Korean Job Discussion Forums

[yingwenlaoshi]

Is Yong-in a good place to live? It looks like it's not too far from Seoul. What's it like traveling to Seoul and back?

[trish91198]

Im in Jukjeon...just take the 5500-1 bus and you're in Seoul in no time.

[lichtarbeiter]

[yingwenlaoshi]

45 min to an hour isn't bad at all. Maybe about the same or better than Incheon.

[lichtarbeiter]

[thefarns]

I completely agree with lichtarbieter. I lived in Suji for awhile and getting to Seoul was pretty easy. But there are big parts of Yongin where it could be a good bit tougher.

5500 and 5500-2 were good buses from my part of town.

[Cohiba]

Yeah, problem with bus times is you have to tack on the time to get
to the bus from your house and to get to where your going after you
alight from the bus from the other end. So figure 30-45 extra minutes
for this. Also, one of the main things is when do the buses stop?
Picture you and your friends getting into a wild night of boozing and
carousing in Itaewon, Hongdae or Sinchon. Then 10:30 or 11:00PM
rolls around and you have barely started, but you have to run home like
a little girlie-man to get the last bus. SUCKS big time.

[lichtarbeiter]

[ekul]

[Illysook]

I live in Mohyeon-myeon, near Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Yongin Campus. It's closer to Gwanju than it is to Yongin, but it's considered Yongin. It takes about 40 minutes to get to the nearest subway entrance, but the 8150 will get you to Hannam in an hour give or take. It runs every 35 minutes.

[English Matt]

Suji (Jukjeon station area) is near to my part of Suwon. It's a nice enough part of Yongin (nice cafes and restaurants, good if somewhat expensive department store) and links you to Bundang (very close by) and Seoul (around 30 minutes) via the subway. A lot of Yongin is bleak surburban sprawl around Suwon and buses to Seoul are the biggest problem. The city is so variable in terms of facilities, open spaces, housing, public transport and so on that it actually feels more like a loose hodge podge of associated townships....more so than many places I've visited in Korea, I would say it is very important to know exactly where in the city you are going to be living and working in (as another poster has already noted).

[Otherside]

Ying, I'd strongly reconsider Yongin. It's pretty far from the airport, so making your next visa run in May will be a hassle.

[Savant]

I lived in Suji for my last job. My area was Pungdeokcheon-dong and I was close to the Lottemart there [10min walk] and had great access to the Cycling paths which run beside the river.

I felt I did take the bus to Seoul a lot but I was lucky enough to be close to the Express bus stop going to Seoul. If traffic is light it could take 30-40 mins to reach Jamsil, Gangnam or Jongno. However, I felt I had to top-up my T-Money balance every other week.

[nobbyken]

I live in Yongin city, in the region of Yongin IC and about 9km from Everland.
I get the 5002 to Gangnam for 3,600원 return. I drive to a bus stop, and if I time it right I can be in Gangnam within the hour. There is a bus via Everland every 15-17mins. The new subway opens in September I'm told. It will go to Gangnam.
Smart Card for Everland is 90,0000 a year.

In good traffic I can drive to Gangnam on the expressway faster than taking the normal road to Suji or Bundang, but I can get to Suwon quicker than any other city. Yongin is a huge area as already mentioned.

I've lived in northern Seoul and near the southern Seoul boundary, and Suwon and Yongin have been easier for getting to Gangnam.

I don't frequent clubs in Seoul, so that may be something to discourage some.