Hello Korea

Image generated with ChatGPT for illustration purposes. Last checked: 2026-09-22 · Sources: e-Arrival Card portal FAQ , e-Arrival Card portal: who must file , K-ETA portal notice of 2025-12-23 , Embassy of Korea in the USA notice of 2025-12-29 , KDCA Q-CODE notice board , Incheon Airport arrival procedures · What changed recently: KDCA's 3rd-quarter 2026 quarantine-area list was revised on 2026-09-04, effective 2026-09-07; no change to the e-Arrival Card rules since the portal's 2026-01-08 user-guide notice. Three government forms sit between a foreign traveller and the immigration counter in Korea: K-ETA, the e-Arrival Card, and Q-CODE. Most guides give each a paragraph and stop. This one takes the e-Arrival Card apart screen by screen, because the form is where the practical questions live: which address a transit passenger types, what to enter when the return flight is not booked, and whether the 3-day window means 72 hours or three calendar dates. Every statement bel...

Image generated with ChatGPT for illustration purposes. Last checked: 2026-09-22 · Sources: Immigration Act, English text (KLRI) · Study in Korea, residence and stay · Easy Law, foreigner registration · HiKorea visit reservation · Korean Consulate Hagatna, e-Arrival card notice · NHIS, guidance for foreigners · NHIS 2026 rate notice · Income Tax Act, English text (KLRI) · NTS FAQ · Seoul transport fares · KT, what you'll need · Woori Bank banking guide · GOV.UK, living in South Korea · What changed recently: Seoul's subway base fare went to 1,550 won on June 28, 2025, and the NHIS notice for 2026 puts the foreign local-subscriber average contribution at 158,630 won a month. Most "moving to Korea" pages are lists of feelings: the food, the pace, the winters. Useful, but none of it has a date attached. The first three months in Korea are mostly a sequence of offices, and the sequence matters because each step unlocks the next. You cannot get a monthly ...

Image generated with ChatGPT for illustration purposes. Last checked: 2026-09-25 · Sources: Korea AeroSpace Administration, 2026 calendar notice (월력요항) , Seoul Silver Grass Festival page, festival.seoul.go.kr , Gyeongbokgung reservation hub, royal.khs.go.kr , palace visiting hours and closing days, royal.khs.go.kr , BIFF official site , National Museum of Korea viewing hours , Seoul city media hub, 2025 Lantern Festival , edaily report quoting the Gyeongbokgung office · What changed recently: added on September 25 — every palace, Jongmyo and the royal tombs close on Tuesday, October 6; BIFF ticket sales opened on September 21; the Gyeongbokgung night-viewing season ends on October 2; the Silver Grass Festival dates (October 17-23) are now on the city's festival page. The top result for "Korea in October" is a Reddit thread from a first-time visitor, and the replies are about weather and foliage. Fair enough. But October 2026 has something that a generic autumn guide...

Last checked: 2026-09-28 · Sources: Regulations on Holidays of Government Offices (law.go.kr) · KASA 2026 calendar notice · Immigration Act (law.go.kr) · HiKorea e-application list · HiKorea notice board · Gov24, extension of stay · Seoul Immigration Office civil-affairs leaflet (2021) · Framework Act on Public Administration (law.go.kr) · What changed recently: the holidays regulation was amended on 2026-04-30 (Labor Day and Constitution Day added; the Chuseok rules did not change), and the Immigration Act Enforcement Decree was amended on 2026-09-15 (social-integration courses and the F-1 domestic-helper scope; no change to deadlines). Update, September 28: the counters are open again The Chuseok closures ended on Sunday, September 27, and immigration counters reopen today, Monday, September 28. Two more closed stretches come before mid-October. I cross-checked them against the same KASA 2026 calendar notice cited above: October 3–5 (National Foundation Day falls on a S...