The Pros and Cons of Living in South Korea

Hello and welcome to my little corner of the internet. If you’re just finding this blog post, you must be wondering, “What are the pros and cons of living in South Korea?” Which means you’re considering the big move over here. Congratulations! I’m Gina Bear, your big internet sister who is here to help you make the decision if moving to South Korea is right for you.

So why should you listen to me? I lived abroad in The Land of the Morning Calm for five and a half years. Furthermore, I studied Korean extensively through the KIIP Program and 90 Day Korean. Since I lived and worked in Korean society I’m very familiar with Korean culture and the nuances. In addition, I’ve had my fair share of highs and lows in the country. I’m the person who is going to give you the unfiltered, un-sugarcoated, tell it like it is, pros and cons of living in South Korea.

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The Pros of Living in South Korea

Below are some of the things I absolutely loved about living in South Korea. Like everywhere on this planet, there are going to be pros of where you live.

1. Healthcare

Healthcare in South Korea is cheap and affordable. Even if you don’t have insurance, you’re not gonna go broke. When I had severe food poisoning, I was kept in the hospital over the weekend and it cost me a grand total of… $250. Mind blowing isn’t it? Also, I once sliced my hand open with a drinking glass. The doctor visit, stitches, and medicine cost me… Are you ready for it? $35. Healthcare is one of my top pros of living in South Korea.

2. Public Transport & Infrastructure

Second, I really loved the ease of public transport and the infrastructure. It was cheap, efficient, and America can learn a thing or two about it. Everything in Korea is connected seamlessly. Buses, trains, airplanes, and taxis are at your disposal and won’t cost an arm and a leg.

3. Ppalli Ppalli Culture

This means the fast, fast culture. Any kind of service you can think of that needs to be done quickly will be. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate my food coming to me quickly when I sit down in a restaurant. It’s been a culture shock moving to Texas where everything is slower than molasses.

4. Cost Of Living Is Lower

Compared to living in Japan, the cost of living in South Korea is much lower. If you cook and make Korean dishes only, your groceries will be cheap. Furthermore, public transport and fun activities are cheap in Korea.

5. Lots of Opportunities in ESL

There’s tons of opportunities to work as an ESL teacher. If you’re passionate about education, then you will have a blast working in South Korea. For more information about teaching English in South Korea, click here. In addition, you will need a TEFL certificate in order to get an English teaching job. There are no exceptions.

6. The Coffee Culture

I actually didn’t start drinking coffee until I moved to Korea because Koreans are obsessed with it! There’s a booming coffee culture and tons of interesting cafes around Seoul to hang out at. Coffee can sometimes be overpriced, but you will always be amused wherever you choose to grab your Americano or latte. Check out the most Instagrammable Cafes in Seoul here.

7. 24 Hour Convenience Stores

Twenty-four hour convenience stores are literally God’s gift to this earth. Hungry? Need some late night booze? Forgot some basic groceries? Have to recharge your T-Money card? No problem! I honestly miss that part of Korean culture.

8. Korea is BEAUTIFUL

I visited so many gorgeous places in Korea that were easy to get to because of the infrastructure. Although the country is the size of Indiana, the peninsula is rich with history and culture. After all, compared to my home country, The Land of the Morning Calm is much, much older. I promise Korea is going to wow you over and over again!

9. Festivals & Holidays

Every single season of the year, there’s always something to do. Koreans have got Buddha’s Birthday, the ice fishing festivals in winter, cherry blossom festivals, and even a fried chicken festival that takes place in Daegu. There’s tons of great organized tours on Trazy that make access to these festivals much easier.

10. Fastest Internet In The WORLD

It’s really easy to get used to 5g internet speeds. When I came back to America after being used to super fast internet speeds, I was like… For real? Why is the internet so slow? I was so spoiled over there. And yes, yes, I know. First world problems.

The Cons of Living in South Korea

If you’d like to go into more detail for the big cons of living in South Korea, I recommend reading my blog post, Why I Left Korea. Below are my personal opinions and experiences as a POC woman living abroad in an Asian country.

1. Pollution

I wish I had done more research into the pollution in Korea. What I thought was fog was actually a cloud of shit hovering over Seoul. As a result of the fine dust and the crap blowing over from China, I developed some health problems. I don’t think it’s fair for anyone on this earth to have to wear air purifying masks or have air purifiers in their homes. Clean air should be a right and not a luxury. Bad air quality is one of the biggest cons of living in South Korea.

2. Isolation

Living abroad is not for the faint of heart. You don’t really understand how difficult it is until you experience it for yourself. When you go to a different country, you’re putting yourself in a position to be uncomfortable all the time. Korean culture, society, and language day in and day out is enough to make your head spin. It’s easy to miss your friends and family back home. You will feel like an outsider in your new community. Personally, I think this is one of the biggest disadvantages of living in South Korea. Without a good support system, your time in Korea will be miserable.

