Korean Job Discussion Forums

[garagebeat66]

Hey everybody, I plan to come teach in korea a few months from now so I have time to prepare. A couple questions... For all the people that stay there for years and save and always post here Ive been so curious but never saw any mention of this;; How exactly does it work as far as depositing your check there to save it in an american or other foreign bank ?? or do esl teachers there open local korean accounts ? or is there a certain type of account I should open before leaving the US, such as HSBC or....
do people always need to do international transfers? also Vitamins and supplements are very important to me. Here at home I order from iherb.com. Im wondering how korean customs handles iherb international shipments? For example I spent a few months in vietnam last year and I ordered from iherb (as there are hardly any supplements at all anywhere in se asia) except a tiny GNC in bangkok. and this ordeal involved waiting over a month and then basically having to bribe a customs guy to get my vitamins who assumed Im selling them! thanks a lot in advance! Also any advice on seoul vs busan would help. I was in seoul briefly just for a long whole day layover back from vietnam, so I have some idea of seoul.
Thanks again.

[sadguy]

i've ordered from iherb several times with no problems whatsoever. stuff usually comes in 4-5 days. companies that offer to ship to a certain location have clearances for the stuff they sell, APPARENTLY. that's what i was told when i bought sex toys from an online website. i asked "won't customs hold this stuff back?" and he said that in order for a website to be able to put a country in their options thing, they have to have had prior clearance from that countries customs laws.

[isisaredead]

do you HAVE to use iherb? i'm about to go get my multivitamins from the chemist here, and as someone who ALWAYS used vitamins, i've found them to be fine here, and reasonably priced.

as to the banking thing - well, that's pretty simple:

1. you'll almost always open a korean bank account so that your boss can deposit your pay into it.

2. do an international transfer whenever you need to back to your account at home (i tend to do it around every four-to-six months, to save on fees etc)

it's that simple. i do know of foreigners who do other things, like get two international debit cards linked to their account, and give one to their parents back home. then they get their parents to withdraw X amount of dollars each month, and deposit it there.

honestly, though, if you send money home as infrequently as i do, it's really not a hassle to go in to the bank and get the transfer happenin'.

[garagebeat66]

Thanks for the reply guys sounds great. Cant wait to get there!

[garagebeat66]

Im still wondering though about the details, surely a tourist just cant open a bank account. To open a korean account what do you specifically need? At least a work visa?

[Sticks]

You can open an account on a tourist visa, some banks let you do so however all they'll give you is a limited checking/savings account, bankcard and checkcard only. For anything else you'll need a non-tourist visa.

[isisaredead]

[garagebeat66]

Yes Im coming to teach. Just not positive I want to work for a school yet. Maybe Ill do privates, not sure yet. I was just wondering how it works thats all. Thanks for the info guys.

[winterfall]

Iherb, for vitamins??? I get my multi-vitamins from costco. 20,000 for a huge bottle with like 400 pills. If I'm too lazy to walk there, I'll order from a reseller on gmarket for an extra 2,000 to 5,000. Considering 1 bottle's enough for the year, that's not much of a markup . They also sell other basic supplements like Fish Oil. I don't know how much or what your taking.

[sadguy]

[Skippy]

I-herb is great here. Korea is one of their big markets. The shipping here is fast and CHEAP. Most packages will get here in a about a week from order usually less. I Have ordered on Tuesday and had it in my hands by Saturday. Yep Saturday. I-Herb ships out from LA via a Korean shipping company also based in LA. The shipping price is under 10 dollars which includes a customs fee. You just have to keep it under six items. The prices are better then most Korea stores counting Costco. Plus more choice.

If anybody wants to order from them and save 5 bucks on your first order PM me for a coupon code.

As to bank. Well Korean banks overall are stable. Some people save their money for a while then do a transfer to overseas. Some do it every month. Not all easy but very doable. You will very likely have to go to the bank in person one time with all relevant info of your other bank. It can take some time and that with the limited language skills. But most banks once you have done it once then it can be done quicker the next time and even thru the Internet. As to fees and that it varies to bank to foreign bank. But as people commented I am pretty sure you will need an ARC card first to send money overseas.

[winterfall]