Before You Book

PREPARING TO GO TO SOUTH KOREA

 

CAPITAL

Seoul

LANGUAGE

Korean (Hangul) is the official language of S. Korea.

LOCAL TIME

Korea Standard Time (KST) or also known to some as Seoul Time – It is 9 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+09:00): i.e., when it is midnight (00:00) UTC, it is 9 am (09:00) Korea Standard Time

ELECTRICITY

220 volts (and 60 Hertz, or cycles), and the outlet has two round holes. If you do not have a multi-voltage travel adapter, you can borrow one from your hotel's front desk for free of charge (however, some establishment may request a minimal fee as deposit, covering for possible loss)

PASSPORT & VISA

A valid passport is required by all nationals. All Passengers are responsible for securing proper documentation prior to joining the tour. Please ensure that passport/s are valid for a minimum of 6 months beyond the intended date of return and contain between 2-6 blank “Visa” pages. You should have at least two free pages in your passport. Please access the Travel & Visa Requirements Section on the top of this page for the latest visa entry requirements for the country/ies you are visiting. Passports are required; in addition, travelers are also advised to check with local consulates for full details regarding visa requirements. Please note securing a valid visa for entry is the sole responsibility of the traveler.

LOCAL CURRENCY

Won (KRW; symbol ₩). Notes are in denominations of ₩50,000, ₩10,000, ₩5,000 and ₩1,000. Chon means 'one thousand'. Coins are in denominations of ₩500, ₩100, ₩50, and ₩10.

XE.com is a useful site for currency conversion.

MONEY EXCHANGE, CREDIT CARD & ATM

American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted at major hotels, shops, and restaurants in the larger cities. You may not be able use credit cards at small businesses and in rural areas. You may also want to check whether your credit card is accepted by looking at door signs before you enter an establishment. ATMs are available in all major cities, but not all of them will accept international cards. Just keep trying different outlets until you see a logo you recognize on the machine. Cards with the Plus and Cirrus logos are the easiest to use and most widely accepted in Korea.

ATM: 

ATMs are available in all major cities, but not all of them will accept international cards. KB (Kook-Min) bank is one of the most reliable for foreign cards. Many of the ATMs in Seoul subways accept foreign cards as well.

Banking hours: 

Weekdays: 09:00 – 16:00

Weekends and Public Holidays: Closed

CLOTHING

Korea has four distinct seasons: spring (March-May), summer (June-August), fall (September-November), and winter (December-February). The changing of seasons also means changing of attires. With temperatures varying greatly by season, it is important to dress for the weather. Here are the essential items for each season.

Spring: Average temperatures in spring range between 7.1℃ and 17.8℃. The weather remains chilly in March due to the last cold snaps but begins warming up at the end of the month. Still, even in April and May, temperatures may drop after sunset. Therefore, a light outerwear is essential in spring. Popular spring fashion items include cardigans, scarves, hats, and sunglasses.

Summer is the hottest season. Receiving most of the annual rainfall, it is also the wettest season. In fact, summer begins with the rainy season called ‘jangma’, which generally lasts from mid-June until the end of July. During jangma, umbrellas and raincoats are essential.  After jangma, the weather begins heating up, with temperatures rising to between 35℃ and 40℃ during daytime (depends on the region). Light clothing, often made with “cooling” fabric, becomes essential for preventing overheating. Popular summer fashion items include light and/or short pants, short-sleeved or sleeveless shirts, hats, and sunglasses. Applying sunscreen is also highly recommended.

Fall: Humidity subsides and cold snaps return. As in late-May, the weather in early September is warm. Then, it turns colder and drier starting late-September, contributing to the changing of colors of leaves throughout October. An outerwear is essential in fall. Popular fall fashion items include trench coats in early to mid-fall, and jackets in mid- to late-fall.

Winter is the coldest season. The northern region, largely comprised of Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do Provinces as well as Seoul and Incheon Metropolitan Cities, is generally colder than the southern region including Busan Metropolitan City and Jeju Island. After a cold wave passes through the Korean Peninsula, the ‘sam-han-sa-on’, the unique climate pattern of three cold days and four warmer days, repeats. Warm clothing is essential in winter. Popular winter fashion items include winter coats, sweaters, scarves, shawls, beanies, gloves, and boots. Naebok or thermal underwear produced with lighter fabric and in trendy design is also worn a lot.

COMMUNICATION

Telephone

As the distribution of cell phones, smart phones and related mobile gears increases in Korea, public phone booths are rarely seen on streets and public facilities today. However, there are still some public phone booths at popular sites, bus stops, and subway stations. Korean public phones generally provide local and international call services alike with payment by coins or phone cards. Telephone cards can usually be purchased at convenience stands or stores near the telephone booths, and the remaining balance cannot be exchanged for cash. Most of these cards are valid for a period up to three years; however, some may have different validity period so make sure to double check the information before making a purchase.

