Seoul Global Center’s 6th Foreigners’ Flea Market

Are your shelves groaning under the weight of books you haven’t touched in ages? Looking to clear a little space for new additions? Come and share your love of a good story with fellow expats and Seoul residents at the Seoul Global Center’s 6th Foreigners’ Flea Market of 2011. This month’s market is for the sale of secondhand books only. Vendors must be foreign nationals or part of a team including foreign nationals. For Korean citizens who wish to participate as vendors, please apply on the website of the Ttukseom Beautiful Flea Market (http://www.flea1004.com). The vendor registration should be completed in advance and there is no fee to participate. Any customers are welcome to visit without registration.

1. Date/Time/Place

▷ Date & Time: Aug 27^th, 2011 from 12:00to 16:00

 
▷ Place: Ttukseom Beautiful Flea Market (Ttukseom Resort Station)

2. How to Get There
 

▷ Subway: Get off at Ttukseom Resort Station, line 7, exit No. 2 or 3

3. How to Register as a Vendor/Donator

▷As a Vendor : click here to download an application form and send it via fax or email

▷As a Donator : click here to download an application form and send it via fax or email 

▷Contact information

- Phone : 02-2075-4105 (Korean), 02-2075-4180 (foreign languages)

- Email: jglim@sba.seoul.kr

- Fax: 02-723-3206

4. Rules and Guidelines for Vendors

The Beautiful Flea Market is a flea market that encourages people to buy and use more second-hand goods and to increase the value of recycling. Some of the proceeds will go to charity for our neighbors in need. Please follow our general rules for vendors to make your experience more enjoyable. 

▷The number of items for sale is limited 40 secondhand books (less than 5 copies of the same book)
▷For more people to participate, only one booth will be given to each team.
▷Please donate at least 10% of your proceeds.

Seoul Global Center’s Foreigners’ Flea Market

 Whether you are moving or just have a cluttered apartment, the Seoul Global Center’s Foreigners’ Flea Market is a great place to meet new people while enjoying the simple pleasure of selling things that you have saved from the past.

We invite you to come and join us in the spirit of sharing by selling those items you could still use, but believe others may find more useful.

When & Where

Date & Time: April 30 (Saturday) 2011  13:00~17:00

Where: Seoul Folk Flea Market

Donation : Voluntary donations from the profits will be accepted and given to charity organizations.

Public Transportation

Subway : Sinseol-dong Station, Line no. 1 or 2, Exit 6, 9, and 10

BUS : No. 2013, 300 (get off at Cheonggye 8-ga Sta. Line No. 3)

           No. 2221, 2219, 721, 2112, 303, 9403, 370 (get off at Sinseol-dong Sta.)

            No. 9403, 721, 370 (get off at Dongdaemu Post Office Sta.)

Parking : Due to the space of the market parking lot, it is strongly recommended to use public transportation.

*In the case of rain, the event will be cancelled.

Registration

Tel/Fax : 02) 2075-4130~1 (English) / 02) 723-3206 (Fax)

E-mail : Jglim@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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A foreign college professor had made a mutual agreement with a moving company before signing a contract for their services. When presented with the contract, the stated amount was more than agreed. Assuming the difference would be refunded to him eventually, he went ahead and paid the full amount. When it was not returned, he came with a claim to the Seoul Global Center and asked for assistance.

According to the claim made by the professor, the business violated their agreement and created a false contract, so that a higher fee could be collected using the argument that the contract stated was valid.
We first inquired as to the business’ side of the story.

According to the business, an estimate was to be drafted after a visit to the client’s house. The estimate was to be based on the types and quantities of objects that needed to be moved, as well as the services that were requested as well. The estimate was then to be used in the drafting of the contract, and was signed because the client had agreed to the terms.

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The Seoul Metropolitan Government, in conjunction with the Seoul Business Agency, has created the “Seoul Global Business Support Center”, in order to make Seoul an ideal environment for foreign businesses.  The Seoul Global Business Support Center (COEX) is now recruiting entrepreneurs or investors who are interested in starting a business in Seoul for its first program, tentatively titled the “Foreign Business Incubation Service”.  The purpose of the program is to help cultivate and support promising foreign businesses in their beginning stages by providing free office space and specialized business consulting. 

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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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