So ive been trying to set the timer to start heating before i get home ( like setting it 8 hrs from 7am), but im doing something wrong cause its never on when i get home. Any advice?

I joined a company in Korea recently as your average corporate employee and it seems I need to do the every-other-year health exam as well. However, it's quite close to the end of the year and I have heard clinics get booked up quickly.

How mandatory is mandatory? What happens if you miss it? And what's the official Korean word for this exam, so I can search for places that do it?

I’m preparing to leave Korea for greener, more profitable teaching pastures in China. My gf and I have decided that we’ll get married and she’ll come with me and do the house wife thing for a couple of years until we hit our savings goal, and then return to Korea and explore opening a business. I’ve heard some different things about the marriage process, from it’s as easy as singing the documents and having all the paperwork in order, to getting grilled about our relationship by immigration.

We’ve been dating off and on for about a year. Was casual at first but it started getting serious over the summer and with the prospect of me leaving Korea for a bit, we’ve decided to go all the way rather than separate. So can anyone provide any insight on the process these days and if there are any surprises that might await us as we get the paperwork rolling? It it makes a difference, I’m American, just fyi.

Hi, as in the title, LGL delivered my package to the wrong address. It seems the delivery guy mistook my address with the apartment building in front of my yard/driveway. Have no idea how he could access to the building without the passcode and droped my package there in the building hallway. I have no way to access the building or call anyone inside to retrive the package. I have sent a message to the delivery guy's phone number provided by LGL, told him to come back, get my package and deliver it to the correct address but got no response since then. Can't do anything now since I'm not at home till tomorrow, and I'm afraid if anyone open my package because there are some personal items inside.

What should I do in this case? I don't want to call the customer service because I can't speak Korean at all.

Hi all! I’m an exchange student at Yonsei University and I need some help with a project for one of my classes. I would absolutely love it if any of you would send me a photo of a closed door. Any door will do, from a convenience store door to an apartment door, I just need doors! Thank you in advance.

Hello~ so just for the context: I am doing private tutoring for kids. And I have not yet received payment from one of the parents. I sent my bank details last Thursday night. And she liked it (imessage). So I assumed that maybe she will send it by the end of the month. I waited until today but still nothing.

Is it just okay to remind them about it?🧐

This sticky is for those curious about living in Korea, universities in Korea or anything about life in Korea

Hello. My gf and I are going to a winter resort for the 1st time and we are looking for an instructor that can speak english. Does anyone know a good place where we can book an instructor that speaks english? Has anyone been to that Pheonix Park and has any tips for us? Thanks

My friend and I are arguing when he started to call. I initially rejected answering, but he sent one word “Dizzy” and stopped replying afterwards. The messages I sent keep being marked as read and he is not picking up calls. Should I call emergency services for potential health related emergency?

Sorry to trouble you, but I have a problem and I don't know how to solve it.

I have KaoKao talk on my phone, but I don't use it a whole lot.

Recently, I got one of those emails where they said that since I was inactive for awhile, they might deactivate it.

So I went to open my app, only to get to the sign in page (I did sign in when I got my phone, and I have used it a little bit since I got my phone several years ago.

Unfortunately, logging in only leads me to "no backup" page and ask me to back up my profile, continue with no backup, and check back up.

The problem I have is that I don't think I have any other phone with KaoKao talk on it... My previous phone was dying on me so I had to get my current phone, and my previous phone died soon after I backed up and restored to my current phone.

So what are my options???

If I continue without backup, would I lose my contact list as well?

Is there anyone I can email in KaoKao to get help?

So timeline:

Oct 2022 got a new phone and transferred Kaokao backup successfully at that point in time. Old phone with Kaokao talk died soon afterwards so I got rid of it.

I occasionally use Kaokao between that time and Nov 2024.

November 2024, got email saying that if I don't use Kaokao talk soon, it will deactivate due to inactivity or something along those line I went to open up Kaokao talk to show activity. I assumed that I only needed to open Kaokao, send a friend a message and that would be all I needed.

But once I opened app, it asked me to log in which I did. And then it gave me a white screen saying "no backup detected" please use old device to backup and restore... or continue without backup.

Except the "old" device that I would use to do that would be the same one that I am using at the current time...

So is my only option to continue without backup? because I would need to have access to my chat to confirm my old device to do the backup... but if I could do that, I wouldn't have this issue in the first place?

Good evening, 여러분! This year I have heard several times about coming changes to D10 after graduation: ability to extend up to three years and to have an internship for a year.

However, when extending my visa recently, I asked about it and was told that news don’t matter.

Does anyone know anything about this?

Thanks)

I find that Korean banchan recipes often use sweetener and oil in excess, so I always have to try and tweak it, but that gets annoying. Is there a cookbook or blog that specializes in "lighter" recipes?

I don't want to put in the work of adjusting everything. I'm plant-based if that matters and I'm looking for recommendations in English or Korean.

I am keeping this anonymous because I do not want my colleagues or people I know to know about that now. Hello, I am on E7 visa and I do not feel comfortable at all in my work place and ai do not feel like I have chance to build a career there I work at a traditional Korean company. I want to quit and go back home for good but I do not know how to inform my manger at work. I know that I need to give 30 days notice but how I should do that? Also, 1- what are the eaxt steps with the immigrationafter I quit? 2- how long I can stay in Korea after I quit? My current E7 visa expires in June 2025? 3- Beside pension money what other payments I should get refunded of before leaving?

Thank you so much and please help me🤎

Can anyone help me out and let me know if it’s possible to lease a Tesla (korean spec) while stationed here in Korea? I have an ARC card and Korean bank account.

https://preview.redd.it/thvvnutcod3e1.jpg?width=802&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f37210071902bf82fe97fa7902aa69e3550c3427

I'm desperately looking for an English translation of this novel but scavenging the internet has left me empty-handed. So before I lose all hope, has anyone heard of this novel, read it (in English), or know where to find English translations of Korean novels?

