About KoreaPlugCheck
I'm Hyo — Korean, and I've lived in Seoul for 20 years. I have a full-time job in an unrelated industry — this site is something separate that I build and maintain on my own time.
It started with a conversation I kept having. Every time a friend or family member from abroad planned a trip to Korea, I'd get the same handful of questions. Do I need a plug adapter? What should I wear in July? Do I need cash, or is a card enough? Is my hair dryer going to survive the outlet?
I answered them one at a time, over and over, until it seemed easier to write the answers down once.
Why the Answers Were Hard to Find
The information exists. It's just scattered — a paragraph on a government page, a years-old forum thread, a blog post from someone who visited in 2018 and never came back to update it. Some of it is out of date. Some of it was never right.
That's a bad combination for these particular questions, because most of them have a short, definite answer. Korea runs on 220V at 60Hz with Type C and F outlets. That's the whole answer. You shouldn't have to read four pages to get it.
What's Here
The questions people actually ask before flying, each with its own page:
- Power and plugs — voltage, outlet types, what you can bring and what you can't (the original reason this site exists)
- Visa and entry — K-ETA, e-Arrival Card, and where to check your own case
- Weather and packing — season by season, Seoul and Busan
- Money — cash, cards, ATMs, where to exchange
- Connectivity — SIM, eSIM, and pocket Wi-Fi compared
- Public holidays — what closes, and when transport gets difficult
- A pre-departure checklist — everything above, in the order you'll need it
Written for phones, because that's where you'll be reading it. Probably in an airport.
How I Keep It Accurate
This is the part I take most seriously, so I'll be specific.
Official sources first. Anything involving rules — visas, K-ETA, entry requirements — is checked against the government's own site, and I link you there rather than copying the details onto my page. Rules change, and the official page will be correct before mine is.
Every page carries a last-reviewed date. You can see when I last looked at it. If a page has gone stale, you'll know before you rely on it.
If I'm not certain, I don't say it. There's plenty I can't personally verify — a fee that varies by branch, a rule with exceptions I can't confirm. When that happens I say so and point you to someone who can answer it, rather than guessing and sounding confident about it.
What This Site Isn't
It's not a general travel guide. No itineraries, no restaurant lists, no opinions about which palace you should see first — there are people who do that far better than I would.
This is the boring practical layer underneath all of that. The things you need sorted before the trip starts.
Corrections Are Welcome
If something here is wrong, out of date, or missing, I'd like to know. There's a contact page and I read what comes in.
Hyo (@hyo_seoul) · Seoul, Korea