FAQ — Moving to Korea, no fluff

All-in for a single foreigner in central Seoul: ₩1,800,000-2,800,000/month ($1,300-2,000 USD) covers housing + food + transit + phone + occasional fun. Housing dominates — ₩900,000-1,400,000 for co-living, ₩400,000-600,000 for gosiwon / 고시원, ₩2,000,000+ for serviced apartments. Food: ₩400,000-800,000 depending on cooking vs eating out. Transit (T-money): ₩60,000-100,000. Phone (prepaid SIM): ₩30,000-50,000/month. Gangnam / 강남 runs 30-40% higher; outer wards (Gwanak / 관악, Eunpyeong / 은평) run 20-30% lower. The KOSIS quarterly cost-of-living index at [kosis.kr](https://kosis.kr/eng/) is the official authoritative source for current numbers.

Not free, but it's affordable and nearly universal. ARC holders are auto-enrolled in the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS / 국민건강보험) — premium runs roughly ₩100,000-200,000/month based on income, deducted automatically. Doctor visits cost ₩5,000-15,000 out-of-pocket, prescriptions ₩3,000-10,000. Specialists, surgeries, and hospital stays are heavily subsidized. Foreigners on tourist exemption or stays under 6 months are NOT covered by NHIS — buy travel insurance (World Nomads, Cigna Global) before arriving. Compare that with US-baseline costs: a Seoul MRI costs ₩400,000 (~$290) cash; the US equivalent runs $1,500-3,500.

Income tax is progressive: 6% on the first ₩14M, scaling to 45% on income over ₩1B. National pension (4.5%) and NHIS health insurance (3.5%) are deducted on top. For a typical foreign English teacher (~₩2.5M/month), effective tax + insurance is around 15-18%. The US-Korea totalization agreement means Americans don't pay both Social Security and Korean pension. The US-Korea tax treaty exempts the first $107,600 of foreign-earned income from US federal tax (form 2555). Taxes are higher than Hong Kong / Singapore but lower than most of Northern Europe. Official: [hometax.go.kr](https://www.hometax.go.kr/).

For first 30-90 days (before ARC + Korean bank): Wise (multi-currency wallet works in Korea), Revolut, or Western Union for outgoing transfers. International credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) work at most foreigner-facing businesses, restaurants, and chain retailers. Some Korean small shops are cash-only or KRW-card-only. Once you have your ARC, opening KakaoBank (online-only, foreign-friendly) or Toss takes 15 minutes — and after that, Korean bank transfers (입금/이체) are instant and free between Korean banks. Wise + Korean account is the standard expat stack.

Five things, in order of how often they bite: (1) the deposit (전세 jeonse can lock up ₩50-300M+, wolse / 월세 deposits are ₩5-30M, both refunded only at lease end); (2) utility setup deposits (gas, electric, internet each want ₩50,000-200,000 deposits at activation); (3) management fees / 관리비 (₩100,000-300,000/month on top of rent in officetels and apartments — covers building security, elevator, cleaning); (4) real-estate agent fees (한 부동산 commission of 0.3-0.5% of deposit + monthly rent, paid by the tenant); (5) the 12 or 24-month lease lock — leaving early forfeits the deposit unless you find a replacement tenant. Co-living, gosiwon, and serviced apartments skip all five.

Korean rental deposits are large and refundable. Wolse / 월세 (monthly rent) wants ₩5,000,000-30,000,000 + monthly rent. Jeonse / 전세 (no monthly rent) wants ₩50,000,000-300,000,000+ as a lump sum the landlord earns interest on. Both are refunded at lease end IF the landlord is solvent and honest — and the 2023-2024 jeonse fraud wave ([widely covered](https://en.yna.co.kr/) by Yonhap News) showed that's not always the case. Foreigners are disproportionately exposed because Korean court litigation requires fluent Korean. The MOLIT-backed HUG deposit insurance program now covers many leases but isn't automatic. For most foreigners under 12 months, the deposit math doesn't justify direct landlord rentals — co-living, gosiwon, and serviced apartments are the foreigner-friendly path.

