Korean Job Discussion Forums

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

Before I fly over to Korea there are a few things I need to think about - the most prominent being my financial affairs. Long story short, I have a few debts that I'm repaying slowly so I need to set up standing orders to creditors from my UK bank account. Is there an easy way to transfer my Korean won into that account so I can keep the creditors at bay? I have no idea about the logistics of this operation, so any advice from people in similar situations would be forever appreciated.
Is there a limit on how much I can transfer? Will it cost me megabucks? How long does a transfer take?

ChimpumCallao · Joined: 17 May 2005 Location: your mom

tzechuk · Joined: 20 Dec 2004

1. I don't think they do standing orders in Korea. I asked about it and they said they don't have the facilities, which sucks, because I used to do it in the UK too.

2. There is a limit on how much you can send, but I don't think it will worry you because it is sufficiently high enough.

3. Megabuck, yes! Crikey! They charge you here for transferring money from this end, and the banks over in the UK charge you as well! I used Kookmin Bank (the largest bank) to begin with, as that's the one my husband used to use - the bank used(/s) Natwest as its clearning bank and Natwest charged 15 quid per single transaction!!! This actually seems to be the norm, about 15 to 20 quid.

4. A wired transfer takes about 4 working days.

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

Thanks Tzechuk, that was the sort of reply I was looking for. Judging by that, I looks like it will be only be worth it if I transfer large amounts of cash each time. Natwest are going to love me!

SPINOZA · Joined: 10 Jun 2005 Location: $eoul

My observations are different from the above, CJ1976.

I'm with KB and the transaction was received in Britain (Royal Bank of Scotland) that very day. Maybe the UK being 9 hours behind has relevance, I dunno.

Also, KB charged me 15k and RBS charged me nothing (because I'd already been charged). There was no intermediary bank. You need (obviously) your account number and sort code and also an international sort code which is called a 'swift code'. I suspect you'll need an IBAN number too, which is similar to the swift code although not identical. Get this info and you're rocking.