Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dong, and Samcheong-dong) an electronics area (Yongsan), a furniture town (Nonhyeon),
and even a motorcycle street. The practice might seem counterintuitive—why set up shop in
a place where there's a bunch of people already doing the same thing?—but because com-
petition is so fierce in these neighborhoods, inevitably it works in favor of the consumer.
Check with local friends or colleagues before making a major purchase to see if there's a
district renowned for whatever it is you want to buy.
Banking
For expatriates, banking is in some ways the quintessential South Korean experience. Banks
are nearly everywhere, there's plenty of choice available to the customer, and service is
generally courteous and efficient. Much use is made of the latest technology, with ATM,
telephone, and Internet banking and bill payment all likely to be as sophisticated or even
more so than they are wherever you come from.
But scratch the surface by making some more complex demands—to wire a bunch of
money back home, for example, or for a mortgage—and some pretty antiquated practices
can come to the fore. South Korea used to control rigorously the amount of money that
could leave the country to clamp down on currency speculation, and some tellers will act
like the bad old rules are still in place (which they aren't). You may be told flat-out that it's
against the rules to lend a foreign national money or issue a foreign customer a credit card
(which it isn't).
 
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