Yes, if your employer is in a higher-cost country. A US-employed remote worker earning $80K USD effectively gets Korean buying power equivalent to 2-3× a Korean professional salary at the same role (post-tax). Cost of food, transit, healthcare, and entertainment all run lower than US baselines. Housing in Seoul is the one cost-of-living category that's roughly comparable to mid-cost US cities. Many F-1-D digital nomad visa holders save 30-50% of gross income while living a higher quality of life than they'd manage in NYC, London, or Sydney. The math depends entirely on your home-country salary level.

After you sign the contract, Steve emails you the wire details for his Korean bank account (KEB Hana Bank). You set up a domestic transfer once and every payment after that takes 30 seconds. Rent is due on the same calendar date each month (e.g. the 12th) — late payments after the 5-day grace period incur a small daily fee per the contract. If you're moving to Korea before your local Korean bank account is set up, you can wire from your home-country account; international wire fees run ₩5–15K and we'll send you the IBAN/SWIFT format that works for most overseas banks.

Same Korean bank account as rent, sent within 48 hours of signing. The deposit is held separately and refunded in full at lease-end (typically within 7–14 days of move-out) minus any documented damages or unpaid utility share. We don't tap into it for normal wear-and-tear — only specific repair receipts or unpaid bills with screenshots. Most tenants get the full deposit back.

The first ₩75,000/month of gas + electricity is included in your rent — covered by SharedHomies. Anything over the ₩75K threshold gets split equally between the two or three housemates living in the unit. Bills arrive on the 10th of each month; Steve checks them and posts a screenshot to the WhatsApp / KakaoTalk group on the 11th–12th showing the address and account number so everyone can verify. Most months in a 3-bedroom share don't go over the threshold; AC-heavy summer months and floor-heating winter months sometimes do.

WhatsApp or KakaoTalk group chat — whichever the housemates prefer. Steve posts a screenshot of the actual bill with the address and account numbers visible so you can verify the math. You'll have 1–2 weeks to settle your share via the same bank transfer you use for rent. No surprise additions to the next rent invoice — overages are always communicated separately.

The realistic options for foreigners: D-2 (university degree-seeking student), D-4 (general trainee — language program students), D-10 (job seeker, 6-month renewable), E-2 (foreign language teacher — most common), E-7 (skilled worker, requires employer sponsorship), F-1-D (digital nomad, requires $66K+ remote-employer income), F-2 (long-term residence, points-based), F-4 (Korean ethnicity), F-5 (permanent residence, after F-2), F-6 (marriage to Korean national), H-1 (working holiday — citizens of 25+ partner countries, age 18-30, 1 year max). Tourist exemption (B-2-1) does NOT permit work. Authoritative source: [hikorea.go.kr](https://www.hikorea.go.kr/).

Required for any stay over 90 days. Apply at HiKorea within 90 days of arrival. Process: book an appointment online at hikorea.go.kr, prepare residence proof (rental contract or 거주확인서 from your district office), passport-style photo, application fee (₩30,000), and proof of legal status. Processing time runs 2-4 weeks. The ARC unlocks: NHIS health insurance enrollment, Korean bank account opening, mobile phone contract, official tax filings, and many residential rentals. For under-90-day stays, you skip ARC entirely.

Tourist exemption (B-2-1) lets citizens of 110+ countries enter visa-free for 30-180 days depending on passport. K-ETA (electronic travel authorization) is required for most visa-waiver entries — apply at [k-eta.go.kr](https://www.k-eta.go.kr/) before flying. You can NOT work on tourist exemption. You CAN study at a language program if it runs under 90 days. Short-term visitors don't need ARC, can't open Korean bank accounts, and rely on Wise / international credit cards. Co-living, gosiwon, and serviced apartments accept tourist-visa renters; direct landlord leases generally don't.

Some transitions yes, others require leaving Korea. In-Korea status changes (no consulate run): D-4 → D-2 if continuing at the same institution, D-10 → E-7 if you secure employer sponsorship, F-2-99 → F-5 after points threshold. Transitions requiring consulate run (typically Japan or Hong Kong): tourist (B-2-1) → any working visa, E-2 → E-7 cross-employer change. Plan ahead — consulate appointments fill 2-6 weeks out, and runs cost ~₩400,000-700,000 in flights / hotels. HiKorea publishes the official transition matrix.

