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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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 Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:29 am Post subject: Taking Korean iPhone home |
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Sorry if this has been asked before, but there are about a bazillion search hits for iPhone.
If I get my Korean iPhone unlocked here, can i take it back and use it on my local GSM network service provider?
The dude at the KT store says sure, but I have no faith in his knowledge of a GSM network.
Thanks! |
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aphase
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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It will work in whatever countries that have iphones also, so sure it will work.
I'm curious what you mean by have it unlocked here tho. You mean a jailbreak unlock? Or you mean KTF will unlock it for you? I know in some countries like Australia they can do an official unlock for you after your contract is up, but I'm not sure if korea is the same. |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:20 pm Post subject: |
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| KT will do the official unlock for a small fee, I asked them about it when I was there a few days ago. |
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jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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| SeoulNate wrote: |
| KT will do the official unlock for a small fee, I asked them about it when I was there a few days ago. |
Really? According to Apple's website Korea is not listed as having an official unlock available. Was it an actual QOOK SHOW store you went to? More details please! I'd love to have this done. |
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SeoulNate
Joined: 04 Jun 2010
Location: Hyehwa
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| Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 2:49 am Post subject: |
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| yeah, they said that it was possible in the store. Although, i suppose it could have been my poor Korean skills that led me to believe that it was possible. |
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unplugged_boy
Joined: 17 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 1:17 am Post subject: |
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| SeoulNate wrote: |
| yeah, they said that it was possible in the store. Although, i suppose it could have been my poor Korean skills that led me to believe that it was possible. |
where? |
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fishstick
Joined: 24 Jan 2010
Location: Portland, OR, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:00 am Post subject: Re: Taking Korean iPhone home |
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| SeoulNate wrote: |
Sorry if this has been asked before, but there are about a bazillion search hits for iPhone.
If I get my Korean iPhone unlocked here, can i take it back and use it on my local GSM network service provider?
The dude at the KT store says sure, but I have no faith in his knowledge of a GSM network.
Thanks! |
No. I have an American iPhone and it will not work in Korea. I was told it is because the networks are different. There is no unlock available. |
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aphase
Joined: 27 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:22 am Post subject: Re: Taking Korean iPhone home |
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| fishstick wrote: |
| SeoulNate wrote: |
Sorry if this has been asked before, but there are about a bazillion search hits for iPhone.
If I get my Korean iPhone unlocked here, can i take it back and use it on my local GSM network service provider?
The dude at the KT store says sure, but I have no faith in his knowledge of a GSM network.
Thanks! |
No. I have an American iPhone and it will not work in Korea. I was told it is because the networks are different. There is no unlock available. |
It's not because the networks are different. Korean iphones and US iphones are the same hardware-wise. It's because the korean networks check a phone against an approved list of ECID's, a unique number which identifies your phone. Your american iphone can work if you get it approved but you have to pay a fee. |
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oskinny1
Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:27 pm Post subject: Re: Taking Korean iPhone home |
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| aphase wrote: |
| fishstick wrote: |
| SeoulNate wrote: |
Sorry if this has been asked before, but there are about a bazillion search hits for iPhone.
If I get my Korean iPhone unlocked here, can i take it back and use it on my local GSM network service provider?
The dude at the KT store says sure, but I have no faith in his knowledge of a GSM network.
Thanks! |
No. I have an American iPhone and it will not work in Korea. I was told it is because the networks are different. There is no unlock available. |
It's not because the networks are different. Korean iphones and US iphones are the same hardware-wise. It's because the korean networks check a phone against an approved list of ECID's, a unique number which identifies your phone. Your american iphone can work if you get it approved but you have to pay a fee. |
It also has to be hardware unlocked. You can't just jailbreak it.
But fishstick is 100% mistaken. |
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fishstick
Joined: 24 Jan 2010
Location: Portland, OR, USA
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:59 pm Post subject: Re: Taking Korean iPhone home |
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| oskinny1 wrote: |
| aphase wrote: |
| fishstick wrote: |
| SeoulNate wrote: |
Sorry if this has been asked before, but there are about a bazillion search hits for iPhone.
If I get my Korean iPhone unlocked here, can i take it back and use it on my local GSM network service provider?
The dude at the KT store says sure, but I have no faith in his knowledge of a GSM network.
Thanks! |
No. I have an American iPhone and it will not work in Korea. I was told it is because the networks are different. There is no unlock available. |
It's not because the networks are different. Korean iphones and US iphones are the same hardware-wise. It's because the korean networks check a phone against an approved list of ECID's, a unique number which identifies your phone. Your american iphone can work if you get it approved but you have to pay a fee. |
It also has to be hardware unlocked. You can't just jailbreak it.
But fishstick is 100% mistaken. |
Well, awesome. Let's hear from someone that has either gotten their American phone to work in Korea, or their Korean phone to work somewhere else. I've asked a few cell phone shops to help, and they don't want to activate my iPhone so I'm considering it a lost cause. |
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jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:59 pm Post subject: Re: Taking Korean iPhone home |
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Using American or any iPhone here:
Korea (along with Turkey) blocks all non-whitelisted phones from being here. Every iPhone in the world is exactly the same and would work here if it wasn't for Korea's ridiculous whitelist. No other country in the world (except Turkey) does this.
