Tips for Working and Travelling in South Korea

Travelling to Korea

You must have a visa to travel to Korea if you are a citizen of the United States of America. However, if you are Canadian, you can stay in Korea for up to six months without a visa, provided that you have a round-trip ticket and get an immigration card within 90 days of arriving in country if you are to stay beyond 90 days. Citizens of all countries must have this immigration card to stay more than 90 days at a time within South Korea, including Cheju Island (a big tourist hotspot).

I recommend that you see Ita'ewon in Seoul (a big shopping district), and go to several Buddhist temples. Another thing to do is get to a traditional Korean village, set up in the time of the Chosun Dynasty. If you're looking to get things custom made, I would head over to Songt'an in Osan City/Pyongtaek City. This is a huge shopping district just outside of Osan Air Base, a US military AFB. There, you can get shoes, boots, suits, etc. custom made within a week for very little. Many of the merchants there also take US dollars, though you should be aware of the exchange rates, and convert some of your dollars to KRW (Korean Won) when you want to go to some of the various nightclubs. Using dollars at a nightclub will cheat you of quite a bit of money. The barkeepers usually say $1=W1000, when really $1=W1250. Places to convert money is found very easily all across Songt'an, though you should not try to convert won to dollars. They give a terrible exchange rate when that's done!

As I understand, Pusan isn't as incredible a city as it's made out to be, though it's a short boatride from there to Cheju Island, Korea's biggest tourist hotspot for both foreigners and nationals alike.

Hopefully I will soon have more up on Korea!
Thanks!
Elisa

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