Getting online: SIM cards, eSIM and why it matters more here
Korea runs on connected apps to a degree that catches visitors out. What to arrange before you land, and what each option actually costs you in convenience.
Updated
You need data more than you think
Korea is not a country where you can get by on cafe wifi and a paper map. Bus arrival times, subway routing, restaurant hours, taxi hailing and translation all live in apps, and outside the main tourist districts there is very little English signage to fall back on.
This is doubly true for the regional travel this site is built around. In a county town there may be no tourist information office, no English menu and one bus every ninety minutes. Knowing when that bus leaves is the difference between a good day and a stranded one.
eSIM is the least friction if your phone supports it
If your handset takes an eSIM, buying one before you fly is the simplest route: you arrive connected, with no queue and no tiny plastic tray to lose. Data-only plans are the norm and are inexpensive for a week or two.
The catch is that data-only means no Korean phone number. That matters more than it sounds, because a number is required to verify accounts on a lot of Korean services — including some booking and delivery apps.
If you only need maps, translation and messaging, data-only is fine. If you expect to book anything through a Korean platform, read the next section.
Physical SIM, and the phone-number problem
Prepaid SIMs are sold at both Incheon and Gimpo airports and at convenience stores in the cities. A prepaid SIM with a Korean number solves the verification problem that data-only eSIMs create.
Bring your passport. Korean SIM registration is tied to identity documents and you will not be sold one without it.
Coverage is excellent nationwide, including on the mountain trails and small islands, to a standard that genuinely surprises visitors from larger countries.
Maps do not work the way you expect
Google Maps has restricted driving and walking directions in Korea for regulatory reasons, and the gaps are widest in exactly the rural areas where you most need them. Public transport directions generally work; turn-by-turn frequently does not.
The Korean alternatives — Naver Map and Kakao Map — both have English interfaces and are what residents actually use. Install one before you travel outside Seoul. Searching in Korean gives better results than searching in English, which is a good reason to keep the Korean name from each place page on this site.
Portable wifi routers are still rented at airports and are a reasonable option for a group sharing one connection, though they are one more device to charge and return.