Probably yes if: you work remotely for a non-Korean employer, you earn ≥₩84M (~$66K USD) annually, you have proof of consistent income for 12+ months, and you want to live in Korea for 1-2 years legally without sponsoring through an employer. The F-1-D was introduced in 2024 and has lower barriers than D-10 / E-7 for self-employed and remote workers. It does NOT allow you to work for Korean clients. It DOES allow you to live, rent, open Korean bank accounts, and access NHIS. Ideal for senior remote engineers, designers, and founders. Application is via Korean consulate before entry — see [hikorea.go.kr](https://www.hikorea.go.kr/) for current requirements.

Overstay penalties scale with duration. Under 30 days overstay: typical fine ₩100,000-500,000, voluntary departure, no entry ban. 30-90 days: fine ₩500,000-2,000,000, possible 1-3 year entry ban. Over 90 days: significant fines, potential 5-10 year entry ban. Working without authorization (any visa that doesn't permit it) is more serious: ₩1M-30M fines, deportation, multi-year entry bans, and on second offense criminal charges. Korea Immigration enforces aggressively at airports during exit. The Korean government's voluntary surrender program (자진출국) reduces penalties for short overstays. Don't overstay; transition status before your expiry date.

F-2 is a points-based residency for established foreign residents. Points come from age, income, Korean language proficiency (TOPIK), Korean education, and continuous Korean residence. Threshold: 80 points for F-2-7 (general resident), processed at your local immigration office. Minimum prior status: 1+ year on E-2/E-7/D-2/D-10. F-4 is for ethnic Koreans (Korean diaspora — common for Korean-Americans, Korean-Canadians, etc.) — different track entirely, no points, often issued at consulate. Both lead to F-5 (permanent residence) after 3-5 years. Long-term plan visa for foreigners committed to Korea.

No. Steve provides every document you need — lease, residency proof, address registration, the works — for free as part of your move-in onboarding. The only cost is what immigration itself charges for the card (typically ₩30,000–₩50,000 paid to immigration directly). You take the documents we hand you to your local immigration office, they fingerprint you, and the card arrives by mail in 2–4 weeks. We don't mark up that fee or charge a service fee on top.

Only if you're staying in Korea. If you have an ARC and plan to keep living here after your lease ends, Korean law requires you to register your new address with immigration within 14 days — and remove yourself from your old SharedHomies address so the next tenant can register theirs (Korean addresses cap at 3 registered residents per 3-bedroom unit). If you're leaving Korea entirely, this doesn't apply: when you turn in your ARC at the airport on departure, your address registration is automatically cleared by immigration.

Korea uses two parallel address systems. The older lot-based system (e.g. "Hongje-dong 5-21") has been around since the 1910s; the newer road-based system (e.g. "Segumjeong-ro 4ga-gil 13-14") was rolled out nationally in 2014. Both addresses point to the exact same building — every Korean address gets both. Use the road-based one for deliveries, mail, and Kakao Maps (it's what most modern apps recognize); the lot-based one shows up on older paperwork, official documents, and bank records. Including both on the contract avoids any administrative confusion.

Yes for daily life, no for civic/professional life. Subway and bus signs are bilingual. Major restaurant menus, taxi apps (Kakao T), food delivery (Coupang Eats, Baemin) all have English options. ATMs, hospital reception, government one-stop foreigner services all support English. What requires Korean: signing contracts, dealing with old-school landlords, negotiating with 부동산 (real-estate offices), reading apartment building notices (요금 inquiries, common-area rules), navigating doctor specialists outside foreign clinics, and most workplace cultures outside English-language companies. Most foreigners learn 200-500 words of survival Korean within 6 months and can manage daily life comfortably.

Improving rapidly but still patchy. Traditional Korean cuisine assumes meat or seafood-derived broth in most dishes (anchovy stock 멸치육수 hides in soups; gochujang sometimes contains shrimp paste). Hardline vegetarians need to ask 채식 가능해요? (Is vegetarian possible?) and check labels. The Itaewon, Hongdae, and Yeonnam-dong / 연남동 neighborhoods have ~30+ dedicated vegetarian / vegan restaurants between them. Allergies: Korea has no peanut allergy culture (peanut allergies are rare locally), and ingredient labeling on packaged foods is more general than EU/US standards. Severe allergies require carrying an EpiPen and learning the Korean food vocabulary.

Three reliable paths. (1) **Language exchange** meetups (HiFriends Seoul, university chapter groups, Reddit r/Seoul threads) — low-stakes way to meet curious Koreans who want English practice. (2) **Hobby clubs** (climbing gyms, cycling clubs, hiking groups, ceramics classes, Crossfit boxes) — Korean social bonds form around shared activity, not small talk. (3) **Workplace / academic** (lab mates, classmates, MT membership-training trips) — these are the relationships that mature into close friendships over 1-2 years. The trap: relying solely on Hongdae bar nights and Itaewon parties for socialization keeps you in the rotating-foreigner expat bubble.

Korean office culture (대기업 chaebol, mid-sized firms): strict hierarchy, hoesik (회식) drinking culture as informal team-building, expectation of 9am-9pm hours during busy seasons, slow promotion timelines for foreigners. English teaching (hagwon / 학원): scheduled hours, less hierarchy, but high emotional labor and lower long-term salary ceiling. University research / professorial: closest to Western academia, slow but stable. Remote / international firm: minimal exposure to Korean office norms — your team is in San Francisco, you happen to live in Seoul. Most foreigners are happiest in the last category for that exact reason.

Yes. KakaoTalk is the WhatsApp + Slack + WeChat of Korea — it's how you message friends, schedule with landlords, get appointment confirmations from doctors, receive bills from utilities, talk to taxi drivers, and split restaurant bills. Most Koreans don't read SMS or international messaging apps. Install KakaoTalk before your flight; it works internationally and accepts your foreign phone number. Once you have a Korean SIM, link the Korean number for full functionality (Kakao Pay, Kakao Bank, Kakao T taxi).

Four real seasonal events. (1) **Jangma / 장마 monsoon** (late June-late July): 25-35 days of daily rain, sometimes torrential. Carry umbrella, expect 80% humidity, AC essential. (2) **Heat wave** (late July-August): 30-35°C with tropical nights >25°C. Strong AC mandatory. (3) **Yellow dust / 황사** (March-May): Mongolian and Chinese desert dust + industrial particulates push PM2.5 to 100-300+ ug/m3 on bad days. Air purifiers and KF94 masks are standard. KMA publishes daily air quality at [kma.go.kr](https://www.kma.go.kr/). (4) **Winter** (December-February): -5 to -15°C lows, dry. Heated floors / 온돌 are universal in Korean homes. Get a real winter coat — none of your Italian wool will be warm enough.

Generally yes, with caveats. Crime rates are very low — Korea ranks consistently in the top 5 of OECD countries for personal safety per [official Korea Police statistics](https://www.police.go.kr/eng/index.do). Solo women routinely walk home late and use public transit at all hours. The harder problem is workplace and dating-app harassment, which is more common than statistics suggest because reporting culture is conservative. Apps like Bumble, Hinge, and Tinder work in Korea but require selectivity. Foreign women report Itaewon and Hongdae nightlife as occasionally aggressive (especially around US military presence). Daytime Seoul, residential neighborhoods, and most restaurants are dramatically safer than US-baseline equivalents.

Korea sorts household waste into three streams. General waste goes in the white volume-rate bag (종량제 봉투) printed with your district's name, sold behind the counter at any convenience store: ask for 종량제 봉투 이십 리터 주세요. Food waste goes in a small yellow bag, and in a villa or house that bag goes into the orange bucket by the door. Recycling goes out rinsed and sorted in a clear bag. Everything sits in front of your own building after 6 pm on a collection night, never on Saturday. The wrong bag, time or place is a ₩100,000 fine, and most alleys have CCTV. The full guide covers bag sizes and prices, the freezer trick for food waste, the fines, and where clothes and furniture go.

Yes, but the realistic options are narrower than you'd hope. The main paths that don't require Korean: (1) English education — public schools via EPIK, private hagwon / 학원, university-level English instruction. (2) Foreign-owned companies — many have Seoul offices that operate in English. (3) Korean tech and startup roles in international-facing teams (gaming, e-commerce, fintech). (4) Universities — research and tenure-track for Western PhDs. (5) Diplomatic, consular, and international-school roles. Korean fluency dramatically expands your options into Korean-domestic companies, government work, healthcare, and most service industries. Without Korean: plan on 2-5x longer job search and a narrower band of opportunities.