3. The Lack of Protection For Foreigners

The lack of protection for foreigners should terrify you, especially if you’re a woman. There’s hardly any laws protecting Korean women and children. Therefore, you can expect barely any courtesy extended foreign residents.

In October 2020, I went to visit a friend in Pyeongtak. If there’s one piece of advice I want you to take with you, it’s that the Pyeongtak Police are notorious for doing absolutely NOTHING.

Before I arrived, my ex-friend was filming a Korean mother beating her adult daughter at Pyeontak Station. Like a complete idiot, he filmed the whole thing and didn’t even bother to hide it. In Korea, filming people in public without their consent is illegal.

As soon as I got past the turnstiles, three Korean women came up screaming and accusing me of filming them. Not knowing what they were talking about, I told them all to fuck off and continued on my merry way. They stopped us from trying to leave the train station multiple times. I started filming because I had a bad feeling the situation was about to escalate.

One of the girls kept grabbing me and hitting me, she grabbed my crotch, and she kicked my little Honey Bear. What did my so called friend do during this? He watched me take the fall instead of taking responsibility for his actions.

If this story is making you see red, imagine how I must have felt knowing the law in Korea is not on my side. Had this been Chicago, I would not have hesitated to beat her ass into the ground. The amount of restraint it took for me not to do it… Jesus must have been taking the wheel. Anyway, this psychopath had the audacity to call the cops on me even though I did nothing wrong.

The Pyeongtak Police did nothing even though I showed video evidence of what happened. To this day, what happened to me STILL makes me angry, but I’m a huge believer in karma. I’m sure her mother continually beats her if what my ex-friend filmed is any indication of her home life.

4. Atrocious Manners

There are just some sounds I can’t stand. I know I’m not the only one whose skin crawls when people make loud noises when they eat. Koreans are notorious for speaking and chewing with their mouths open. I get why it’s okay to slurp noodles in Korea, but if I wanted to hear the vacuum cleaner, I would turn one on.

In addition, there is A LOT of spitting. I’ve seen men and women of all ages hock a loogie on the street. It literally makes me gag every time I see it.

5. Koreans Aren’t Early Birds

I’m a morning person and always have been. Since Koreans work late, everything is open late. If you’re a night owl you’re about to live your best life in Korea. If not, you’ll be with me on the struggle bus.

6. Hard To Find Clothes

If you are above a US size 6 in pants and a US size 8 in shoes, you will not be able to find anything in your size easily. Shops in Korea selling bigger sizes include H&M, Hollister, SPAO, and American Eagle. However, be warned clothing options are limited. Even so, it gets really old after awhile when you can’t find work clothes or a nice dress for an outing.

7. The Age Hierarchy

I despised the age hierarchy. This part of Korean culture gives ajhumma and ajhussi to push and shove people without repercussion. As a result, young Koreans have told me they also get frustrated and irritated with this too. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do because you’re expected to respect your elders. I also used to get really annoyed when with their unsolicited advice of what they think I should do with my life. Pero like… NO.

8. Dating

Dating is hard anywhere, but it’s especially hard in South Korea. While dating in Korea, I met many men who had a Korean girlfriend or wife, just wanted the foreigner experience, wanted to ride the brown horse, or just didn’t take me seriously because I was a foreigner. They’d even say ridiculous things like, “My parents would prefer I marry a Korean woman.” Those excuses get pretty old after awhile.

9. The Driving is Abhorrent

One awesome thing about Korean delivery is that its fast! However, this also means the delivery drivers drive up on sidewalks. The amount of accidents with pedestrians and the moped drivers is insane. Also, because people drive like crap in Korea I was unfortunately hit by a car.

10. The Food is Too Sweet

Here are some examples of things that are too sweet in Korea: garlic bread, pizza, snacks, and gochujang (red pepper paste). I didn’t realize this until my taste buds adjusted to Korean food, but there’s actually a lot of sugar in their cuisine. The reason for this is some countries use salt to preserve their food and Korea used sugar. The amount of sugar is enough to make anyone’s teeth hurt, but I think the Korean palette prefers sweet foods over savory ones. I got so many cavities in South Korea compared to the States. It literally blew my mind.

I hope this blog post was able to show you the very real pros and cons of living in South Korea. There’s lot of things I liked about Korea since I spent five and a half years there. Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll always be happy to help!

This post contains affiliate links which means at no additional cost to you, I make a small commission to help keep Gina Bear’s Blog running. Thanks for your support!

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