South Korea & iPhones -- Yes or No?

May 14, 2009 9:26 PM

South Korea and iPhones. Are they a good mix? Can I use them or buy them there?

I'm moving to South Korea soon, and I don't want to invest in an iPhone if it will be useless there. I've Goggled it extensively and found lots of contradictory information. Does anyone know the true story?

posted by Chasuk to Travel & Transportation around South Korea (8 answers total)

Nope.

They're coming out here in July or August, according to Apple Korea.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 9:44 PM on May 14, 2009

Don't buy it; it will be useless. South Korea uses a different kind of network, so you'll need to buy a phone here. The phones are better, though.
posted by smorange at 9:44 PM on May 14, 2009

To be specific, South Korea has CDMA, the iPhone is GSM.
posted by TimeDoctor at 10:32 PM on May 14, 2009

Joseph and smorange are right, it won't work. There are definitely moves afoot to make it available, but the release date keeps slipping in what might be a deliberate tactic on one side or another to ensure the best possible result to negotiations.

Sure, it might come out in July, but there might be a three month or six month or one year delay or there might be some annoying way in which the phone is crippled. I'd suggest you only buy an iPhone to use in Korea a month after the first report comes out of a genuine customer buying and operating one.

If you want more details about the background, this blog post describes the method in which the iPhone was blocked and there's an interesting forum post here.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 10:46 PM on May 14, 2009

That blog post is a bit selective in its dispersal of information. It's true that cell phones in Korea are expensive. However, I don't pay for incoming calls--let alone text messages--and my Korean phone comes with free, unlimited TV/radio. Korean phones are just better than ones available elsewhere.

Also, it's worth mentioning that bringing a foreign cell phone into Korea wouldn't be the best idea if you planned to do any texting in Korean (which I, personally, do a lot) or if you wanted to have a Korean-English dictionary on your phone (which I also use a lot).
posted by smorange at 5:16 AM on May 15, 2009

smorange: Yeah, Brandon does have a bit of an axe to grind, but in general it's a decent description of the background of the situation. It's certainly true that you don't pay for incoming calls and texts in Korea, but you don't pay for them in many (any?) European countries either. It's just a weird North American thing, as far as I know.

Not sure if TV & radio is free; my phone has the facility to receive it, but I don't get it because I don't have the right subscription, so perhaps it's hidden within the monthly tariff. But I agree on the usefulness of Korea-specific features and the coolness of Korean phones in general.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 7:14 AM on May 15, 2009

I have two phones, and one doesn't have a subscription (or prepaid plan) at all. I don't pay anything for that phone, and I don't use it, but it still gets TV/radio for free. I don't know why your phone isn't letting you use those services, but it should be.
posted by smorange at 4:58 PM on May 15, 2009

How curious; maybe I was misinformed. I'll check it out; thanks!
posted by Busy Old Fool at 8:47 PM on May 15, 2009