Guides
The questions a registry table can't answer — how much money, which documents, what order. Every figure is dated and sourced; anything we couldn't confirm against an official source is marked unverified in place, not silently included.
ARC (Residence Card): Deadline, Fee, Documents, Booking Alien registration in Korea: the 90-day deadline, the ₩35,000 card fee, required documents, HiKorea visit reservation, and what the card unlocks. Cost of Living in Seoul: A Verifiable Monthly Budget A Seoul monthly budget for a single foreign resident built from sourced components: NHIS premiums, transport fares and the 기후동행카드, waste bags, and marked-unverified estimates for the rest. Jeonse Deposit Protection: 확정일자, 전세권, HUG Guarantee The legal machinery that protects a jeonse deposit in Korea — fixed-date stamp, jeonse-right registration, HUG/SGI guarantee insurance, and priority repayment — with fees and coverage caps. Korean Bank Account: ARC, Limit Accounts, Remittance Opening a Korean bank account as a new arrival: which documents banks require, the 한도계좌 daily caps (₩1m electronic / ₩3m counter), and overseas remittance registration. Moving In: 체류지 변경신고, Utilities, 관리비, Waste The move-in sequence for foreign residents in Korea: the 15-day change-of-stay report, utility transfers, what 관리비 covers, and the 종량제 waste system. NHIS for Foreigners: Mandatory Enrollment, 2026 Premiums Korean national health insurance rules for foreign residents: mandatory enrollment since 2019, employee vs local subscriber premiums, the 2026 rates, and the 6-month rule. Phone and SIM in Korea: Prepaid, Postpaid, 본인인증 Getting a Korean phone number as a foreigner: prepaid vs postpaid, the ARC dependency, and why identity verification (본인인증) fails on passport-registered SIMs. Wolse vs Jeonse: The Two Rent Systems and the Conversion Math Korea's deposit-based jeonse and monthly wolse systems: the statutory conversion cap (base rate + 2%p), 2026 market direction, and the broker fee bands tenants actually pay.