Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sympathy for Mr Vengeance]

Well with the exchange rate getting a little better again, where is going to be the best conceivable place to exchange money? Say from Korean won to US dollars. A bank in Korea? A bank in America? A travelex? Just a wire/remittance? I know there is more than 1 exchange rate and different places operate under different exchange rates. So which one will have the optimal one? Thanks.

[yeti08]

I could be wrong and I'm sure someone will say that I am whether I am or not, but...I've always though the banks at the airport were the best. America is definitely not the way to go.

[SeoulNate]

wire transfer from Korea

Often if you are a long term customer, or transferring a large amount of money, a bank will give you a better rate on buying the currency than you would get anywhere else.

[Riddle]

A little off topic, but it would be fun to speculate how good we can ever expect the exchange rate to get. When I first came to Korea it was about 940 per $1. If it ever breaks 100 again, I'll have to make a transfer. But,
might it ever reach the 800s? 700s? That would be amazing.

[PatrickGHBusan]

That would be something else indeed Riddle!

When I arrived in Korea in 1997 the rate was 640 (to the Canadian dollar).

[rkc76sf]

It was also about 2000 won to the dollar after the IMF crisis. It was around 1200 to the dollar when I first arrived here in 1999 and stayed that way through 2003. Dropped to 897 to the dollar in 2007, jumped to 1506 to the dollar in 2008. That's the extreme I've seen.

[PatrickGHBusan]

[BadBadMan]

Agree with SeoulNate, wire transfer from a Korean bank would probably be cheapest, surely so if you have an account with them and they're offering promotions (50% discount on their profit margins aren't too difficult to get). Might help even more if you transfer through internet banking.

Airport branches charge extra, so don't exchange any money there unless it's urgent.

Banks in the States probably don't need your Korean Won, so I don't see them offering you a good rate.

Edit:
Also just remembered, there are ajummas sitting around in Namdaemun market that run some illegal currency exchanges. You'll need to haggle with them, though, and many really won't go too low. I found little currency exchange stalls there that offer consistently better rates without the haggling. I think they were clustered near the JaeIl bank branch? I'm not familiar with bank fees for transferring dollars directly to your country though, so I'm not sure if you'll actually be saving money by going through this process.

[Mikejelai]

Best I have found is the money exchange place across the street from McDonalds in Itaewon.