Living in Seoul: 17 Things You Should Know

I’m surprised how often I hear of people considering moving to Korea! Seoul has become a very popular place to live over the past decade or so. Between the several large businesses recruiting employees, the school programs looking for english teachers, and various government and military positions, there are a LOT of expats living in Seoul, South Korea!

We get asked a lot about our time overseas– what it was like living in South Korea, and what was different or unique compared to America and other Western countries. And there is so much to say that it’s hard to know where to start!

Most people have heard of kimchi and K-pop and some may even be considering moving to the birthplace of Gangnam Style… but actually living and breathing in Korea is all kinds of challenging and wonderful.

Especially the breathing part…IYKYK.

It’s a huge life shift and there are lots of factors to consider. The more knowledge you have, the easier it is to picture life abroad and make an informed decision.

That said, here are 16 Things I Think You Should Know About Living in Seoul!

1. Seoul is a HUMONGOUS city, geographically.

The city boundaries for Seoul are absolutely enormous. Apparently it’s the second largest city- geographically- in the world, sprawling across 233.7 square miles (source). BTW Tokyo is #1. I know some of you were mildly curious.

Manhattan is big, but if you were to put it inside of the city of Seoul it would only cover 14% of it (source).

Naturally, it takes a very long time to get from one end of the city to the other– no matter how you travel. Traffic is crazy so taxis, cars, and buses take a long time. Even the subway trains make a decent amount of stops (my goodness, if they didn’t, we’d all be walking miles and miles and miles!).

Basically, whenever I went anywhere (even if it wasn’t THAT far away on a map), I’d budget about an hour to get there. I can think of very few places I could get to in less than 20 minutes (even once we decided to buy our own car). I can think of several places that took about 90 minutes to get to –yes, both the starting point and ending point both located within the city of Seoul!

2. The air quality is bad during parts of the year.

Something I didn’t realize until we had moved to Seoul is that the air quality is pretty rough during certain parts of the year. Spring by far is the worst for air quality, which adds insult to injury because the buds on the trees are lovely and the weather is finally warming up after the bitter cold of winter!

If you work full time indoors it may not be that big of a deal for you. However, if you enjoy spending a lot of time in nature or have young kids or pets that need to get out their energy regularly…

You can download apps that tell you what the levels are that day (on my app that I used green = great, yellow = ok, and red/purple = bad).

After living in Seoul for awhile, we could just look out our window and tell if the air pollution was high or low that day, based on visibility.

This was clearly a very good day- we could see all the way out to Namsan Tower and the sky was very blue!

All hope is not lost, though. You can minimize the effects by:

1. getting an air purifier for your home/apartment
2. wearing a mask on days when it’s bad
3. maximize your time outdoors on healthy air days

3. English speakers can get by just fine.

There are some cities and countries where its very challenging to get around without speaking the native language. However, this is not true for English speakers living in Seoul.

A lot of the younger generation has learned English as part of their formal education. Although many are shy and hesitant to speak English imperfectly, I was very impressed with the level of fluency found all over. Most workers and the check-out (whether in the grocery store, book store, or cafe) will speak very basic English, OR will be able to gesture with you.

Between Google Translate and the subway system being very easy to navigate… it’s pretty manageable.

All that said, I hope you read #4 below and take it to heart because after all we are guests in THEIR country!

4. Being able to read Hangul, the Korean alphabet, will be very helpful

That said, your experience will be greatly improved by simply knowing the hangul alphabet. Even if you don’t have an extensive vocabulary, being able to sound out words that you see written around town will be very advantageous.

Knowing the language will help to enhance your experience living abroad in so many ways. The most important, obviously, is that you will be able to communicate on a deeper level with the Korean people you meet.

5. Don’t expect an invite to your Korean neighbor’s holiday dinner!

It’s challenging to truly break into family culture or be invited to attend holidays in Korea. Even boyfriends and girlfriends don’t often get an invite to the important holiday meals. I respect that actually and totally get it. Just set expectations accordingly — these special holidays are kept intentionally small!

