What are the living costs like? What expenses will I have?
Generally, the living costs in Korea are cheaper than in North America and much cheaper than in Japan. The most expensive items in Korea are housing, cars and gas and education. Fortunately, as your housing is provided for you and you are unlikely to purchase a car, the two biggest expenses in the country will not affect you. Your main expenses will be food, entertainment and transportation.
Korean food is cheap and going out for dinner is really quite inexpensive. I go out with my family regularly, something I would rarely do in Canada. If you eat at a lot of the expensive Western-style restaurants like TGIFridays or Outback Steakhouse your expenses will be higher. Drinking (alcohol) is also cheap in Korea as Koreans love to drink.
Clothing is cheap especially if you go to Tongdaemun market, which has great prices for clothes. In addition, there are lot of entertainment options in Korea that are very inexpensive. Most of the local tourist places, like the palaces, have very low admission fees (for Kyungbuk Palace the admission fee is only 1000 won).
Public transportation is quite cheap and very efficient. The basic fare for the subway is 1000 won, but you can purchase transit cards that make this even cheaper. Bus fares normally go between 700-1200 won depending on the distance. Taxi fares are much cheaper than in North America with the basic fare starting at 1900 won.
Some sample prices:
- Lunch at a Korean restaurant: 3000-5000 won
- Coke (can) 500 won
- Beer (can) 1500 won
- Subway fare (basic) 1000 won
- Bus fare (local) 700 won
- Movie ticket 7000 won
- Haircut 6000 won
- Taxi (basic fare) 1900 won
- Palace admission fee 1000 won