To use it here you need to be officially unlocked. IE: bought in Thailand, Hong Kong, or unlocked by an authorized provider. AT&T does not do this. A jailbroken and unlocked phone will not work since they presumably restore the phone to factory-fresh state.
Using a Korean phone in the States (or anywhere else in the world):
Works great. I did it when I went back to Canada for vacation, as well as Thailand. Just jailbreak, unlock, and pop a SIM card in. The current 4.0 can't be jailbroken on our phones (too new) but that should be fixed soon. If you're on 3.1.3 still you can do it. |
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wteaocb
Joined: 15 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 2:09 am Post subject: |
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I'd just like to point out, that no one here really has any idea what they are talking about.
If you have a foreign iPhone you need to do three things before you can use it in Korea:
1) Jailbreak the phone so it can be unlocked.
2) Unlock the phone so it can be used on any carrier.
3) And the most important thing- pay to have the phone registered so it can be used on Korean networks. I believe that there are multiple places that offer this service, but one that I know of is at Hyochang Park Station. It is called the Electronic Wave Research Center located in Yongmun Market.
Directions:
Take line 1 or line 6 to Hyochang Park. Go out exit 3 to Yongmun Market.
You can reach them at this number : 02 710 6555
One final thing:
There is definitely and most certainly a software unlock for those of you with iPhones (3G and 3GS) that were previously jailbroken and have an older version of the baseband and bootrom.
For those of you with iPhone 4, the soft unlock is coming.
For more information and updates on iPhone jailbreaking, visit iPhone Dev Team Blog. They are typically the most reliable when it comes to iPhone news.
iClarified also has a number of helpful tutorials on Jailbreaking if you are new to this process.
Best of luck to you all |
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bananahammock
Joined: 26 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 6:10 am Post subject: |
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| wteaocb wrote: |
I'd just like to point out, that no one here really has any idea what they are talking about.
If you have a foreign iPhone you need to do three things before you can use it in Korea:
1) Jailbreak the phone so it can be unlocked.
2) Unlock the phone so it can be used on any carrier.
3) And the most important thing- pay to have the phone registered so it can be used on Korean networks. I believe that there are multiple places that offer this service, but one that I know of is at Hyochang Park Station. It is called the Electronic Wave Research Center located in Yongmun Market.
Directions:
Take line 1 or line 6 to Hyochang Park. Go out exit 3 to Yongmun Market.
You can reach them at this number : 02 710 6555
One final thing:
There is definitely and most certainly a software unlock for those of you with iPhones (3G and 3GS) that were previously jailbroken and have an older version of the baseband and bootrom.
For those of you with iPhone 4, the soft unlock is coming.
For more information and updates on iPhone jailbreaking, visit iPhone Dev Team Blog. They are typically the most reliable when it comes to iPhone news.
iClarified also has a number of helpful tutorials on Jailbreaking if you are new to this process.
Best of luck to you all |
Thanks for the info! I will definitely have to do this so I can use my iphone in Korea when I come over in October.
I have one more question and maybe you or someone else would know. I'm from the USA and I would need to end my contract with AT&T. I have been under my mom's contract for a little over a year and before that I was under a former bf's plan but I don't think the amount of time I've used my iphone carried over to when I switched to my mom's plan. I've heard that if you move somewhere that doesn't have AT&T you can get out of your contract. I'm just wondering the process of doing that. I'm going to the AT&T store to talk to someone soon. So I'm guessing this is how it works.. When its close to the time I'll be moving I will get the proof to show them I'm moving to Korea and they will end my service (hopefully before I leave). Then when I get to Korea, I will register with the new provider and it will work fine? |
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bananahammock
Joined: 26 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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| also how much does it cost to have it registered? |
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jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
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| Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| wteaocb wrote: |
I'd just like to point out, that no one here really has any idea what they are talking about.
If you have a foreign iPhone you need to do three things before you can use it in Korea:
1) Jailbreak the phone so it can be unlocked.
2) Unlock the phone so it can be used on any carrier.
3) And the most important thing- pay to have the phone registered so it can be used on Korean networks. I believe that there are multiple places that offer this service, but one that I know of is at Hyochang Park Station. It is called the Electronic Wave Research Center located in Yongmun Market.
Directions:
Take line 1 or line 6 to Hyochang Park. Go out exit 3 to Yongmun Market.
You can reach them at this number : 02 710 6555 |
Before you go and say that people don't know what they are talking about, have you verified these three steps yourself? Specifically:
| wteaocb wrote: |
1) Jailbreak the phone so it can be unlocked.
2) Unlock the phone so it can be used on any carrier.
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The problem being that in step 3, KCC might restore the phone to factory-fresh which means no unlock. |
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