As of yesterday afternoon, I am the proud owner of a snazzy new cell phone. (In Korea, they’re known as a “handphone,” the English pronunciation of the Korean word you see above.) And, I have an accompanying contract with LG Telecom for monthly service. All thanks to Jenny Oh at Jenny’s Cellular Service in Itaewon.
I realize that for readers not living as an expat in Korea, this does not sound like a big deal. Let me explain. If you live in Seoul. You need a cell phone. I’d say it comes short on the list after, say, food, shelter, and oxygen.
You do not want to get lost near Itaewon looking for your friend’s apartment without one. (I did, that’s how I know.) Almost everyone here has a 핸드폰 (or a 휴대전화 to use a more Korean, less Konglish, term). Consequently, pay phones have gone the way of dialup. People are likely to have heard of such a thing, but they’ve never actually seen one.
If you are a foreigner living in Korea, however, getting a cellphone is not as easy as you might think. Just because the websites for the big wireless providers–SK Telecom, LG, and KTF–say that they will sign up a foreigner, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will.
