Customized Living Orientation

Seoul Global Center, a help center for foreigners run by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, provides a Customized Living Orientation to international residents who have resided in Korea for less than a year.

This orientation provides basic living information, aiming to help people adjust to their lives in Seoul faster and easier. This program first started in 2008 for native English teachers of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and has been extended to serve native teachers in private institutes, international students, international spouses, Specially Designated Activities (E-7) visa holders, Family Dependency (F-3) visa holders, and other groups.

The orientation includes information and programs to meet the needs and interests of various groups and uses the most effective presentation methods. The orientation is offered whenever a group of more than 10 international residents makes a request.

Contents for Customized Living Orientation

• Introduction of the Seoul Global Center

• Information on Daily living: Public transportation, Housing, Cell phones, Internet Service, Exchanging Driver’s license, Paying utility bills, Garbage disposal, Leisure, and more

• Q&A

• Other customized programs (e.g. mini seminar)

For orientation requests and more detail information, contact Jeongmae Bak at 02-2075-4138 or jhenmei@sba.seoul.kr

In Korea, spring and fall are popular times to move. As a foreigner in Seoul, you may be coming to the end of a housing contract, or just want to move to a new place. Nothing is more frustrating than not being able to speak Korean and/or not knowing how to get your stuff moved, so let’s take a look at how to go about moving in Korea.

Q.  How do Koreans usually go about moving?

A. Koreans tend to do a lot of their moving in the spring and fall. There is a superstition that during these seasons there are certain “no spirit days.” These days are based on the lunar calendar. They end with the numbers “9” and “0” and are believed by some Koreans to be free of evil spirits. Though this may not be of any significance to foreigners, many Koreans will reserve movers on these days, and some movers may charge extra to move on these days. Therefore, it may be hard to find a moving company to help you on these specific days without a reservation.

When moving in Korea, it is customary to notify and make a reservation for movers at least three or four weeks before the move-in date. A week before the move-in date is sufficient to apply for an address change, mail forwarding, new phone service and change of address for public utilities (water, electricity, gas, etc.). And don’t forget to change any newspaper or magazine subscriptions and/or daily milk delivery as well. The next step is to verify that the last month’s rent has been paid.

In the event that you own any furniture that you wish to throw away, you must contact the local (dong) office and get a sticker at least four or five days before you plan to throw it out. It is recommended that you visit the place you plan to move into and clean it thoroughly one or two days before moving in.

After moving, be sure to report your move to the offices concerned, and change the address for your medical insurance, car registration, etc. It’s also not a bad idea to bring some fruit or rice cakes as a gift to your new neighbors, which will help you get to know them.

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Standard Chartered Private Bank holds monthly banking seminars for expats.  This month’s seminar topic will be “Buying a House in Seoul” for foreigners living in Korea.

Event Details:
Date: Thursday,  June 17, 2010
Time: 7:30 to ~8:30 PM
Location: Kangnam PB Center (To get there, go to Yeoksam station Line 2 – exit 3 Capital Building 3rd floor)

Event content:
Along with an overview of the real estate market in Seoul by a real estate agent, the following topics will be covered as well:
- Type of housing available for purchase in Seoul
- Current real estate prices and real estate price forecast
- Documents and requirements to purchase a house in Korea
- Getting a Mortgage in Korea as a foreigner
 
If you would like to sign up for this seminar, e-mail your RSVP to Maderich.Mariya@scfirstbank.com by June 15

The Seoul Global Center is continually working hard to provide information and convenience to the international community in Seoul. It is our pleasure to once again announce our annual Information Fair.

About 40 organizations will be present at the 2010 Information Fair, covering public, medical, financial, communications and travel, as well as many others. Last year, thanks to the help of our over 15,000 participants, our Information Fair was a great success and this year we hope to make it even more successful.

We hope to see you there!

▣ Event Information

►Date and Time: May 8th and 9th, 2010 (Sat-Sun), 12:00-19:00

►Location: The sidewalk starting from the Seoul Finance Center to Cheongyechon (About 265m)

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Last time I gave some advice on how to go about looking for a new place to live. This month’s tip is a continuation of that, and will cover the final steps you need to take once you have decided on a place you want to move into.

Once you have found a new place to call home there are some things that you should check out before signing a lease agreement. First of all, you should check that the real estate agent that you have decided to go with is a registered agent. You can check this by contacting your local district (gu) office with the name and business registration number of the agent. Once your agent has checked out, you will want to check the terms of the lease agreement. One of the most important things you should check is that the conditions for termination of the lease are not to strict. You want to make sure that if something comes up and you have to terminate the lease early, you can get your key money back without much difficulty. If you would like to check your lease agreement with someone before signing, you can contact the Seoul Global Center (SGC) and ask for a consultation. Before signing you can also ask the agent to show you the status of the house owner’s mortgage on the property. This is to ensure that you will be able to get your deposit back in case the property ends up going to public auction, but it is only really necessary if you have put down a large deposit over 10 million won.

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Moving can be a daunting task for foreigners in Korea, especially if you have trouble speaking the language and don’t know how the system works. This tip will cover the case of moving using local real estate agents and the key money deposit / monthly rent system.

Once you decide you want to move, one of the first things you need to do is talk to your current landlord. First, you should just let him/her know that you plan to move and check your lease to see what conditions you have to fulfill to get your deposit money back. Even if your lease is due to expire, when you want to move you are still expected to give one month advanced notice to get your deposit money back. If your lease is not due to expire, then you may also have to fulfill other obligations, as stated in the lease agreement.

The landlord will ask you to choose the day that you will move out, and then this will also be the day that you get your deposit money back. The problem is, if you do this too early, it can put undue pressure on you to find a place before this day arrives. Therefore you should start looking before making a decision on this. Then when you have found the area you want to live in, talked to some good real estate agents, and you know generally what kind of place you are looking for, decide on a moving day with your current landlord. Be sure to keep your landlord up to date on your search. If it turns out you need more time to find a place, talk to your landlord right away to arrange a new moving day.

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1.   How to search for a residence

First of all, you should understand the types of housing that are available in Korea. This becomes especially tricky as many of the terms used are Konglish, and understanding their meaning in English requires a bit of deciphering. For example Jeonsae, Wolsae, Maemae. 

• Wolsae refers to the typical Western concepts of monthly rent.  One difference, however, is that in Korea, the security deposit (called key money) is typically larger than in other countries.  For example, in other countries, it is common for the security deposit to be one month’s rent.  In Korea, the security deposit (key money) can be anywhere from 3 million-10 million won.  Before move-in, usually 10% of the key money is expected to be paid to the landlord to secure the rental contract.  This is typically non-refundable in the case that the renter changes their mind before the move-in date. 
• Jeonsae is a system that is unique to Korea.  For Jeonsae, the renter simply puts down an extremely large security deposit (typically about 10% of the total value of the property) and pays no monthly rent.  The security deposit is returned at the end of the contract (usually two years for a Jeonsae agreement).  This is a good method for saving money, if you already have enough money saved for a deposit. 
• Maemae is used to describe purchasing property.

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Information about leasing contracts

The Seoul Global Center offers a regular schedule of consulting from professionals in fields such as realty, taxes, legal and labor.  I offer my consultation on realty matters every Monday from 2pm to 5pm.

During the time that I’ve been working at the Seoul Global Center, I am frequently asked, “If a foreigner leases a place to live and a problem arises, are they eligible for the same tenant protection under the law as a Korean?”

To give you the short answer, foreigners are eligible for the same protection as a Korean.  However, depending on whether or not you took care of the valid legal safeguards or not, the scope of your available legal recourse will be different, just as it would be for Koreans.

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