The Korean startup ecosystem is large and growing — Seoul ranks consistently in the top 20 global startup cities per the Startup Genome Global Startup Ecosystem Report. Major hubs: gaming (NCSoft, Krafton, Smilegate), e-commerce (Coupang — Korea's Amazon), fintech (Toss, Kakao Bank), and an increasingly active AI/ML scene. Senior English-only engineers can target ₩80M-160M+ ($60K-130K USD) at top startups; Korean fluency adds 20-40% to your accessible job pool. Two ecosystem resources worth bookmarking: [Startup Korea](https://www.startup-korea.com/) covers the broader ecosystem (events, funding, accelerators) and [Dev Korea](https://dev-korea.com/) is the foreign-developer community in Seoul (meetups, job leads, mentor matching). Both are English-friendly and free to follow.

Five reliable channels. (1) **LinkedIn Korea** — used heavily by foreign-friendly companies and recruiters; profile must list both English and Korean experience to surface in Korean searches. (2) **The Garrison** ([thegarrison.company](https://www.thegarrison.company/)) — a curated expat professional network with job leads, member intros, and Seoul-specific career resources. (3) **Reddit r/korea jobs threads** + r/teflkorea for English teaching. (4) **Workplace Korea** and **Saramin** for direct Korean job postings (Korean fluency helps). (5) **Workplace networking events** at coworking spaces — Heyground, FastFive, and WeWork Seoul host monthly mixers that produce more job leads than online applications.

H-1 is open to citizens of 25+ partner countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Ireland, Israel, Japan, NZ, UK, etc., not the US directly), age 18-30, single 1-year stay, no renewal. It permits broad work types — restaurants, cafes, tour guides, hagwon teaching (with TEFL credential), short-term internships — but generally not full English teaching at public schools (which require the E-2). For testing whether Korea is a fit before committing to a longer-term visa, H-1 is the lowest-friction option. Authoritative source: [hikorea.go.kr](https://www.hikorea.go.kr/) — list of partner countries and current quotas changes year to year.

Depends heavily on company type. **Korean conglomerate (chaebol)**: strict hierarchy, late hours during busy seasons, weekly 회식 (hoesik) team drinking events, slow promotion timeline for foreigners. **Korean tech startup**: closer to Western flat structure, less mandatory drinking, English at engineering meetings increasingly common, higher work intensity but more flexibility. **Foreign company subsidiary (Google Korea, Meta Korea, etc.)**: closest to home-country baseline. **Hagwon / 학원**: scheduled hours, clear contracts, less hierarchy, but caps your salary ceiling. **Remote work for a foreign employer (F-1-D visa)**: completely opt out of Korean office culture — you live in Seoul but report to San Francisco. Most foreigners say the last category is the highest quality of life.

Yes, with the right visa. The main paths: (1) **D-8 corporate investment visa** — requires ₩100M+ investment in a registered Korean company; sponsors yourself as the founder. (2) **D-9 trade management visa** — for foreign companies opening Korea branches. (3) **F-2-99** with sufficient points — the most flexible long-term option. (4) **F-5 permanent residence** — full work rights, no restrictions. The D-8 is the most common foreign-founder visa, and the OASIS program (Overseas Korean Business Investment) provides startup mentorship and reduced corporate tax for foreign founders. The Seoul Global Startup Center ([sgsc.seoul.go.kr](https://sgsc.seoul.go.kr/)) offers free office space, legal consults, and visa support to qualifying foreign founders.

Everything you need to move in and live comfortably — no surprise add-ons. Your private room: furnished with a bed, mattress, pillow, linens, desk, chair, wardrobe or storage, and a bedroom door key. You bring clothes and personal items. Utilities (all included, no cap): gas, electricity, water, and unlimited fiber Wi-Fi. The first ₩75,000/month of the gas + electricity bill is on us; housemates split anything above that threshold equally — most months you won't hit it outside of peak summer AC and winter floor-heating. Shared spaces: full kitchen with rice cooker, pots, pans, frying pan, spatulas, microwave, oven, full-size fridge, plates, bowls, cutlery, glasses, and dishcloths. Vacuum cleaner, broom and dustpan, washing machine (laundry detergent is yours to buy), and a lounge / coworking area. Keeping the shared spaces tidy is a light, shared effort among housemates — an informal rotation, no enforced chore chart. Not included: your personal toiletries, bath towel, laundry detergent, dish soap, toilet paper, and any food obviously. Bring those or grab them from the mart 2–3 minutes walk away. Fees you do NOT pay with us: real-estate agent commission (한 부동산), building management fee (관리비), separate utility activation deposits, or key-money (전세/월세 lump-sum deposit). Our deposit is one month's rent — that's it. Operations: English-language support from Steve 7 days a week via WhatsApp or KakaoTalk. ARC registration documents provided for free at move-in.