If you ARE wanting to experience a Korean custom, weddings are probably your best bet! While holidays are spent inside homes with a strict family policy, weddings are more open to co-workers and friends. My husband and I were able to attend a Korean wedding while living there, and I loved seeing the cultural traditions wrapped up in that celebration.

6. Public Transportation is Cheap, Clean, and Extensive

I go into great detail about how to use the Seoul subway system (even with kids) in this post. It’s no secret on this website that I LOVE the public transportation in Korea. It’s really some of the very best I’ve used in any city. It’s stupid cheap (especially considering how massive the city is, and how far you are traveling each way). It’s immaculately clean, and safe. Unreasonably so, honestly, for how large the city is, and for how many people use it each day.

Between the Seoul subway system and all of the bus routes, you can get yourself all over the place. This is NOT the case in many other cities we’ve lived in or visited (I’m looking at you, Philadelphia)!

7. Seoul is Very Safe (Statistically Low Crime Rates)

This article by Expat Guide Korea lists 10 reasons why Korea is such a safe country, citing the extensive network of CCTV cameras and lack of weapons as major contributing factors.

Overall, crime rates are 4x as high in the USA than in South Korea, and you are 81x more likely to encounter violent crime in the USA than in South Korea.

NationMaster Crime Stats

And on a practical level, I felt INCREDIBLY safe in most neighborhoods all over Seoul, at most hours of the day– even as a woman. This is certainly not the case for many other cities we’ve lived in and visited (Tokyo being an exception).

However, Itaewon is probably the most dangerous neighborhood the be alone in at night. Using common sense is your best friend. Generally try to avoid empty parking garages or alleys at night.

8. Summer is HOT and humid and winter is FRIGID, Fall and spring are gorgeous

This is pretty self explanatory. My microscopic guide to surviving and thriving in each of the seasons in Seoul?

Summer: Take advantage of the splash pads and public pools when outside. Take advantage of the incredible malls & kids cafes. Live at Sulbing and indulge in refreshing bingsu as often as possible (I will never stop loving you).

Winter: Cozy cafes! Underground shopping malls! All of the ramen and soups! Hotteoks!

Fall: Be at parks as often as possible and spot and cherish every single yellow ginkgo tree you can. Maybe even take a trip out to Nami Island where the forest foliage is other-worldly.

Spring: The magnolia blossoms alone make Spring worth waiting for. Unfortunately, air quality can be rough…but grab your mask & venture out into the newly-thawed nature wonderland.

9. Food Dishes Change Seasonally

The extreme differences in weather throughout the year in Korea affect the type of food people gravitate towards.

In Korea, this is definitely the case. In fact, you will be hard pressed to find some of your favorite summer foods when it’s cold out, and visa versa.

SO if you are really enjoying cold noodles, eat them more often because they won’t be offered when it cools down outside. And don’t hesitate to try the seasonal strawberry bingsu before it’s gone (read about my most beloved bingsu HERE)!

10. You Can Find Clothing & Furniture Stores You’ll Recognize!

Great news! There are tons of clothing stores and other department stores that will be familiar to you in Seoul. It’s a massive metropolitan city and features brands and shops from all over the world.

Uniqlo (a Japanese clothing brand) was a favorite place I liked to shop at while in Seoul! And we got tons of our furniture for our apartment at a nearby IKEA (yes they even have the Swedish meatballs!).

Read my article HERE that lists 7 International stores you can expect to find in Seoul.

Mediocre news: You will likely still be shopping in sizes that feel unfamiliar to you (shoe sizes & toddler clothes I’m looking at you).

11. You can find lots of international restaurants and grocery items!

Good news, foreigners! You can find tons of familiar restaurants in Seoul- especially inside the newer, larger malls.

I have articles posted about which international restaurants and which fast food chains you can expect to find in Seoul. But, spoiler alert, you can get a Big Mac or Crunch Wrap Supreme without ever leaving Seoul.

Need familiar grocery items, too?

Costco is your best bet for lots of items, but most large marts contain decent international sections (full guide to grocery shopping in Seoul found HERE).

