Korea - Currency Exchange In Korea ...(and possibly other countries)

Possibly Hong Kong or Singapore, and China (but reading the China thread for that).

Mainly need to know about Korea. Is it best to bring money and exchange it? though, I prefer to just charge, as I am not sure how much money I will spend when I am overseas. Should I go to ATM and withdraw money? Charge transactions on Debit card?

ATMs are all over Korea, unlike say Japan. If you want the best exchange rates go to Itaeweon with USD. They have a heap of semi-shady places which are perfectly safe to get the best rates in Korea, but that's only if you carry cash with you. I recommend just using the ATM inside 7/11 when you need more cash.

so with cash, go to Itaeweon, otherwise, just use ATM at 7-11s? are the 7-11's all around the country as they are here in the US?

Yes, there are other places to exchange cash, but Itaewon consistently has the best prices in the country. If you are in Busan go to Chinatown/Russian Road for decent exchanges; however, if you take my advice and just bring a credit card and an ATM card you'll be just fine. 7/11's with internationally ATMs are all over the country. Only the most rural islands do not have them and I'm guessing you're unlikely to show up on one of them.

Only the most rural islands do not have them and I'm guessing you're unlikely to show up on one of them. And the rural islands often have a family mart ;)


I wouldn;t take a trip to itaewon just to exchange cash. The banks here dont charge much more than 2-3% off the interbank rate to exchange money. I would still recommend using an ATM anyway

I would agree with the other posters, using an ATM to get some money will do fine, actually I was surprised by the amount of business/shops that accept international CC in Korea, even though most don't advertise it (or only have some local cards at the entrance) it works perfectly.. needed less than 100.000 Won in cash for 9 days there in 2011, eating out every day..

Usually I withdraw some cash from ATM for small transactions for daily use. The amount of cash depend on the duration of the stay and how widely CCs are accepted. You can start with smaller amount if your bank does not charge extraordinary fees.

Pay extra attention when withdraw KRW as there are too many zeros. Last time I was there, I got too much money (also in small bills) by mistake, I need a small paper bag to hold the money :p Find ATMs with Global sign to withdraw money, I assume those are the ones display multiple languages.

And the rural islands often have a family mart ;)


I wouldn;t take a trip to itaewon just to exchange cash. The banks here dont charge much more than 2-3% off the interbank rate to exchange money. I would still recommend using an ATM anyway

Most Family Marts do not have international ATMs. Of course you don't go to Itaewon to just change money, you also grab a kebab/falafel or some of the other decent international cuisine they have.

In Korea, use ATMs, or if you have an international CC that doesn't charge a hefty foreign transaction fee, just about every shop takes CCs. Hong Kong and Singapore have ATMs everywhere as well IIRC, but take CCs a bit less that Korea.