Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nightrider_1981]

Hi
Looking to get some new glasses, is there a "Yongsan" paradise for cheap eyewear?

I'm based in Ansan, so near there would be perfect.

Ta.

[jajdude]

50,000 should be enough

That's what I paid in Itaewon last time - Aug 2005.

[Rteacher]

Nandaemun market (line 4, Hoehyeon station, 425) has the reputation for being one of the best places for getting glasses. Many Japanese and other Asians make it a point to buy their eyewear there. They have many opticians - I used a place that had a big selection and seemed the busiest ...

[dogshed]

This is no help to the OP but if someone else is looking for a place in Wonju.
I know a great place near Emart.

East of Emart there is a walking
bridge over the road where bus 90 turns the corner near the end of the line.
(If you miss the corner like I did then the bus will turn around.)
Walk north to the corner with the Family Mart. The eyeglass place is across the street from the family mart and a little to the East.
Bus 34 goes right in front of the place but I'm not sure if there are other Family Marts on that route.

They had frames I like for a very low price. That could just mean that I prefer the cheap styles they had.

[Yaya]

Eye stores around universities are pretty cheap, but you get what you pay for.

[pdx]

I got just a pair in a shop in Namdaemun. I had my prescription and they used that. I have really bad eyes, a thick prescription, and asked them to make thinner lenses. I got them back and they were thinner, but not quite as thin as my glasses from America, BUT they were cheaper than America, so I'm not going to complain. It was 30 for the frames (on sale) and 70 for the lenses.

I think I'm going to go back before I leave Korea and get some prescription sunglasses.

[dogshed]

[Harpeau]

Go to a good optometrist/opthamologist. (There is a really good one at Seokye Station Line 1.) Get an accurate prescription. (The fools in the eye glass shops who have you focus on the little house in the "binoculars" don't know what they're doing.)

What I did the other day was I was at one of the Beautiful Stores in town. I saw some really nice frames. Paid 3,000 won for them. Went over to the glasses shop at my uni. They took my usual glasses, copied the prescription, popped out the lenses in the new ones I bought, and I only paid 30,000 won for the lenses. Total 33,000 won! Very nice!!

Don't go to Shitaewon, because they give you complimentary kleenex for when they make you pay through the fracking nose!!!


Best of luck!