Korea Life Step by Step · 1–10
Complete ten practical tasks in order, from arriving in Korea to checking your first employment contract. Every episode includes Korean, an English-friendly reading, RR, a usable message, and official sources.
Episode 1: From the Airport to Your Accommodation in Korea
You have cleared arrivals and need to reach the correct address without guessing. This episode helps you choose a train or bus, buy or load a transit card, confirm a platform or transfer, and ask the driver to alert you near your stop.
Episode 2: Buy and Activate a SIM in Korea
A working connection makes every later step easier, but a tourist SIM, resident plan, data-only product, and eSIM are not the same. This episode helps you describe what you need and verify compatibility, service period, phone number, activation, and support before paying.
Episode 3: Open a Korean Bank Account and Request a Card
A bank must verify identity and transaction purpose, and the branch may request more evidence or apply limits. This episode helps you ask what is possible for your status, present documents, request a debit card and online banking, and understand remittance or account restrictions.
Episode 4: Search for a Home and Book a Viewing in Korea
A listing is only a starting point. Before you spend a deposit, separate the deposit, monthly rent, maintenance fee, utilities, move-in date, and contract period, then inspect the room and building in person. This episode turns that checklist into Korean questions.
Episode 5: Check a Rental Contract, Deposit, and Fees in Korea
This is the point where spoken promises must become written terms. The contract should identify the property and parties, separate every payment, explain special clauses, and record agreed repairs. This language guide helps you slow the process down; it is not legal advice.
Episode 6: Inspect Your Home and Request Repairs Before Moving In
The contract is signed, but the handover is not finished until the room condition is recorded. Walk through the home with the landlord or agent, test essential equipment, photograph defects, and agree in writing on repair timing and responsibility before your belongings arrive.
Episode 7: Set Up Utilities, Internet, and Waste Disposal
A home is not ready only because the key works. Separate the services included in the maintenance fee from those billed directly, verify that old balances do not belong to you, arrange safety checks and installation, and learn the disposal rules for your building and district.
Episode 8: Report Your New Residence Address in Korea
After moving, the address on your residence record must match where you actually live. The current official guidance says a registered foreign resident should report a change of residence within 15 days. Confirm the route for your own status, prepare proof of residence, and keep evidence that the report was accepted.
Episode 9: Visit a Hospital and Collect Medicine in Korea
A safe visit depends on accurate information, not perfect Korean. Start by choosing the right level of care, then give the reception desk your identity and insurance details, describe the symptom timeline, disclose allergies and current medicines, and repeat the prescription instructions before leaving.
Episode 10: Check an Employment Contract Before Starting Work
A verbal offer is not enough to understand the job. Before starting, confirm that your immigration status permits the work, then compare the written contract with the promised duties, workplace, hours, breaks, pay, probation, overtime, leave, insurance, and payment records. Keep your own complete copy.