Mobile phone

As soon as visitors arrive at Korea's major airports, including Incheon, Gimpo, Gimhae and Jeju international airports, you can proceed to 'roaming center' desks and get your mobile devices connected immediately with local network service provider after a simple registration.

Korea’s representative roaming service carriers:

Kt Roaming Center

Website: roaming.kt.com (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)

SK TELECOM Roaming Center

Website: www.sktroaming.com (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)

LG U+ Roaming Center

Website: www.uplus.co.kr (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)

Internet

Internet service is often provided in public places such as airports, train stations, and bus terminals in Korea. PC rooms and internet cafes are also great places to go for and they are mostly 24 hours in operation. In addition, many of popular tourist sites are equipped with free Wi-Fi connections as well help international visitors to stay connected with friends and families back at home.

Post

Finding a mailbox today is a bit more difficult because of the Internet revolution. If you cannot find a mailbox, you can ask your hotel front desk to put your letters or postcards in the mail or you can go directly to a nearby post office. Visit Korea Post for more details on post office locations, parcel services, purchasable items (stamps, postcards, and letters for souvenirs) and more.

Post office hours: 

Weekdays: 09:00 – 18:00

Public Holidays: Closed

FOOD
Korea was once a primarily agricultural nation, and since ancient times rice has been cultivated as Koreans' staple food. These days Korean cuisine also contains a large variety of meat and fish dishes along with wild greens and vegetables. Various preserved food, such as kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage), jeotgal (seafood fermented in salt) and doenjang (fermented soybean paste) are particularly popular due to their distinctive flavor and high nutritional value. 

In Korean cuisine all the dishes are served at the same time.  A typical meal normally includes rice, soup, and several side dishes, the number of which vary. Traditionally, lower classes had three side dishes, while royal families would have twelve.

Food is a very important part of Korea culture, and Koreans pay great attention to the way in which food is served.

Things to know:

In Korea, like in neighboring China and Japan, people eat with chopsticks. However, a spoon is used more often in Korea, especially when soups are served.  Formal rules have developed for table setting, which can vary depending on whether a noodle or meat dish is served.  

Specialties: 

