Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Meggiebea]

Just wondering, when you move into a new apartment in Korea do you change the locks right away to keep the building manager, school director etc out of the apartment, or do you just leave it?
Is it legal to change the locks?
The school is supplying my with an apartment, can I change the locks?

[ChopChaeJoe]

Great. Another thing to be paranoid about.

[JongnoGuru]

[numazawa]

I always wanted to ask the mods that question.

[Ya-ta Boy]

I've never changed a lock, although I had to have the lock man come a couple of times and tighten it up. And once, just a couple of weeks ago, I had to have someone come and thaw out my lock.

[VirginIslander]

I changed my locks. Not a result of paranoia just stupidity: I locked myself out and a locksmith swindled me into changing the entire lock. Of course now I am the only one with keys to my apartment, and since I am without a cell phone, my school cant contact me on sick days. Hah Hah Hah

[Cerebroden]

just get a dog. My landlord has keys to my villa but still won't enter without me there.

[MollyBloom]

My shady neighbor came by to ask if we had a hair dryer because "her dog got into some shampoo." She looked past my boyfriend into our apt, and was checking it out, swaying from side-to-side.

She also fights with her boyfriend at least once a week. And, there are always cat fights, which display the most indecent and horrendous shrill screams I have ever heard in my life.

I don't understand her shampoo claim, but I want to change the code on my door because she scares me. And the cats might grow human legs and hands and break into my building and kill me in the middle of the night.

[Qinella]

I changed the access code. A lot of people in my building have additional locks that have been added to their doors.

If the tenant before you still lives in Korea, I don't think it's paranoid at all to change the locks. I'd say it's stupid not to. There's no reason to assume the person hasn't made a copy of your key and will rob you blind while you are at work one day. Hell, I just gave myself an idea..

[JongnoGuru]

GURU's HOME-SAFETY ROOLZ 4 NOOBZ

1. It may seem like a good idea, but be very, very careful about having the locks replaced when you move in. First, it's a lot of bother and it can be expensive. Second and most importantly, it needlessly risks creating a feeling of suspicion, mistrust and animosity between you and your new landlord. It may be "read" as an accusation by you, and your landlord could lose face to the point of wanting to "prove you right", so to speak. And if that happens, ain't no lock been made can keep him from knocking you over.

2. If for some reason you absolutely must replace the lock, be sure to tell your landlord and provide him a spare key as soon as the new lock is installed. Obey the law.

3. Whether you replace the locks or not, inform your landlord of your work schedule so he'll know to keep an eye out for vagrants and slicky-boys while you're at work.

4. Keep all valuables in your home, and that includes your money. Normally banks are the safest place for your money, but if you'd been here during the IMF crisis, you'd know that Korean banks go bust all the time. Have you any idea how many simply disappeared from the landscape? I bet you don't. Anyway, a lot of trusting fools lost everything. You do not want to be in their numbers.

5. Where in the home, specifically, should you keep your money and valuables? You might think some clever, tricky, hard-to-find place is best. And of course you'd be wrong. First, it might be so clever that you forget where it is. Second, as your landlord is looking out for your interests here, it's best to keep everything right out in plain view. That way he knows it hasn't been stolen and doesn't need to call the police. So I'd recommend a little basket on the dining table or the coffee table.

[Qinella]