiter offers a service where they set up cell phone contracts for incoming teachers. To be specific, the basic plan is 16,000 KRW/monthly minimum (includes: Caller ID, Voice Mail, Unlimited Incoming calls and text messages, 100 outgoing texts) and 18KRW/10 seconds from 12AM-7PM, 15KRW/10 seconds from 7PM-12AM.

I was wondering if this was an advisable thing to set up? It seems pretty convenient.

[jmcphee625]

Does anyone know a specific place in downtown daegu I can go and get a prepaid cell phone? I am just looking for a cheap phone and plan. Thanks

[AsiaESLbound]

[ttompatz]

[reactionary]

26 minutes for 10k...I really gotta get a contract phone.

[Troglodyte]

[seoul777]

my coworker offered to provide me with a free used phone. the catch was that it belonged to her deceased sister and it is one of the few remaining cherished possessions of hers that the family has. i was made to promise that i would not misplace or lose said phone. that is such not a free phone.

[Caffeinated]