12. Eating out (Korean food) is cost-effective and healthy.

Unlike in America, you can find food that feels very homemade and very nourishing for surprisingly great prices. International cuisines (sit down OR casual) will always cost you a pretty penny. But if you are down for Korean ramen, kimbap, bibimbop, mandu, or tteokbokki, it won’t cost you too much!

Many of the smaller “mom & pop shops”, especially near subway stations, offer food that really feels similar to how they would be prepared at home. AKA The health benefits feel similar, since restaurants are not sneaking in tons of unnecessary additives or ingredients.

AKA The gap between the style and quality of homemade food VS. eating out food is SO SMALL in Korea. The gap is much wider in the US. Hence, many many adults eat out almost every single meal in Korea.

13. Society is Very Hierarchical in Korea

Age is NOT just a number in Korea. Your age very much affects your social standing and the way that you speak to the people in your life. This is generally true across most East Asian countries. There is a lot of respect for elders and expectations for obedience from those “below” you.

This proves tricky at times because it means the youngest children need to say the longest version of any word or phrase. For example: Me and my toddler are in the elevator with an older man. He says “An-nyeong!”, or ‘hello’ to my son. My son needs to reply with the full “An-nyeong-ha-se-yo!” in order to be polite.

Obviously foreigners get a bit of a pass with some of these technicalities, but it’s good to be aware of and adhere to where possible.

14. Koreans are Germ-Conscious

There are lots of social taboos in Korea surrounding being ill and the spreading of germs– and this was the case even before the worldwide COVID pandemic.

I didn’t learn this until I’d lived in Korea for quite some time, and I wish I’d found out earlier! It’s highly discouraged to cough loudly or even blow your nose in public– especially on an enclosed subway train. Obviously whatever country you live in, humans don’t want strangers getting germs all over them. But it’s all MUCH more taboo in Korea than anywhere I’d lived in America.

The plus side of all this is that Koreans are very comfortable wearing masks if they may be ill or carrying germs. So you can, too, if needed!

15. The Han River is Everything

Just like in many other cities (the Seine in Paris and the Thames in London come to mind), there is a large river that runs through this city. In Seoul, it’s the Han River (pronounced “Hahn”).

You’ll often hear people talk using the phrases “north of the River” and “south of the River”. The government headquarters, the Presidential Blue House, and the most historically significant palaces and neighborhoods are found north of the River.

The neighborhoods South of the river really exploded in more recent decades, especially after the 1988 Seoul Olympics (the headquarters were in Jamsil). Generally, the buildings are newer and tend to be more lavish south of the River.

But something we can all agree on? The Han River unites Seoul residents as their favorite place to:

• relax and eat Chimaek (fried chicken & beer)
• go for a jog (my personal favorite)
• ride a bike along the river trail
• set up a tent for the day and enjoy the view
• rent a kayak or SUP
• go fishing (my husband and son did this a few times)

16. The exchange rate (for those using the USD) is pretty simple!

As Americans we have it pretty easy when getting used to spending money over in Korea. Obviously the exchange rate is constantly fluctuating, but to keep it simple:

17. Koreans are wonderful.

The Korean people I met and interacted with were hard-working, humorous, helpful, honest, and successful. I loved witnessing the friend groups of elderly women exercising and sightseeing together, and the older men hiking up mountains like it was nothing. The hands-on grandparents and the hardworking parents. The curious and bright toddlers and children!

I can’t count the number of times someone offered to help me with a language question, asked me kind questions about my children, helped me carry a stroller or heavy bag somewhere. Of course there were moments of misunderstanding and frustration on both ends at times. But those are far and away drowned out by the abundance of positive interactions we had each day.

I am so grateful for our time abroad, and especially for our interactions with the wonderful people.

That wraps up the 17 Things You Should Know about Living in Seoul!

I hope you found it helpful, especially if you are considering moving abroad! I know everyone’s experience is unique, but we really can’t say enough good things about our time in Seoul.

Cover Image by csk from Pixabay

But wait, there’s more!

Before you go, we have tons of other articles about expat life in Seoul! Be sure to check them out: