South Korea Travel Guide

Nationals of 112 countries and territories can enter South Korea without a visa. While these visa-free nationals are supposed to apply for a Korea Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA), 67 of these countries including EU, US, UK, Australia etc have been "temporarily" exempted until December 2026. To find out if you're exempted, try to apply for a K-ETA, and you'll get a popup informing you if you are.

The currency of South Korea is the South Korean won, denoted by ₩ (ISO code: KRW) and written 원 (won) in the Korean language. Bills come in denominations of ₩1,000 (blue), ₩5,000 (red), ₩10,000 (green) and ₩50,000 (yellow). The ₩50,000 is very practical if you need to carry around a reasonable amount of cash, however it can be hard to use on goods or services with a value of less than ₩10,000. The ₩50,000 can be hard to find and often only provided by ATM's that display a picture of the yellow note on the outside.

South Korea is fairly compact, and you can get almost anywhere very fast by train. The exception to this is Jeju; the Seoul-Jeju route being the busiest air route in the world. Subways are present in six cities, including metropolitan Seoul. Travel by bus or taxi is readily available, although bus services are far more economical.

South Koreans speak Korean, and knowing a few words of this will come in very handy. The language is rather drastically different from any Western language in its grammar, and pronunciation is rather difficult for the English speaker to get right (though not tonal). Depending on which part of the country you go to, different dialects are spoken, though standard Korean, which is based on the Seoul dialect, is understood and spoken by almost everyone. Most notably among the dialects, the Gyeongsan…

Crime

South Korea is a very safe country, with crime rates much lower than in the U.S. and most European Union countries. Crime rates are comparable to other safe places such as Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, and it is generally safe for women to walk around the streets alone at night. For the most part, the only foreigners who encounter trouble in South Korea are drunken ones that provoke fights at bars or nightclubs.

South Korean healthcare is known for its excellence in both research and clinical medicine, and most towns will be able to offer a high quality of healthcare. The sheer number of hospitals and specialized clinics in the country will also offer you a greater amount of choice. Healthcare is subsidized by the government and is relatively cheap compared to most western countries. Expatriate workers who have the required medical insurance card will experience further discounts. South Korea also promotes medical tourism where quality operations can be had for a fraction of the price of many other de…

By phone

For calls to South Korea, the country code is +82. International dialing prefixes in South Korea vary by operator. Google Maps navigation does not work well here. Use Naver Map or KakaoMap for accurate walking and driving directions.

Coming from a land of strict Confucian hierarchy and etiquette, Koreans are regarded as reserved and well-mannered. As a visitor, you will not be expected to know every nuance, but making an effort will certainly be appreciated. The further you are away from metropolitan areas the more conservative the people are. Nevertheless, most South Koreans are welcoming towards foreign tourists, and as long as you show a modicum of respect towards their culture, will do their best to make your visit a pleasant one. American visitors can expect a particularly warm welcome, as most South Koreans admire Am…