- News & Info
- Living Information
- Housing and Education
Types of Accommodation
Serviced residences
Serviced residences are furnished apartment buildings with hotel-like services for both short and long-term visitors.
Furniture or other facilities needed for living are provided, and hotellike service is provided as well.
These units are usually two to three times bigger than your average hotel room and usually include kitchens.
Due to their lower cost, although a hotel-type front desk, business center, and community space, more and more visitors are choosing serviced residences.
For foreigners who do not want to trouble themselves with unfamiliar rental systems in Korea, serviced residences might be the right choice for them.
These residences are also convenient since they are near public transportation systems.
| Category | MainContent |
|---|---|
| Fraser Suites | Tel. 02-6262-8282 www.frasersuitesseoul.co.kr[K / E] |
| ORIENS | Tel. 02-2280-8000 www.orienshotel.com[K / E] |
| Oakwood Premier | Tel. 02-3466-7000 |
| Somerset Palace | Tel. 02-6730-8888 |
| Vabien | Tel. 02-6399-0078 www.vabienseoul.com[K / E / J] |
| DMC Ville | Tel. 02-380-4801 www.dmcville.co.kr[K / E / J] |
Apartments (Flats)
Apartments are the most popular housing option among Koreans.
Apartments are also preferred by most other residents of Korea due to convenience.
Basic utilities such as water, gas and heating are well established.
Nearly all complexes have facilities nearby and easy access to public transportation.
Drawbacks to living in apartments include distracting levels of noise.
Similar to the mass housing of apartments, there are row houses, apartment units in a private house, etc.
Because the residents share the parking area of apartment buildings you may have parking difficulties due to the narrow parking spaces in the case of old apartments.
To check the current market value for an apartment
Officetels
Officetels originally referred to an office furnished with minimal residential facilities.
Recently, they have been requently used for residential purposes.
They are preferred by unmarried workers and are designed to protect people's privacy.
They are also located where easy access to public transportation is available.
The rooms are furnished with necessary furniture and amenities despite of their compact room sizes.
Private Houses
Private houses are constructed on their own sites for a household.
Private houses are becoming harder to find in urban settings in Korea.
Private houses for foreigners can be commonly found in Itaewon, Ichondong and Pyeongchang-dong.
One Room
One room units are of a similar type of housing to officetels except they are smaller than officetels.
One room units are a cost-saving alternative to officetels.
Lots of them are located near universities.
Hanoks
A hanok refers to traditional Korean style housing.
Currently, the place where many hanoks are preserved is the area of Jongnogu, Seoul.
Bukchon Hanok Village is a typical area for the traditional houses.
In recent days, more and more people are remodeling hanoks by harmonizing the excellence of hanoks with life convenience.
These remodeled homes have various modern amenities to go along with the beauty of the traditional architecture.
Electricity
The base voltage for domestic use in Korea is 220V. Therefore, be sure to check the voltage before you use the electric goods brought from abroad.
The electricity service is provided by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).You need to contact KEPCO when you have inquiries about electric charges, accidents,subscriptions, etc.
In order to protect the lower income group as well as to promote energy conservation, Korea applies a progressive system to electric charges, which increases the unit price successively as the usage increases.
※ Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) Tel. 123
Website: http://www.kepco.co.kr/(K, E)
Gas
The gas types used in Seoul are city gas and LP gas.
However, the city gas has been distributed to most Seoul areas and very few regions use LP gas.In order to use the city gas, you need to contact the city gas company for your resi-dence for the subscription.
An engineer visits you to install the gas from the gas com-pany on the day you want to start using the gas.
When you move out, you also need to contact the gas company to remove gas from your residence.
The experts from the city gas company should carry out the installing and the uninstalling of the gas.You can find the city gas company for your residence at the homepage of Korea City Gas Association.
※ Korea City Gas Association:http://www.citygas.or.kr/ (K)
※ In case that your residence uses LP gas, you need to contact a nearby gas company for installation of the gas.
Water Service
The water service of Seoul is managed and provided by the Office of Waterworks Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The name of the water service of Seoul is ‘Arisu' and the water is high quality tap water to drink directly.
The water bill is issued bimonthly and it includes charges for both the water service and sewage.
You can find the charging system and other related information at the homepage of Office of Waterworks Seoul Metropolitan Government
Education System
What is Korea's 6·3·3·4 Educational System?
In Korea, the general education follows these steps: 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school, 3 years of high school, and 4 years of university.
There are also a preschool education and 2-3 year college.
Subsequently, there are the main branches of elementary school, middle school, and high school, as well as smaller specialized schools and technical schools.
Higher educational institutes are also divided into colleges / universities and graduate schools.
There are also other specialized colleges.
Foreign Schools
General admission requirements
For your child to be eligible to enter a foreign school, he or she must meet at least one of the following requirements :
1. Citizen of a foreign nation
2. Permanent resident of a foreign nation
3. Korean citizen who has lived at least 3 years overseas
4. At least one parent is a citizen of a foreign country
Required documents
You'll probably want to bring some of these documents with you from your home countries, as securing them from within Korea can be a time consuming process.
- Naturally enough, an application form, obtained from the school, along with recent photos
- Official transcripts/report cards from previous schools
- Medical history and medical examination report
- Standardized test scores
- Letters of recommendation (some schools require recommendations from particular teachers)
Admission tests
Some schools require admission tests.
· If you've been attending a non-English language school and are applying to an English-language school, an English proficiency exam such as the IDEA Language Proficiency Test may be required.
· Students and/or parents interviews may be required, depending on the school
Korean Language Education
Learning Korean can make your stay in Korea much more convenient and rewarding.
Korean language schools
If you are really serious about learning Korean, you are going to enroll in a Korean language school, a specialized Korean language program attached to a university.
Free Korean language courses
Some volunteer groups and civic organizations, especially those dealing with migrant laborers such as the Seoul Global Center, offer free Korean classes.
Private language academies
Private language academies are cheaper than university programs, and a good option for working folk who need flexibility in their study hours. However, be sure to check out the academy before hand, as quality of classes tends to fluctuate from academy to academy.
