Useful Apps for Travelers in South Korea
Listed roughly in order of importance. Let me know if I missed any important ones!
If you live in Korea (and have a Korean bank account and phone plan), then see my companion post, Useful Apps for Residents of South Korea.
Essential
Papago | 파파고
The picture to translation feature might be the most critical one here! To me the English <-> Korean translations are much more natural than Google Translate. (Japanese and Chinese, as well).
Make sure to download your languagees in advance!
Airalo
While most cafes in Seoul offer wifi, I prefer to not be stuck without data.
If your phone supports E-SIMs, you can skip dealing with the SIM vendors at the airport. Airalo supports many countries; I’ve used it in Japan and Singapore as well. Ubigi is a similar app.
Airalo and Ubigi are data-only plans. If you need to send and receive texts, get an E-SIM at the airport. This is because they need to verify your passport.
Some apps like Coupang (item delivery) and 배달민원/Shuttle (food delivery) need a valid phone number. Sometimes they accept numbers from any country, so if you’re using something like Verizon’s Travel Pass then you should be fine.
Misc.
Instagram & Tiktok
These social sites are a great way to discover cafes and businesses to visit. Of course, any place that’s popular on Instagram/Tiktok is likely to have long lines…
KakaoTalk | 카카오톡
Kakaotalk is the communication app in Korea. Since I come from the US, I was really surprised people use this over, well, the built-in messaging apps… This is also the case with Wechat in China and Line in Japan.
Hot Tip: You can have multiple profiles. This is handy if you join group chats and don’t want to divulge info from your main profile.
Meetup
This lets you find or organize meetup groups. Although you need to pay for the Pro plan to be able to make groups and host events.
In Seoul there are plenty of language exchanges. The trick is finding a group with lots of Koreans, as most of them are foreigner filled.
Shopping
Coupang | 쿠팡
Coupang offers shopping with next-day delivery if you order early enough. The downside is for food items, it’s often x5 or x10 of whatever, not just 1 or 2.
You’ll need a valid phone number, but any country should work.
Do NOT make an account. At the checkout, find the 해외 신용카드 (foreign credit card) option.
GMarket (global version)
GMarket is more similar to Amazon, with random vendors selling items. As such be careful to analyze listings carefully.
The global version’s catalogue is different.
Food Delivery
배달민원
Food delivery at all hours! That’s worth navigating an all-Korean interface!
You’ll need a valid phone number, but nearly any country works.
Do NOT make an account. At the checkout, find the 해외 신용카드 (foreign credit card) option.
Shuttle
Shuttle supports English and foreign credit cards, but the last time I used it, the selection was not nearly as good as 배달민원 or 요기요.