Korean Job Discussion Forums

[thrylos]

Chuncheon. A 'parochial' town, yet with a good-sized and good-natured expat community, 5 minute drive to 'nature' be it mountains or water (lakes and rivers), decent festivals in the spring (Mime) and fall (jazz), 5-10 minute drive/30 minute walk to anywhere in town, K-people that for the most part don't stand and stare or scream 'weigookin' when you pass them by, and only 1 hour to Seoul when you crave a big city. Compared to Jeollanamdo, Gyeongsanbukdo and Seoul, this is paradise!

[cdninkorea]

My vote goes for Haeundae. Not anywhere else in Busan; it has to be Haeundae. I've visited twice in the last year and been amazed at how nice it is: wide sidewalks, lots of parkland, good restaurants and cafes, beautiful skyscrapers (the new I Park development, for example), and the one thing that Seoul doesn't have: The ocean.

Also, compared to anywhere with a view of water in Seoul (near a river), an ocean view apartment in Haeundae is cheap. I looked at Jeonsae, and a decent place with an ocean view is 170 million. Not cheap, but compared to Seoul, it is.

[SeoulNate]

[Enduro]

[Sector7G]

For big-city living I liked Busan a lot for some of the same reasons wanderkind did. Being able to catch the high-speed ferry to Japan is another plus.

For small cities you could do a lot worse than Iksan, one of the smallest cities in Korea to have a KTX stop, making weekend trips up to Seoul or down to Yeosu pretty easy.

Daegu is not a bad big city either...

[Voyager2]

So nice to read people's thoughts. Thanks for taking the time. Rgds

[FDNY]

In reality, the ONLY differences between places to live in Korea are based on nature, convenience, nightlife. Housing, in general, in this country is all the same. First, it is 90% large ugly apartment blocks that would make Nikita Khrushchev proud. Second, Koreans have absolutely no sense of civic pride. They simply don't care if their surroundings are ugly, garbage strewn, covered in ads. Third, if you can even find a nice house in a nice place, then the odds are your neighbors will have an un-landscaped yard covered in old junk, garbage and oil drums stuffed with tortured dogs waiting to be eaten.

Despite Korean wealth, this country's appearance still portrays a complete utilitarian feel. A sort of "barely-getting-by", slipshod, low quality mishmash of prefab, concrete and duct tape.

[KimchiNinja]

My vote is for Seoul, South of the river, Seocho area has some nice places to live. Yangjae trail is great when the weather is good, foothills for hiking, area is clean, smart polite people.

In general the further out of the city you get the more stupid and fat people you find. Went a Busan a couple times, it's like a smaller Seoul, but crappier in every way.

[KimchiNinja]

[Stan Rogers]

[Stan Rogers]

To answer the OP's question. Every area has it's pros and cons.

[Sister Ray]

[KimchiNinja]

[Sector7G]

[jsk]

For me it was Daejeon. My girlfriend worked in Bundang and a friend of mine worked in Ilsan and I would take any of those three over Seoul anyday. I worked in Seoul for 1.5 years and I was ready to get out by the end, despite all the conveniences.