Hi, I’m Seho Kim. I live in Seoul, and I write KoreaKeys.
Korea is an easy country to love and a surprisingly tricky one to set up. Google Maps won’t give you walking directions. Apps ask for a Korean phone number. Your card works at one shop and gets declined at the next. None of this is hard once you know how it works, but the answers are scattered across Korean-language government pages, app help centers, and forum threads that went out of date years ago.
KoreaKeys puts those answers in one place, in plain English.
How I write these guides
- Official sources first. Prices, rules, and dates come from government sites, transit operators, and the companies themselves. Each guide lists its sources at the bottom.
- Korean-language sources too. Many changes are announced only in Korean first. I read those so you don’t have to.
- Dated and updated. Every guide says when it was last checked. When something changes, I update the guide.
- Honest about gaps. If official sources disagree or don’t say, I tell you that instead of guessing.
How this site makes money
Some guides include affiliate links, for example to Klook, Airalo, or Trip.com. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. These links are always marked, and they never decide what I recommend. If the free or official option is better, I’ll say so.
Start here
- Korea e-Arrival Card: how to apply and who is exempt
- Korea eSIM guide: which network are you really buying?
- Naver Map in English: why Google Maps fails in Korea
- No Korean phone number? How to book, ride, and order
Contact
Spotted something out of date? Rules in Korea change often, and I’d rather fix a guide than leave it wrong. Email me at hello@koreakeys.com.