Understand Korea

A foreign entrepreneur in Korea reviews an overseas supplier invoice before making an advance import payment. You run a Korean e-commerce business selling household products on Coupang and Naver Smartstore. Your supplier in Vietnam sends an invoice for $30,000. The factory wants payment before shipping your next batch of inventory. You open your Korean business banking app, prepare the international transfer, and then receive a message from the bank: Please provide the purchase contract and invoice. The supplier wants the money today. Your warehouse needs the goods next month. And now you're wondering whether paying an overseas factory before delivery is even allowed. Yes. A Korean business can generally pay an overseas supplier before receiving imported goods. But there is an important reporting threshold. Under Korea's Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulations, an advance import payment exceeding US$20,000 per contract generally requires a report to the Bank of Korea when pa...

A foreign resident in Korea uses a smartphone to manage bank accounts through an Open Banking service. Your salary arrives in your Hana Bank account. Your rent comes out of Shinhan Bank. And your everyday spending goes through another account. Three accounts. Three banking apps. Three passwords to remember. Then you notice your Korean coworker checking several bank balances on one screen. “Why don't you just use Open Banking?” That sounds wonderful. You open your banking app, choose Add Another Bank Account , and start the registration process. Then an error appears. Identity verification failed. You have a Korean Residence Card, a bank account, and a mobile phone. So why can't you connect your accounts? The short answer: Foreign nationality alone does not establish that every Open Banking service is unavailable. But whether you can register depends on the participating institution, your account, and the identity-verification methods supported by the app. Here's how to fin...

It's 11:30 p.m. on your second night in Seoul. Your suitcase is still half-unpacked. You're exhausted. And you've decided that tonight is finally the night for Korean fried chicken. Half original. Half spicy. Extra pickled radish, please. You open a delivery app, spend 25 minutes choosing dinner, and reach checkout. Then your phone asks you to verify your identity using a Korean mobile number. You have a foreign credit card, a temporary SIM, and a Residence Card appointment that's still weeks away. Your chicken is so close. And yet, somehow, it feels farther away than your home country. Welcome to your first encounter with Korean mobile identity verification. But don't give up on dinner. You can sometimes order food in Korea without a Residence Card (formerly called an ARC) or a Korean bank card. The important thing is choosing a service that accepts your phone number and payment method. Here's what to try—and what to do when it's already late. First: What ...

I have a serious question about Korea. How can one woman have 47 nieces and nephews in a single restaurant? Because that's exactly what it sounded like. Picture this. You're in a noisy Korean barbecue restaurant in Seoul. Pork belly is sizzling. Someone's pouring soju. The air smells like grilled meat, garlic, and the kind of dinner you'll still be dreaming about next Tuesday. Then a businessman in a perfectly respectable suit raises his hand. “Imo~! More kimchi, please!” Two minutes later, a group of college students joins in. “Imo! Another bottle of soju!” Then somebody near the kitchen: “Imoooo! Can we get more rice?” Hang on. Is this a restaurant or a family reunion? Does this woman have relatives in every corner of Seoul? And why is nobody helping their poor auntie carry all those dishes? Here's the plot twist. Nobody in that restaurant is related to her. Welcome to one of Korea's funniest little mysteries. In some Korean neighborhood restaurants, customers...

You work for a Korean company and send part of your salary to your parents overseas. When year-end tax settlement approaches, you wonder whether those payments could qualify you for a tax deduction. Your parents have never lived in Korea. Their income records are issued by another country, and their names do not appear in Korean family registers. Can you claim them as dependents in Korea? Yes, potentially—but only if you are a Korean tax resident, use the ordinary income tax calculation, and meet the dependent deduction requirements. The National Tax Service (NTS) expressly recognizes that qualifying foreign workers may claim parents living in their home country. However, sending money to your parents does not automatically establish eligibility. A foreign worker in Korea stays connected with parents overseas while helping support their daily living expenses. First, Check Your Tax Status and Tax Calculation Method Before collecting documents, check two important conditions. 1. Are you ...

You have an E-7 visa and a better job offer from a company in Pangyo. Your new employer wants you to start next Monday. A colleague says you can begin work and report the change to immigration within 15 days. But your HR manager says you need permission first. Which one is right? In South Korea, both procedures exist. Many qualifying E-1 to E-7 professionals can report a workplace change afterward, but certain occupations and employment circumstances require prior permission. The answer depends on your exact visa status, occupation, and the circumstances of your departure from your current job. A foreign professional reviews a new employment offer with an HR manager in Korea before confirming the immigration procedure for changing workplaces. Prior Permission vs. 15-Day Reporting Article 21 of Korea's Immigration Act establishes two procedures. Prior permission (사전허가) means you must obtain immigration approval before changing or adding a workplace. Post-change reporting (사후신고) me...

It is Sunday evening in your rented apartment in Seoul. Someone knocks urgently on your door. Your downstairs neighbor shows you a photograph of a wet ceiling. Water is dripping near a light fixture, and the wallpaper is peeling. “The leak is coming from your bathroom,” the neighbor says. “The repair company says it could cost ₩1.5 million. You need to pay.” You call your landlord, who replies, “You live there, so the damage is your responsibility.” But nobody has inspected the pipes. In Korea, living above a damaged apartment does not automatically make you liable for the leak. The law distinguishes between repairing the defective plumbing and compensating the downstairs neighbor. The answers depend on what caused the leak, who was responsible for the affected equipment, and whether anyone failed to take reasonable precautions. A plumbing inspection in a rented Korean apartment can help establish the cause of a leak before repair costs are assigned. A Hidden Pipe or a Loose Washing Ma...