Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hopeful_Traveler]

I will hopefully be in South Korea by the end of the year, and I have to decide where I'd like to live. I was wondering if anyone knows where to find info about the different cities? Is there a website out there that compares and contrasts living and working in the major cities in South Korea?

Any advice (or recommendations) would be greatly appreciated. I don't think I want to live in a Seoul-sized city, nor do I want to live in a small town. Somewhere in between (there's a lot of in between, I know) would be nice.
Right now I am thinking that I would like to live about an hour away from Seoul, possibly in Incheon.

I know this is a really broad question but any help/advice would be great. Thanks!

[peppermint]

Incheon is big and urban like Seoul, and friends of mine who've lived there say the only good thing in Incheon is the airport. Come to think of it, just about everything within an hour of Seoul is suburban sprawl really.

A good guideline for guessing how big a city in Korea will feel is to drop a zero off of the population, for example: if a city has a population of 130,000, it will feel more like 13,000.

[bucheon bum]

incheon has all the things that are unpleasant about seoul but none of its good things, you don't want to go there.

Daejon maybe? Daegu? Busan? All large cities where you won't get totally bored. I think Peppermint's theory is good (drop a zero).

I was in wonju, a city of 250,000, my first year. If it weren't 90 minutes from Seoul, I think I would have gone nuts my last 6 months there. Both Wonju and Chuncheon are nice like that: quiet cities with countryside right there, but Seoul being fairly close.

[Rather_Dashing]

Busan is the best overall pick, I hear.

[justagirl]

Look up Cheonan on the search function. I always recommend it--36 minutes to Seoul via KTX (bullet train), less pollution, hiking trails, E-Mart/CarreFour/Lotte Mart, 8-plex movie theatre, biggest sitting Buddah in Korea (maybe in Asia, too?), bit more quiet, but central location, with lots of trains/busses to take you anywhere you'd like to go. Definitely not the hustle/crowded city that Seoul is (thank goodness.)

[goombs]

Is anybody in Ulsan? What do you think of it there? From what I have read on this board it seems like it would be an okay place to be...

[Hopeful_Traveler]

Thanks to all of you who have responded so far! I really look forward to hearing from more of you guys. This info will be invaluable.

[chronicpride]