Korean Job Discussion Forums

[inthewild]

I was thinking of getting one and couldn't find an appropriate old thread. Was it a hassle if you don't know any Korean? I assume it'd be easy to keep the cost under W40,000 / month.

Any input appreciated.

[Wangja]

Not a teacher so not allowed to vote:

But, I have had one for 5 years, always the same number, always in my own name and I had no Korean person with me when I got it.

My bills usually are below 40,000 KRW.

But they are more when I roam in Europe or USA. Getting the free SIM card from KTF at the airport and clipping that into a spare GSM phone (tri-band if you go to US) is very useful and not expensive. In fact it is cheaper than my UK company (02) charges for my UK cell phone to roam here in Korea.

[hogwonguy1979]

easy for me LG Telecom is nice to waygooks only 30K activation fee, no Korean cosigner needed, new phone cost me 180k

friend went through one of the others cost her 200k for deposit no cosigner either, she had an old phone

I don't use mine much my bill runs around 30k/month but it is needed in Seoul especially

[inthewild]

How do I remove my stupid poll?

Anyways, so the point is I should be able to get a used phone for under W125,000, activation under 50,000 and monthly bills under 40,000?

If I took the phone with my back to the States to use for a couple months I'm guessing the cost of making calls there would be prohibitive and/or wouldn't work?

[Wangja]

[burnin rubber]

I have a prepaid service that only costs 10,000 won for 30 minutes. Being that I'm not the social butterfly and I don't use it that much, 20,000 won will last me for a month and a half. Basically when I communicate I use text messages, then make the phone calls from my school phone. As I understand, you don't need a Korean co-signer for the prepaid service.

[peppermint]

if you compare the per minute rate, it's much more expensive to use the prepaid system though

[hypnotist]

I have one, but given I'm over here to make them that's hardly surprising

[kangnamdragon]

I could not live without my cell phone. I even use it to call the States... 003651-xxx-xxxx

[tzechuk]

[OiGirl]

[peemil]

Cell phones are tools of the devil. I don't use them or own one.

[Koreabound2004]

Wow, I am shocked at the number of folks who do....

I don't b/c:

They seem ridiculously expensive to buy here.

Don't want to go through all the trouble to get one and get rid of one.

And most importantly, I don't want to make myself available to unwanted calls from K-coworkers. They call me enough on regular phone, at ridiculous hours, to say ridiculous things. Cellphones invite trouble in my books.

And I am not here to create a huge foreign friend ring...not quite a social butterfly, if you catch my drift.

[manlyboy]

I always avoided them because I liked the freedom of being disconnected from the workplace and what not when I'm outside the house. Then, I got married. That was the end of "the freedom of being disconnected". Now, I get calls from work on Saturday mornings, I have to cancel plans when friends and family call up asking for favours, and I get at least a couple of wrong numbers at inopportune moments each week. I definitely wouldn't miss the damn thing very much.

[kangnamdragon]