Maybe your traveling to Korea for a week to see the wonders of Seoul and do a bit of shopping. Or maybe your traveling to Korea to start a ESL teaching job at a hagwon. If you are planning either or some sort of other trip in which you need to be in Korea for an extended time, here are a couple APPs you should consider downloading on your phone.

I use an iPhone XR (which I brought here in Korea to replace my iPhone 6S), so there is a chance that some of the apps I mention might not have a Android equivalent. My first app, or rather family of apps I suggest you download is the Kakao Apps: KakaoTalk, KakaoMetro, Kakao Map & KakaoT. KakaoTalk is the main messaging app to chat with friends here in Korea. Everyone has it on their phone. If they don’t, they either a foreigner who’s here on vacation or lying. KakaoMap it my favorite map app to use especially when in a big city like Seoul or Busan. I do also have Google Maps and Naver Map, but I rarely use those.

KakaoMetro is great when you are looking at the Subway system and your trying to get around from station to station. However, if you have KakaoMap, you can also find the stations in that one. Metro is just more focus on the stations rather than the city and its streets and buildings.

Last one of the Kakao Apps I think you should download is KakaoT. It’s the taxi calling apps. I personally think this one is great to have since I don’t really speak a lot of Korea or even speak it well. This app let you basically “call” for a taxi to pick you up at your current location and lets the driver know where you need to be dropped off. This is how I was able to get to my week of summer camp at another school across town on time. If I had taken the bus, I probably wouldn’t have made it until well past the start time. Not good on a resume.

Another app I would recommend is the AirVisual app. If your health conscious and have asthma like me, this app is great to check the air quality in your new home. When I got here, it was quite bad and having this I knew when I step out of my house with a mask on rather than run back in to grab one.

I would also recommend you get the KoRailTalk app if you plan on traveling back and forth from different cities in Korea. It the main train app where you can purchase you train tickets and have a digital copy of your ticket. It’s great to have since the actual website where you can purchase tickets only works on Windows. Since I’m a major Apple devotee, that means either using the computer at school or use the app. Much rather use the app.

I have two guides on my phone: lonely planet and VisitKorea. Both are great for planning trips and places to visit. I have both because I was originally using VisitKorea, but needed one for my Trip to Japan back in July. They have great advice and detailed descriptions of sites to see.

The last two apps I recommend are for those of you are are going to be in Korea for an extended amount of time: Gmarket Global and Coupang. Both are an online shopping site here in Korea. I mostly order things from Coupang like my microwave and blender. Gmarket is good for a lot of foreign things and larger size clothing. Gmarket is run by Ebay and Coupang is the Amazon of Korea. Which ever site you use you are bound to find something.

Those are the tops apps I recommend for life in Korea. They make things a whole lot easier to survive and thrive. Until next time…

안녕히 가세요, jane*