Practical Korea
The small things, sorted.
Korea is an easy country to travel once someone has told you the handful of systems that run it. These are the ones that matter on a first or second trip.
Money
The won is the currency. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, down to market stalls, and the T-money card covers transport and convenience stores. Cash still matters at street stalls, for charging a T-money card, and in small restaurants in the countryside. ATMs marked Global take foreign cards; your home bank's fees, not local charges, are usually the cost to watch.
Staying connected
A data eSIM is the painless route: buy before you fly, land connected, and use the data for maps, translation and the subway apps. Tourist SIMs are sold at the airport arrivals halls and in convenience stores if you prefer a physical card. Coverage is excellent in the cities and along the rail lines; the mountain valleys of Gangwon are the exception.
Plugs and power
Korea uses 220 volts and round two-pin plugs (types C and F, the continental European pattern). Chargers from elsewhere need an adapter; heating appliances from 110 volt countries need a converter, not just an adapter. Most hotels keep adapters at the desk.
At the border
Most visitors enter visa-free for a period that depends on nationality, many for 90 days. The K-ETA electronic travel authorisation applies to some nationalities and has been waived for many of them through 2026: the rules change, so check your own position before you fly. The military laws around the DMZ are strict and enforced: tours follow the soldiers' instructions exactly, and photography follows the rules given on the day.
Weather that moves events
Four real seasons. Winter is dry and bitter, and the ice festival is built on it; summer is hot and humid, split by the jangma monsoon rains in late June and July, when outdoor events are moved or cancelled on the organisers' own channels: on this site, any event in those weeks is worth a second check against its official source before you set out. Spring and autumn are the clear seasons the outdoor calendar is built on.
Emergencies
Police are on 112 and fire and ambulance on 119. The Korea Travel Hotline, 1330, answers in English around the clock and can interpret in a pinch. Hospitals in the big cities are excellent; travel insurance that covers medical care is the one piece of paperwork worth arranging properly. Tap water is safe to drink.