There are few ways to stay connected to the world and, more important, your family and friends when you travel to Korea.
You can rent your SIM card from Olleh KT which requires you to stay in Korea for at least 3 days before you can apply for it and to return the SIM card at the end of your trip, before you leave Korea.
Or you can rent a phone at Incheon Airport after landing, last time I checked the price was 5000 KRW/5 USD a day. The renting-plans got me confused right from the start, but if youโre interested you can check it out here.
Me and my friend even tried to buy KT Olleh 1 day wi-fi but it just didnโt work out. The payment didnโt go through no matter how many time we try with different credit cards so we just gave up in the end.
Before coming to Seoul I did a lot of research to find an easy way to keep me connected to the internet world throughout the trip, I came across Evergreen Mobile twitter page and decided to give it a try.
EG SIM card website: http://www.egsimcard.co.kr/eng/main/index.asp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/egsimcard
Twitter: https://twitter.com/egmobile123
I bought two SIM cards, one for me and one for my sister, we faced some problems trying to insert the SIM card too so I hope what I share below will be helpful.
Getting a SIM Card
First step, get yourself an account on EG SIM website, this is something that can be done easily. I wasnโt be able to register at first though, I tried to do it with both Firefox and Google Chrome but still no result so I ended up using Safari on my phone and only then it went through.
They just launched their offline buying places around the time I visited Korea so I donโt have a chance to check them out but you can find the list here: Buy EG SIM CARD Offline
After that just sign in and go to Buy Online to order your SIM card, remember to choose the right card type and the data plan you want. You can choose to whether pick the SIM card up at collecting locations or have it shipped to you (with extra EMS fee of course). After clicking buy youโll have to submit a photo of your passport and others info about your phone, it all comes with clear guidelines. Pay with your credit card and youโll receive a confirmation email from EG and itโs done!
To collect the SIM card, check out there collecting places list: Where to Collect EG SIM CARD
Connect your phone
I chose to collect my card at K BOOKS, Incheon Airport Exit 7. The staff at the book store gave us a list to sign our names on and we got our card. My sisterโs SIM card worked fine after a few time of turning her phone on and off, mine wasnโt. It just refused to work so after the 10th time I reached the staff at K BOOKS for help but she canโt do much either. Her English was limited so she called EG for us and the staff on the phone asked me to turn off my phone so she can check the SIM card. We struggled for about an hour at the airport till EG staff on facebook replied my message and asked me to check APN settings as in this link: About using EG SIM Card
AND IT WORKED! Yay!!!!! So if you have any problem trying to connect your phone just ask them, it might take time but they faced every kind of problems before, itโs best to take advises from them, isnโt it?
When your data usage are getting low youโll receive SMS remind you to top-up in both Korean and English:
Top-up
To top-up your account balance, check out this tutorial from EG blog: How to top up with EG card?They have all the details and pictures for you to follow.
For 2 weeks, I spent all 1GB with my wi-fi completely turned off (yes, I didnโt use wi-fi at all while you can get free wifi at your hotel room, subway stations and cafรฉ and restaurantsโฆ I just wanted to see how much I would spend).
This is my experience, hope itโll be helpful for your trip!
75 Responses
Is it safe to give a copy of the passport to EG when purchasing the SIM card? Do you happen to know how long the K books is open until?
If I’m not remember it wrong the store is open from 7am to 10pm ๐
there is a choice of 2 sim cards; either hybrid or nano. I have an iPhone 4S which uses a micro sim. Which sim card should i then buy? Can I use the hybrid?
Hi, Hybrid sim card is combination of normal and micro size sim card. You can try google Hybrid sim card to see how it looks like.
Anw yes just purchase the hybrid one, I’m sure it’ll fit your phone ๐
Thanks for your quick reply. Because of your blog, I have purchased it online. I hope that Olleh wifi is easily available.
Don’t worry olleh wifi is everywhere from subway station to bus, and every restaurant and copy shop has their own wifi too ๐
How do i check if my phone is unlocked? Im using iphone 6, ios 8. Thanks gal.
The method that I know about is to insert SIM card from a different network and see if you can still make phone call. If you can your phone is unlock. Or you can just call the store where you bought your phone from to check ๐
hellooooooo thanks a lot for the very useful info ๐
so happy to know that i dont need to rent egg wifi for 7days only ใ i mean, i better use the 200,000 won for shopping than for deposito ใ ใ
thanks a lot! โก
You’re welcome ^^ enjoy your trip!
Hello I m using iphone5s will I be able to purchase offline there? As 5s require nano SIM card. Thanks!
Yes, they can provide you nano sim card right on the spot ๐
thanks for the info raeannie93. ^^
Hi! saw your post is actually very useful. but would like to check if i can actually buy it off the shelve in the airport, or i can only purchase it on the wedsite?
Since they have no offline selling point at the airport you can’t buy the sim card there. If you want to receive the sim card at he airport you have to purchase it on the website first.
Hi Wenli, I recently came back from Seoul and yes you can actually buy it from the convenience stores there. I specifically bought from GS25. It cost me about 30,000 won.
Thanks for sharing ^^
Hi Raeannie93, when you pay 30000 won buying offline, is the value in the SIM 30000 won also?
Hi jgg, Yes the value is 30000won as well. But the data value is about 16000won and then there are some initial charges so they will deduct from the initial amount. So there will be about 11000 won left for calls or sms. U can download the app called eg sim to check the amount u have left. I didnt use the remainder in the card coz i only used the data amount. Just to let you know the data uses up pretty quick. I used about 800mb in 9 days. Oh but there is a difference in price depending on ur sim card size as well. If u are using a nano sim then if I am not mistaken it was 50000won.
Great post…i was browsing the net to look for info on prepaid sim card in korea and stumbled upon your blog. I saw your reply saying that you were using the sim card on your Samsung Tablet. I’m planning to do so also and i hope it work on my TabS.
I’m pretty sure it’s going to work with your tablet too ^^
Ooh great thanks! ๐
Hi there! I found your post really helpful but I would like to know do we need to return the sim card before we leave? If we do, do we get the 5,500 KRW back?
No you don’t need to return the card and even if you do I don’t think they will take it ๐
Do you know if this would work on an ipad? I have an ipad mini with cellular…I don’t want to get it if it won’t work on an ipad.
btw. I couldn’t find on the website or in the comments so I’m asking here ๐ thanks.
Currently it works with my Samsung tablet so I assume it does work on an iPad.
But you might just ask them to check on it since I’m not 100% sure about it.
thank you for the reply:)
Hi, do you know how many days before can i apply for the sim card online before my trip? Let say im travelling on 1Oct, will it be too early to apply now??
Hi for EG sim card you can apply whenever you want ๐
Does the sim card support LTE?
Yes, it does ๐
I am in Seoul right now and I cannot get any LTE service. Only 3G.. When forcing LTE it just says no signal
Maybe it has something to do with the phone type? I just have experience with my phone and it showed LTE so I always thought so.
Sorry for giving out false information.
hi~ the sim card will expire after 30 days right? and do they have an offline store in Myeongdong with EG staff we can talk to?
Now they have two kinds of sim card: one will expire after 60 days and one you can use for more than 6 months I think.
Yes they have an offline store in Myeongdong with EG staff, you can see it in their offline stores list.