I will be flying UA SFO-->ICN and connecting to Asiana ICN-->PVG (all on one ticket purchased from united.com, much cheaper than the SFO-->PVG direct flight 857). I have a 4 hour 40 minute layover at ICN, which does not bother me too much because as 1P I can use the lounge when traveling internationally, and I've never been to or through ICN before, and hear it mentioned in the same breath as Changi (though I am skeptical), so I won't mind looking around the airport a little.

However, this length of layover would potentially permit leaving the airport and having a look around locally. There are apparently transit tours of varying lengths (some as short as 1 hour) available, but they stop at 4 PM so that's not going to work for me.

If I wanted to explore outside the airport a little bit on my own, a few questions:

1. Will I be issued the boarding pass for the ICN-PVG Asiana segment upon checkin at UA at SFO? If not, are the logistics of obtaining the Asiana boarding pass at ICN conducive to being able to subsequently exit through Immigration, or is the Asiana transit desk beyond the "point of no return" with respect to being able to go through immigration and exit the airport? If the latter, would there be an issue with exiting the airport and obtaining the onward boarding pass in the regular check-in area?

2. Is there anything at all within walking distance or short train ride from ICN worth seeing? It seems to be in an isolated area, and about the only thing I've been able to discern is that there is a small casino adjacent to the nearby airport Hyatt. But I do hear there is rapid development in the vicinity of ICN so some of the information posted a few years ago may be outdated.

3. If I did leave ICN airport for a couple of hours, is that going to create any unwanted headaches coming back through passport controls when I return to the airport to catch the onward flight (i.e., why were you in Korea for such a short time?). I've never entered S. Korea previously so don't have a sense what their customs & immigration checks are like entering and exiting (note I am a normal-looking U.S. Citizen, Caucasian middle-age business professional).

Thanks for any words of wisdom on the topic.