How do I get a prepaid phone in Seoul?

February 8, 2009 6:43 AM

How do I get a pay as you go cell phone in Seoul?

The excruciatingly long 8 weeks of between arriving in Seoul and getting my first paycheck have finally come to end, and that means one thing: I can finally stop being a hermit and get a cell phone. Of course, speaking no Korean, I haven't the first idea how to do actually do this. But, shockingly enough, my hagwon is being less than helpful. They're telling me to ask another teacher how to get one...who in turn is telling me to ask the school director for help. So, rather than being resigned to being stuck in a Beckett play, I've decided to ask the hive mind.

From what I've been able to gather on the ever reliable net, getting a monthly plan is too expensive, too much of a hassle, and not really possible without a korean friend, a commodity of which I'm still lacking in. So the pay as you go plan seems the way to go...but how do I do it? Is it something I can do by myself? Where do I do it? Do i buy a phone first, and then go to a phone store to a buy a card or whatever? So confused....

I'm in Seocho and work from 1 to 930...I get out at 630 on Wednesdays, if any of that makes a difference. I'd like to get one before the weekend...Thanks for any help you can give!

posted by MostHolyPorcine to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

It used to be the case that getting a contract phone in Korea required a local to sign the paperwork, but that appears to have changed in the past couple of years. A newly-arrived colleague in my workplace certainly achieved it recently, but I don't know the details.

In the meantime and, much as I hate to link to the midden that is Dave's ESL Cafe, there appears to be some useful and up-to-date information here and here. They're mostly into LG Telecom, but I seem to remember my colleague went with SK.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 7:01 AM on February 8

I work very close to Gangnam Station, and I will help you get set up if this thread doesn't help you to do it yourself. If you've got time at 9:00 a.m. pretty much any day this week, and you can meet me at Gangnam Station, we can do everything there. Email me at my username at gmail.
posted by smorange at 7:14 AM on February 8

Go to Itaewon - lots of pay-as-you-go options for the teachers and tourist crowd. Make sure you understand the fees BEFORE putting money down on the thing, especially if any 'recharging' is needed. Alternatively, look on Seoul's craigslist - there's occasionally a cell phone or two for sale, and the person that had it can clue you in on what to do - or can assist in transferring it to you. Best of luck :)

P.S. Korea4expats.com is a wonderful resource (not my website - just a great resource). Welcome to Korea :) I'll actually be moving to Seocho pretty soon - MeFi mail me and we'll get a dinner or something.
posted by chrisinseoul at 5:32 AM on February 9 [1 favorite]

Chris, my understanding is that Itaewon is a fairly bad place to get a phone in terms of value for money. Do you have any suggestions of a retailer who can compete with, say, Yongsan prices?

Also, is there any reason for MHP to choose a pay-as-you-go phone now that foreigners can get a contract? Again, I've always understood that contracts are a much better deal - and certainly more convenient.

I could easily be wrong on both these points, but I have heard them from multiple people.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 12:14 AM on February 10

BOF - There's a couple reasons I'm going the pay as you go route.

First, I know we're allowed to get contracts, but you still have to make that insane deposit (according to my Hagwon director, it'd be about 200,000 won), and I'm a strict enough budget at it is.

Second, when I was teaching in Japan, I had a pay-as-you-go and a contract, and even though the per minute rates were higher for the pay as you go, I spent less than I did with the contract, because it was just some number coming out of my bank account each month. If i have a 20,000 won and I need to make it last, i can make it last. If I'm not aware how much I'm spending, it'll get bad...

I've been told by pretty much everyone to avoid Itaewon. A lot of horror stories about buying phones that don't even work in korea, etc....I'm going to try the craigslist route, and if that doesn't work, I guess I just need to go to yongsan or technomart and find someone who speaks a modicum of English...
posted by MostHolyPorcine at 6:19 AM on February 10

MHP - Fair enough, I see you have other reasons for choosing pay-as-you-go beyond the ones in your question.

If you're on a tight budget, you could go to Yongsan and the I'Park Mall (the fancy bit in the same building as the station, closed Mondays). Head up to the (I think) 8th floor, the one with lots of mobile phones. If you head away from the escalators towards the edge of the floor and wander around, you should come across stalls with used phones starting at, iirc, about 50k and they will set up the PAYG account for you. They will speak enough English to complete the transaction.

Check the phone carefully before and after purchase, especially making sure that all the buttons work, the menu is set to English and that the battery doesn't dip alarmingly as soon as you make a call. That's about as cheap as it gets, afaik.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 7:50 AM on February 11