Korean Job Discussion Forums

[darkjedidave]

I have a very odd question:

Since I will be in Korea for at least 5 years, I want to bring the rest of my items from the States. This includes a collection of swords I own (7 to be exact, 4 antiques and 3 fantasy) and I would like to place them on the wall.

Do you know if swords are legal/illegal to bring into Korea in check in luggage?

[bluelake]

AFAIK, for the most part, illegal (without special permits). It is strange when you can go to where farm tools are sold here in Korea and buy a large, heavy machete. When I asked why they are o.k., but swords are not, the answer I received was, "These are made for farm work." I guess they never heard of dual-purpose...

[.38 Special]

It comes down to definitions, I believe.

On a firearms forum I frequent there has been a huge debate as of late about whether a firearm is a weapon or if it is only a weapon if used as one.

This is somewhat of a valid argument. Some firearms make pretty crappy weapons. For example, 40 lb Barret .50 BMG rifles. You'd be hard pressed to hold up a convenience store with one of these. You'd have enough trouble getting it into the door, much less fitting it inside of a vehicle. Also there are the Olympic steady pistols that wrap around the hand. Devastatingly accurate in the hands of an Olympian, yes, but single-shot, difficult to reload in a hurry, and hard to conceal as well. Naturally, very few crimes are committed with purpose built sport rifles, some pistols, and anti-material rifles better suited for benchrest competitions.

But the consensus was that a weapon is only a weapon if it is used as one. This includes everything, including human thumbs. I found this bizarre, as it only defines an item in the ambiguous future tense and leaves the item definitionless in the meantime. Personally, I voted that all firearms are weapons, regardless of their species. My logic was that firearms are designed to kill for defense, offense, or in taking game, and the target-devoted derivatives thereof are props used in the practice of killing -- placing a well placed projectile into a specific location.

For what it's worth, in my terms, knives, bows, spears, and flame throwers are also weapons.

In most US states, flamethrowers are totally legal as agricultural items. This isn't terribly strange, given their utility in destroying bees nests (this was prevalent during the Killer Bee problems of the previous decade) but mostly for killing weeds in fields.

So it's not too strange that machetes are legal.

If it makes you feel better, OP, I have zero chance of importing my firearms if I decide on Korea

[Lionman]

I sold off my knife/sword collection at a yard sale back home before coming.

I lived in sort of a high crime neighborhood.

It was a little frightening seeing locals testing the blade of some of the knives. I offered to sharpen it for him and he looked agitated and said in a gruff voice, "no, I know how to do it myself, thank you."

Just hope he didn't try to kill someone with that.

Anyway, in Korea you can pick up knives in different places. Sometimes there is the army/navy guy selling stuff on the street. There's even a knife museum somewhere in Insadong. You can check with those guys, where they get there stuff.

I haven't seen to many fantasy knifes, samurai swords that sort of thing.

At the airport they usually swipe anything like that even from checked on luggage.

[exercise_in_futility]

are you a ninja?

[CapnSamwise]

Don't be that nerd. Seriously.