Using US Dollars in Seoul, Korea?
 

Having been in most other areas in SE Asia, always found the local people were happy to get U S Dollars ...shops etc. Have not visited Seoul but would appreciate anyone who has been there recently to supply some insight?? Maybe since the value having tumbled, they are not apt to want USD???? REB:confused:

Not sure what other places you have been that accept USD, but it is not the all-conquering currency it once was (and Seould is hardly a 3rd world country). I was in Seoul recently and didn't see anyone using USD to pay for anything, even though there is a US base there. If you found somewhere in Seoul that was happy to take your USD, I doubt very much that you would get a reasonable rate, but won't hurt to try.

why on earth would anyone want us dollars and what makes oyu think this is a spend anywhere in the world currency

Welcome to the 21st Century
 

The dollar is so 20th Century, people want Euros now. Plan to change your currency.

You may be able to use $ in Itaewon and other super-touristy areas but as noted above you probably won't get a good rate.

Korea is a great country, I'm on my way there right now. Have a good time on your trip!

I think a lot of shopkeepers in SE Asia accept any hard currency as the minor inconvenience of converting it later is outweighed by the prospect of losing a sale to someone else who is more amenable. Of course in places like Cambodia the USD is the de facto currency. But I seriously doubt greenbacks will be well received in an advanced country like South Korea.

FYI, Korea's not in SE Asia. ;)

Even places like H.K. where the HKD has been tightly pegged to the USD for around 2 decades, the USD isn't accepted at the exchange rate.

One place where the USD was accepted at par was Argentina when the currency ('90s Peso) was pegged at parity to the USD, and it was also accepted during the inflationary Real era before that.

Itaewon is probably the only place that will accept US$...even there less and less so these days. Some department stores might accept them but you won't be happy with the exchange rate they use.

Currency exchange
 

You should be able to exchange the USD to KRW in most major hotels if you need some KRW in a rush. Otherwise, get some at the airport. From my few trips there, I think it makes more sense to have the KRW than the USD. You'll have better luck doing this even if you have to get it back to USD than trying to get a good exchange rate some place in town, if you can find it.

HJ

Exactly. South Korea is a first world nation and is not even close to being considered "SE Asia."

Why waste time trying to spend dollars when you can easily exchange your green cash for Korean Won??? Can you imagine if a "foreigner" came to you and wanted to buy something using Yen or Won? Would you be offended? I would. It is only fair to use the currency of the country you are visiting, regardless of how strong you think the currency of your home country is. Agreed? Good. Please don't make all of us look bad by demanding that foreigners accept USD. ;)

Back in June, I was able to persuade 2 vendors outside of Seoul to accept US dollar, however they wanted 1:1 exchange. Since US dollar is pegged higher, I wouldn't recommend it unless you were desperately out of Korean money.

while merchants accepting USD in cash appears to be uncommon, be on the watch for merchants who take credit cards and process the purchase in USD instead of won.

dynamic currency conversion adds a 3% fee on top of any foreign exchange fee, and the exchange rate it uses is often considered a poor rate. the merchant is supposed to ask if you'd like to make the purchase in USD (really, in your home currency, so this would apply to euros, yen, etc). but the reality is that the DCC fee is free money to them, so they might not be so scrupulous.

There is really no advantage to carrying USD in Korea. Most local banks will exchange USD to Korean Won. All banks except Standard Chartered and Post Office open from 9 AM to 4 PM, Monday ~ Friday. Standard Chartered and Post Office open until 4:30 PM. No banks open on weekends, except the airport locations.

Credit cards are widely used in Korea including taxis. Not all ATMs in Korea can accept foreign credit cards, but global ATMs can be found at limited locations. Citibank Korea has globalized all of its ATMs in Korea.

Many banks are open until 5 now.

I was there in May and I highly recommend you exchange to won. In the 80's and 90's dollars were more easily accepted but now forget about it. Do yourself a favor and save yourself the hassle of trying to convince them in taking USD.

I have lived here for over two years now, and the only places that regularly accepts USD are some of the foreign restaurants (McDonald's, Starbucks, etc) in Itaewon. The exchange rate is below market. Some vendors may do it but they will do the 1 USD = 1000 KRW. Considering the ease of using the money changers at ICN, you are much better off converting dollars.