Korean Job Discussion Forums

ModernDayDrifter · Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC USA

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!!

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

ModernDayDrifter · Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC USA

ttompatz · Joined: 05 Sep 2005 Location: Kwangju, South Korea

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.

superdave · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->

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.

ModernDayDrifter · Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Location: Raleigh, NC USA

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! Smile

smogdonkey · Joined: 19 Dec 2006

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.

nobbyken · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Location: Yongin ^^

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.

smogdonkey · Joined: 19 Dec 2006

superdave · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->

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!! Wink

crazy_arcade · Joined: 05 Nov 2006

superdave · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->

dreadster · Joined: 08 May 2007 Location: Daegu, South Korea

kprrok · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Location: KC

superdave · Joined: 20 Aug 2006 Location: over there ----->

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.