Korean Job Discussion Forums

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

I will be buying a phone and service for a phone soon. Please give me all your stories about each company. Also, how much are you paying for domestic and international calls? Are their peak times? One of the numbers I will be calling most often is a Korean toll free for an international calling card. Will I be charged for this call? I don't know anything about the cell phone system in Korea, so any info is appreciated! Thanks

fidel · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Location: North Shore NZ

Don't worry, mobile calls are cheap. I have no idea about how much they cost per minute I just use it to my hearts content and get a bill for around 25-50 thou every month. Chump change.

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

Do you have any suggestions about which company to go with? I live in Busan if that matters for coverage.
Also, how much exactly is "to your heart's content"?

fidel · Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Location: North Shore NZ

I chat away to friends for hours and hours a month and pay what I stated. I'm partial to KTF, but go with whatever one is offering the best deals at the time. IMHO steer clear of LG as their coverage isn't as good as the big two.

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

Just rest assured that a cellphone in Korea will work well and be affordable.

The only thing that's expensive is buying the actual phone itself. The mainstream models are between 400,000 and 600,000. A rip-off in my mind.

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

Right now, a lot of the cell phone models are on sale because they're coming out with new ones. I just picked up a nice Samsung phone on Saturday that retailed at about 300,000 won for 150,000.

The trick is finding a place that will give that price to a foreigner... most won't if you're on any kind of E visa (visas starting with 'F' garner a bit more respect Rolling Eyes

). I'm on an E-7 and the only place that didn't blow me off was the kiosk at HomePlus. Not only did they give me the sale price, but the lady called all over Korea to find the model I wanted for KTF (they only had one for LG). One caveat: I have a Korean credit card. Without one, I think you're relegated to pre-pay which costs more than 2x as much.

As for service, yeah, it'll work just about everywhere. Supposedly SK has the biggest network, followed by KTF with LG in 3rd. I think that only really matters if you're up in the mountains or really in the boonies. In Busan you shouldn't have any trouble at all.

The same ranking applies to prices: SK is the highest and LG the lowest. I'm with KTF and I pay 13,000 for basic service, plus 1,000 for caller ID. Calls are 15 won per 10 seconds. I don't know about text messaging & such. For international calls, I use a calling card and my landline. I know there are different plans where you pay a bit more and get minutes included, but the communication gap kept me from getting specifics on Saturday. I'll go back with a K-friend & change my plan later.

Ekuboko · Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Location: ex-Gyeonggi

krats1976 · Joined: 14 May 2003

Hyeon Een · Joined: 24 Jun 2005

pdxsteve · Joined: 29 Sep 2004 Location: Bundang

I have a contract (not pre-paid or card phone) with LG Telecom and I've never had a problem with the service or coverage. All you need is your ARC, passport and bank account information. No Korean credit card needed. You pay a 30,000 activation fee (spread out over the first 3 bills). No deposit required. I went to an LG store at Suwon station and I got a great deal on the LG-LP3450 phone. 1.3 MP camera, MP3 player, GPS, mobile banking chip, and 256 MB memory card for 225,000.