• Kimchi: Vegetables (usually cabbage, white radish, or cucumber) commonly fermented in a brine of ginger, garlic, green onion and chilli pepper. There are endless varieties, and it is served as a side dish or cooked into soups and rice dishes. Koreans traditionally make enough kimchi to last for the entire winter season, although with refrigerators and commercial bottled kimchi this practice has become less common. Kimchi that is readily made is called Gutjaree and the one that is fermented for a long time and has more sour taste is called Shin-Kimchi. Moreover, different regions of Korea make Kimchi in different ways with different kinds of ingredients. For instance, the lower southern part tends to make it taste saltier to preserve it longer. Some of the extra ingredients they use include squids, oysters and various other raw seafoods. Kimchi is often cited for its health benefits and has been included in Health magazine's "World's Healthiest Foods". Nonetheless, some research has found nitrate and salt levels in Kimchi to be possible risk factors to gastric cancer although shellfish and fruit consumption were found to be protective factors to gastric cancer. Interestingly research has also found kimchi to be a preventive factor to stomach cancer.
  • Ggakdugi, radish kimchi
  • Baek kimchi, kimchi made without chili pepper
  • Mulkimchi, literally water kimchi
    • Nabak kimchi,
    • Dongchimi
  • Oisobakki, cucumber kimchi
  • Chonggak kimchi, kimchi made with ponytail radish
• Bibimbap:  A dish made by mixing rice with various other cooked vegetables. Great for experiencing different vegetables, pleasing to the eye, and full of nutrients. Jeonju's variation of bibimbap is most famous.
• Bulgogi: Thinly sliced or shredded beef marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sugar, scallions, and black pepper, cooked on a grill (sometimes at the table). Bulgogi literally means "fire meat." Variations include pork (dwaeji bulgogi), chicken (dak bulgogi), or squid (ojingeo bulgogi).
• Galbi: Pork or beef ribs, cooked on a metal plate over charcoal in the centre of the table. The meat is sliced thicker than bulgogi. It is often called "Korean barbecue" along with bulgogi and can be seasoned or unseasoned.
• Dak galbi: Stir-fry marinated diced chicken in a gochujang based sauce, and sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions and tteok.
• Samgyeopsal: Unseasoned pork belly, served in the same fashion as galbi. Sometimes cooked on a grill with kimchi together at either side. Commonly grilled with garlic and onions, dipped in sesame oil and salt mixture and wrapped with ssamjang in lettuce.
• Galbijjim: Made by braising marinated galbi (beef short rib) with diced potato and carrots in ganjang sauce
• Andong jjimdak: Made by steaming chicken with vegetables and cellophane noodles in ganjang sauce.
• Agujjim: Made by braising angler (agui) and mideodeok (styela clava), and kongnamul (soybean sprouts)
• Jeonbokjjim: Made with abalone marinated in a mixture of ganjang (Korean soy sauce) and cheongju (rice wine)
• Sannakji or live octopus: Sannakji is served live and still moving on the plate.
• Naengmyeon (cold noodles): This dish (or originally winter dish) consists of several varieties of thin, hand-made buckwheat noodles, and is served in a large bowl with a tangy iced broth, raw julienned vegetables and fruit, and often a boiled egg and cold cooked beef. This is also called Mul ("water") Naengmyeon, to distinguish Bibim Naengmyeon, which has no broth and is mixed with gochujang.
• Japchae: Boiled dangmyeon or potato noodles, steamed spinach, roasted julienned beef, roasted sliced onion, roasted julienned carrots are mixed with seasoning made of soy sauce, sesame oil and half-refined sugar.
• Jajangmyeon: A variation on a Chinese noodle dish that is extremely popular in Korea. It is made with a black bean sauce, usually with some sort of meat and a variety of vegetables including zucchini and potatoes. Usually ordered and delivered, like pizza.
• Kalguksu: Boiled flat noodles, usually in a broth made of anchovies and sliced zucchini.
• Makguksu: Buckwheat noodles served in a chilled broth^[1]
• Bibim guksu: Stirred noodles in a hot and spicy sauce
• Janchi guksu: A light seaweed broth based noodle soup served with fresh condiments, usually kimchi, thinly sliced egg, green onions, and cucumbers.
• Jeon, also called buchimgae, is a Korean pancake like dish. Fermented kimchi (kimchijeon) or seafood (haemul pajeon) is mixed into a flour-based batter, and then fried in an oiled pan. This dish tastes best when it is dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, and chili pepper powder.
• Tteok: A chewy cake made from either pounded short-grain rice (metteok), pounded glutinous rice (chaltteok), or glutinous rice left whole, without pounding (yaksik). It is served either cold (filled or covered with sweetened mung bean paste, red-bean paste, raisins, a sweetened filling made with sesame seeds, mashed red beans, sweet pumpkin, beans, dates, pine nuts, and/or honey), usually served as dessert or snack. Sometimes cooked with thinly sliced beef, onions, oyster mushrooms, etc. to be served as a light meal.

MEALS

Approximate costs for meals and snacks not included are shown below:

• Simple snack - US$5
• Simple breakfast - US$6
• Lunchtime set meal - US$6-8
• Evening restaurant (dinner) - US$15+

Regional drinks:

• Makgeolli - Korean rice wine
• Soju – Korean traditional strong liquor made from rice and wheat
• Insam cha - Korean ginseng tea
• Saenggang cha - Tea made from ginger root.
• Sujeonggwa - dried persimmon punch
• Sikhye - sweet rice beverage
• Yujacha - citron tea
• Bori cha - roasted barley tea
• Oksusu cha- roasted corn tea
• Hyeonmi cha - roasted brown rice tea
• Sungnyung- beverage made from the remainder of cooked, boiled, scorched rice removed from the cooking pot, mixed with water and boiled into a soup.
• Yulmucha - Job's tears tea
• Gyeolmyeongja cha - made from roasted Senna obtusifolia seeds

TIPPING

Tips are never expected. In some upmarket places, a 10 to 15% service charge will be added to the bill. In some bars, there may be a table or "charm" charge too, which can be quite steep; it's best to enquire in advance if you're in any doubt.

Social conventions:

Korean manners and customs are vastly different from those of Western people. A strict code of behaviour and politeness is recognized and followed by almost everyone. However, Koreans do not expect visitors to be familiar with all their customs but do expect them to behave formally and politely.

WEATHER & CLIMATE

Seoul: (approx)

HEALTH & MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS & GUIDELINES

As a general recommendation, it is advisable to check with your family doctor or travel clinic for latest health information.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

It is highly recommended that you purchase travel insurance from your travel agent. Health plans only provide limited coverage while traveling outside of the country. Indus Travels can offer you a complete travel insurance package. Some credit cards do offer travel insurance; however, they do not always provide adequate coverage. Review and understand the terms of your credit card insurance policy. Extra travel insurance can be purchased.