Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Who's Your Daddy?]

There's a KEB branch in the basement of Incheon. I've thought it might have better rates than on the arrivals level, but I've never confirmed it. For only a few hundred dollars it probably isn't worth the hassle of trying to find it though.

[hack]

I know this is probably too late for the OP but for others going to Korea with their own currency, this might be something worth trying. If you live in a city that has Korean students in ESL schools, you might be interested in what some of my Korean students have told me that happened near our school (Vancouver) a couple of years ago.

There was a young English only speaking Asian who approached Asian students and asked if they wanted to exchange either won or RMB to Canadian dollars. If so, he then showed the current forex rate on his smartphone to them and then they did the deal at that rate +3% on RMB or 5% on WON so they saved about 5% or more. I was surprised that their parents don't send them US or Canadian bank drafts and while many do, not all because I guess the costs are so high that they often just end up sending currency through the mail (not all that smart) and letting their kids fend for themselves to exchange it. I've even seen students show up here with a few million won although we tell them not to bring much cash, foreign or Cdn. I was initially skeptical that they were getting counterfeit money but he'd been doing it for months. He first approached them when they were lined up outside a well known exchange company that we recommend to our students here but then apparently he had his own corner where the students usually went to him.

I couldn't figure out how he was making a profit selling the foreign currency so I never recommended him to new students and it turns out he was busted for money laundering.

So if you are looking to try to save some money, you may want to try that if you live near ESL schools and want to exchange more than just a couple of hundred dollars. Even if you didn't ask for a premium from them, you'd still save at least 10%. Just make sure your money is legal and probably only do it once unless you live in Vancouver and then forget about it.