Hello everyone,

We’re seeking recommendations for a trustworthy, foreigner-friendly, real estate agent around Hapjeong and Mangwon. My husband is a Korean adoptee, and we initially contacted G.O.A.L. for their housing consultation service a month ago. Despite following up multiple times, we only learned after arriving into Seoul last night that they couldn’t help and had failed to CC us in their reply emails.

Neither of us speaks Korean or has local support, and we’re nervous about potential scams given the large deposit amounts. We understand that you can go to any 부동산 in the area you want to live in, but we've seen so many posts warning about scam housing.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Not sure if this is the right place to write. If not, I'll delete it and repost it.

I've been looking for some American snacks, cause they generally have better taste than Korean's. I found Salt & Vinegar flavor made by several brands, so it has become my regular.

When I was really young, I'd tried American Cheetos: really salty, cheesy and stuffy. That was my soul snack and back in the day, they sold it in Namdaemoon Market. My mom bought it for me once in a while, good memory.

I visited there a couple of years ago, got the 'supposedly' same Cheetos, but it was different. Ever since, I gave up on getting the exact same thing. I've tried coupang, but different.

1 Does anyone recall American Cheetos 20 something years ago sold in Korea? If you do, please let me know the place I can get.
2 Would there be any American snacks recommended, able to get easily in Korea, judging from what flavor I like?

Thanks a ton in advance.

Hello everybody,

May you please recommend an online florist that delivers all over Korea and does not charge in dollars? I live in Busan and want to send flowers to a friend for their birthday.

Thanks

My wife (Korean) and I have run into a problem registering our baby's name at the 주민센터- he has a first name, middle name, and surname and they're saying that it's too long to register. I can see from searching the group that we're far from the only people to have this problem.... 🤦‍♂️

It seems to be the case that we need to register in the UK, get a UK passport, and then we can register him in Korea with his full name. This is ridiculous. It's 'impossible' to register someone with a long name but suddenly not impossible if they have it written on their passport?

Has anyone successfully navigated this without having to go through the process of getting a UK passport first? We want to register our baby ASAP so that we can get the newborn benefits.

I know they used to release old back in the days of the previous topik format and I think at one point they stopped (after changing TOPIK format to having just a TOPIK 1+2). What is the current situation? Are they releasing all official TOPIK questions these days, or some tests only or non at all? If they have released some TOPIK questions, is there a site that has collected them all for download? I did find a site here: https://www.topikguide.com/previous-papers/ and it only seems to have a select few TOPIK papers, but I don't know if that's because those were the only ones NIIED released or if this site isn't hosting them. I did find another site that claimed to have all past TOPIK papers up to 2024 but it seems to be behind a paywall.

Does anyone know of a site that has them all for download (with solutions), preferably in pdf? I hope navigating NIIED's official site isn't the only way to get this.

Is there anywhere where I can get a nationally recognised fist aid certificate? Preferred taught in English.

I am on a combination therapy of Finasteride and Dutasteride (Fin 4x/week and Dut 3x/week) for hair loss, which I have been prescribed by my local doctors in Denmark and Australia for many years at this point.

I'm going to Korea for 12 months on a Working Holiday visa in February (primarily staying in Seoul), and I'm a bit unsure if I'll face any trouble obtaining Finasteride and Dutasteride there as a foreigner. From what I can gather from research, you're only allowed to bring three months' worth of prescription medicine with you when entering Korea, which obviously means I'll have to find a way to source it once I get there.

Has anyone here had any experience with getting a prescription for Finasteride and Dutasteride in Korea? Are both of these available and commonly prescribed for hair loss? Any advice, perhaps even a doctor/dermatologist that you would recommend?

Thanks 100x in advance, it's been a worry for me for quite some time so would be beyond grateful for anyone able and willing to chime in.

Hey everyone,

I am leaving Korea for a few days next week. I'm in the process of getting an ARC but I don't have it yet, however, I do have my ARC number and got the Certification of Foreign Residence Registration (외국인등록 사실증명). I was just wondering how to actually use the document - when re-entering Korea, do I go to the foreigners or Korean line? And who do I show the document to?

I tried to find information online, but I pretty much only found info on how to actually get the document. However, I have the document already, I just don't get how the process of leaving and re-entering Korea with it works.

Thank you guys in advance ^^

Has anyone sold a car to Encar or KB차차차?

What was the process like?

Or if you went through a private dealership, how did you find/land on them?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently facing a tricky situation at my workplace. Two of my Korean colleagues are leaving the company within a month. I’ve heard that even if the CEO hires new Korean employees, they need to have worked at the company for at least three months to meet the Korean-to-foreigner employee quota.

I was supposed to be sponsored for an E7 visa, but now I’m worried that this situation might affect my chances. From what I understand, the quota may depend on the job field. Since I work in global marketing, which focuses on international markets, I wonder if there’s any flexibility or exemption for roles like mine.

I know of a foreign developer in our company who faced issues with the quota, but it seemed to be because their job directly competed with Korean candidates. I’m hoping this doesn’t apply to global marketing since the nature of my role is quite different.

Has anyone experienced a similar situation or have advice on how this works? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Planning a day travel to Chuncheon, any places to recommend? Especially for a foodie. Thanks in advance!

Hello all! I'm a masters student majoring business here. Recently I got an internship offer at a korean startup for 3 months. They offer me 2.1m/month, is it the average here or can i ask for more? Fyi, i had work experience before my masters. Thank you!