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Korean Job Discussion Forums "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
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ModernDayDrifter

Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC USA
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 5:30 am Post subject: Cell Phones In South Korea |
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So I am looking into buying a cell phone to take with me to South Korea. My current cell is old and not capeable of being used overseas. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on cell phones in South Korea. Also, I know here in the US as well as when I lived in New Zealand, there are multiple cell phone companies that you can get service through. Is that the case in South Korea? If so, what is the best company to get cell service through? Thanks so much!! |
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ttompatz

Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:46 am Post subject: Re: Cell Phones In South Korea |
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ModernDayDrifter wrote: |
So I am looking into buying a cell phone to take with me to South Korea. My current cell is old and not capeable of being used overseas. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on cell phones in South Korea. Also, I know here in the US as well as when I lived in New Zealand, there are multiple cell phone companies that you can get service through. Is that the case in South Korea? If so, what is the best company to get cell service through? Thanks so much!! |
Any /EVERY phone that you buy overseas will ONLY be able to be used as a "GLOBAL ROAMING" phone with your home country provider.
You will NOT be allowed to get a Korean number for it.
Buy one when you get here. They are cheap and plentiful.
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ModernDayDrifter

Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC USA
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:50 am Post subject: Re: Cell Phones In South Korea |
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ttompatz wrote: |
ModernDayDrifter wrote: |
So I am looking into buying a cell phone to take with me to South Korea. My current cell is old and not capeable of being used overseas. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on cell phones in South Korea. Also, I know here in the US as well as when I lived in New Zealand, there are multiple cell phone companies that you can get service through. Is that the case in South Korea? If so, what is the best company to get cell service through? Thanks so much!! |
Any /EVERY phone that you buy overseas will ONLY be able to be used as a "GLOBAL ROAMING" phone with your home country provider.
You will NOT be allowed to get a Korean number for it.
Buy one when you get here. They are cheap and plentiful.
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Even if I take an ulocked phone over, so that it is not locked down to one carrier or phone number? I know I will prob need a SIM card. I had to get a SIM card for my phone to work in NZ when I was over there. |
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ttompatz

Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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There are no sim cards in the phones here, they use CDMA technology.
The system here is CLOSED and protected.
If you bring a phone with you it will only be an expensive alarm clock or used with global roaming from home.
You will NOT be allowed to get a Korean number for it. Full stop, end of discussion. It is NOT ALLOWED.
But hey, what do I know. I'm just a noob here. |
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superdave

Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->
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Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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yeah, seriously. this information is right. the korean system is anally retentive and locks out foreign phones by using different technology. there are no sim cards.
you can get a new phone here very cheap. even though foreigners can't get rental plans (technically) it's easy enough to get a rental plan through a friend or korean coworker. if you work for a private academy, they'll happily help you get a phone under their own name.
don't bring one with you. |
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ModernDayDrifter

Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC USA
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 6:06 am Post subject: |
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Thanks superdave and ttompatz for your help! It has cleared things up for me!! I just wanted to make sure and double check on things... I am def going to wait till I get over there to get a phone! Anyone know of any electronics market or whatnot where I can buy a phone in Deagu?
Thanks again!  |
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smogdonkey
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 7:53 am Post subject: |
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In any Korean city, just wander around downtown until you see any one of approximately 800 cell phone shops, all with different sales, bargains, and rip-offs. |
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nobbyken

Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Location: Yongin ^^
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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Both me and my wife have nice camera phones which cost us 10,ooo Won each.
Some of the shops may charge more, I probably wouldn't have got a cheap one like that without my wifes Korean ID card.
Your co-teacher or manager should be able to sort you out no problem.
ps- I have seen some phones here with a sim card, but I don't think the cards were being used as sims.
Here, when you get a new phone, they transfer over your number and your phonebook comes too. |
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smogdonkey
Joined: 19 Dec 2006
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Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:08 am Post subject: |
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nobbyken wrote: |
ps- I have seen some phones here with a sim card, but I don't think the cards were being used as sims.
Here, when you get a new phone, they transfer over your number and your phonebook comes too. |
You're right, they're not sim cards, they're banking cards, from what I understand. |
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superdave

Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->
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Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 4:08 am Post subject: |
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the cards they put in the back are tmoney cards or cards for use with your bank. some banks allow you to use a chip to do a lot of banking transactions (you've probably seen the mobile phone readers on the atm machines).
it's not a sim card, but it's roughly the same size.
MDD - are you going to a private academy? if so, get them to hook you up ... there's a phone store on every street corner. most medium sized shopping malls have phone shops too ... trust me, you can't go far without seeing a phone store.
fyi, there are three main companies that act as carriers in korea - SK, LG and KTF.
SK is by far the best. service quality is fab. LG is mediocre (i used to lose calls in the subway) and KTF is crap. Go through SK if possible.
Or if you want to be hardcore, get a SHOW phone, which is the new craze. it's a video phone. there's a camera in the front, and you can see who you're talking to ... they can see you as well (if they have a show phone too). i don't have one, but my students tell me that video calls are only slightly more expensive than regular calls.
ought to make for some fun phone sex with your girlfriend!!  |
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crazy_arcade
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:00 am Post subject: |
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superdave wrote: |
even though foreigners can't get rental plans (technically)
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DING DING DING! SUPERDAVE: spreading misinformation since 2006.
If you're on a tourist visa you can't get a rental plan.
ARC's can get any plan with LGT. |
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superdave

Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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crazy_arcade wrote: |
superdave wrote: |
even though foreigners can't get rental plans (technically)
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DING DING DING! SUPERDAVE: spreading misinformation since 2006.
If you're on a tourist visa you can't get a rental plan.
ARC's can get any plan with LGT. |
i hope you're right ... but trust me, walk into technomart and they will tell you that you can't do it ... perhaps LG offers it, but it's still far from common practice. the standard has been to not give evil foreigners plans, because they're guaranteed to skip town and not pay the 30,000 won phone bill.
so, you need to back that stupid crap with evidence. will SK or KTF give you a plan? will all LG stores give you a plan?
the ding, ding, ding bit was just retarded by the way ... how old are you? |
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dreadster
Joined: 08 May 2007 Location: Daegu, South Korea
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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smogdonkey wrote: |
nobbyken wrote: |
ps- I have seen some phones here with a sim card, but I don't think the cards were being used as sims.
Here, when you get a new phone, they transfer over your number and your phonebook comes too. |
You're right, they're not sim cards, they're banking cards, from what I understand. |
Yes, they actually are SIM cards, called USIM cards, and are for phones using the 3g (e.g. Show) networks. Just to correct something another poster said, while many phones are CDMA, most of the new ones aren't as they use the 3g networks and these phones require SIM cards. To be honest though, I don't think most Koreans even know they have SIM cards, I showed a friend of mine here and he was genuinely surprised. They got so used to SIM card-less phones that they don't even realise their phones have them!!
Everyone's right though that you can't use a foreign phone here, even an unlocked one. There is the possibility that from 2008 that might be an option since new laws will mean all SIM cards have to be unlocked, but I wouldn't hold your breath on that one. I'm sure the likes of Samsung and LG don't want too much competition from abroad!! |
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kprrok
Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC
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Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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superdave wrote: |
so, you need to back that stupid crap with evidence. will SK or KTF give you a plan? will all LG stores give you a plan? |
Not to sound rude or anything, but you seem to be holding LG to a slightly different standard here. You ask if SK or KT will give a plan? But why must all LG stores give a plan? Do all SK and KT stores do it? Nope. Just like every other business and governmental agency here, it all depends on who you talk to and what mood they're in.
Just because you apparently got told off by an LG store doesn't mean everyone else does.
I had SK for my first phone, and it was ok. The service was normal, blah blah blah. The fee was high, plus I had to pay a 200,000 won deposit that I'd never get back so long as I was on an E-2 VISA. Even after a year of perfect bill paying and no problems, I couldn't get the refund. Oh yeah, and that was after they told me that I could. Then when I went in to get it, they changed their mind after talking with the SK home office.
So I canceled my service right there and then and told them I didn't need their BS, and hopped over to the LG store next door and was handed a very nice phone with a monthly plan and bonus extras with no deposit or anything. I did have to pay a bit for the phone, but that's cool.
I'm now at over 2 years on my LG phone, and my wife is on her 5th year with LG, and we have no problems whatsoever.
KPRROK
PS - I went to the KT home office down in Jeju for a phone before I got my SK and they flat out told me there was no way for a whitey to get a phone unless I paid a huge deposit, gave them 2 credit cards and paid full price for the phone. Then, they'd give me a plan, but the monthly fee would be about 50,000 or so. NOT very good in my book. |
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superdave

Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->
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Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:10 am Post subject: |
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hey kprrok
actually, i have no problem with LG, except for the fact that their service is not the best. i sometimes lost calls in the subway. never had a single problem with SK though. i haven't used KTF, but everyone i know warns me off it.
actually, it was ding ding crazy_arcade who was saying LG will give rentals. and i pointed out that this is not a consistent system. technically, i'm sure you can get rentals, but try doing it and see how far you get!
as you said, some shops will let you have one, some wont ... some will just lie to sell you $500 worth of product. some don't want to deal with foreigners and will say NO to everything. some are just dumb and will say no rather than go to the effort of finding out.
so, don't come to korea thinking you can get a rental plan, even though (ding ding!) apparently it's been available since 2006.
not every carrier will allow this and not every store will honour it. they might ask for credit cards, or bonds, or all kinds of crazy crap ... whether it's in the rule book or not ... they're just likely to make it up as they go along.
the two most common options are to get a pay-as-you-go phone or ask a korean citizen to get the phone in their name. school staff, girlfriends, etc will often oblige no problems.
pay as you go system is decent. incoming calls are free, and where possible, use office or school phones for outgoing calls. you can keep your bills cheap.
i'm married, so i have a monthly rental. however, i rarely use it and my bills are only 30,000 won a month. i'm tempted to go PAYG just to avoid paying monthly rent, and cutting my bill in half. |
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