Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gary-Korea]

Hello!

Ive been in Korea for a while now. I would like to reduce my outgoings so I am thinking about changing from a contract phone to a cheaper pre-paid option. Considering I rarely use my phone these days, it still seems to be costing me an average of about 32000 won per month.

Can anyone offer me any advice about pre-paid phones in Korea? Would you be able to recommend a store in Seoul where I can get my hands on a cheaper option? The cheaper the better to be honest as I only really use it for texting.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Missihippi]

i have a prepaid phone through SK and i put about 20,000 on it every 3 weeks or so(give/take). I mostly use texting and i think incoming calls is free. I doubt you will save much, but there is my usage/cost.

[nukeday]

in a few really hermetic months, 50,000 won was good for nearly 3 months...but that included time i was on vacation and etc. but man, i tell you, just ONE one hour long phone call will seem to end up being around 20,000 won.

i honestly think it's better to go for the contract. otherwise, i hope you have a strong preference for short calls and texting.

[nathanrutledge]

split the difference. Don't get a pay as you go phone, don't have a contract phone. I used LG telecom for two years with no contract. It cost 9000 a month base cost, and then when you use it, it bills you only for that use. IF you are not using it very much, you would be paying less than 20k a month I bet. My bills were routinely in the 20-30k range and I a an average user. About 250 texts per month, maybe 50 minutes of talking time. The only reason I went to a contract this year was because it got me a nice phone for free*.

*I pay another 10k per month now, so it's pretty much financing a phone, but hey, LG has been good to me and the phone is still cheaper this way than buying it outright.

[DeLaRed]

[nathanrutledge]

[Jake_Kim]

Does your 32k/month include installments for your handset?

I don't know about KT or LGU, but my SKT bills never exceed 11000 Won/month and I'm not contractually bound or anything. See what other plans are offered by your carrier, if there's one with higher call rates but a lower base fee.

[machoman]

i use pre paid phone. i spend 10,000 a month. i only use it for texting. if i need to call someone, i use skype, or i borrow a friends phone.

[karri]

What companies carry pp phones?

I have walked in to a few and asked if they have card(-uh) phones and they all said no. But I'm not sure if they understood what I was asking for. Can anyone tell me what to ask for in Korean?

[Murakano]

[peacemaker]

The LG rep at Seoul Global Center set me up with a contract phone a year and a half ago. For 14,000ish, I have the LG family plan, which means all calls to others on LG's network are free. Incoming calls are also free. Text messages some like 16 won each. I call and text quite a lot, and my bill usually runs around 20,000 per month.

[weebil]

where can i buy minutes on a prepaid phone? do t-mobile / LG / sk telecom phone stores all offer prepaid options? are there any differeces between them?