Neither. We don't run credit checks — Korean credit scoring systems don't include foreign data, and we don't ping international credit bureaus. We don't require a Korean guarantor; that's one of the main reasons foreigners choose co-living over direct landlord leases. We verify your identity with passport plus visa documentation. If your visa has unusual restrictions (e.g. tourist on the edge of 90 days), we'll talk through fit before booking.

Most renters book and move in within 3-7 days. We run on passport-only contracts with no Korean lease translation, no guarantor introduction, no key money transfer, and no utility activation (everything is bundled). The bottleneck is room availability — if a specific room is showing as available now on /houses, we can typically have you in within a week of your inquiry. Same-day move-ins happen when timing works out.

We require a refundable deposit equivalent to one month's rent, paid alongside your first month's rent at booking. It's refunded within 14 days of move-out, minus any deductions for damage beyond normal wear or unpaid bills. Refund goes to your specified account (Korean bank, international wire via Wise / SWIFT, or PayPal). You'll get an itemized statement of any deductions before the refund hits.

One month minimum. Most renters stay 3-12 months. For 1-3 month summer language program students, see our [summer survival guide](/blog/summer-2026-seoul-survival-guide-language-program-students). For under 30 days, a serviced apartment or hotel residence is a better fit — we'll happily point you there.

International bank transfer via Wise (preferred — fast and low fees), Revolut, or traditional SWIFT works for the booking deposit and first month. We accept payment in KRW, USD, EUR, GBP at your bank's exchange rate. Once you arrive and open a Korean bank account (KakaoBank or Toss are foreigner-friendly options taking ~15 minutes after ARC), domestic transfers are free and instant. Most renters switch to KRW transfers after their first month.

30 days written notice (email or WhatsApp). If we can re-rent the room before your original move-out date, you only pay through whoever moves in next. If we can't, you cover rent through 30 days from your notice. We don't punish you for life happening — we work through the math honestly. Move-out cleaning is on us; you leave the room empty and swept.

Most are gender-mixed. Bathrooms are private or single-occupancy. If you specifically prefer a women-only or men-only house, mention it in your inquiry and we'll match you to whatever's available — though stock varies by month. Tenant nationality is similarly mixed (Korean, US, EU, UK, Canadian, Australian, SE Asian residents all live across our houses).

Yes — every tenant gets a key for the building / front door of the unit AND a key for their private bedroom. The shared spaces (kitchen, living room, bathroom) don't have separate keys. If you lose a key, replacement costs ₩10–25K depending on the lock type — we re-cut from a master, no need to re-key the whole house.

Korea is one of the safest countries in the world for solo travelers, women included. Seoul specifically ranks consistently in the top 10 globally for late-night solo safety. Our houses are in residential neighborhoods (Haebangchon, Itaewon, Hongje, Yeoksam, Hongdae, etc.) — quiet streets, lots of older long-time residents, parks and walking trails nearby, mom-and-pop shops still open at 10pm. Steve has lived in Korea 8+ years across multiple Seoul neighborhoods and has never had a safety incident. You can comfortably walk home from the subway at 11pm, run on the riverside trail at 6am, grab a late dinner solo. The biggest urban risks are honestly tourist-area pickpocketing and the occasional drunk salaryman; both are rare and easily avoided.

Pans, dishes, cutlery, glasses, bowls, basic cookware (rice cooker, pot, frying pan, spatulas), microwave, oven, full-size fridge, and dishcloths — all provided. You'll want to buy on day one: paper towels, toilet paper, dish soap, sponges, your own personal towel, and any spices or oils you cook with regularly. Local marts and convenience stores are 2–3 minutes on foot from every house. If you want to order from Coupang (Korea's Amazon-equivalent) before your ARC arrives, send Steve the link and he'll order on your behalf to the house — saves you the 2-month wait for a Korean account.

No — bring your own from home, or buy one at the local market or Daiso for ₩5–10K. Same goes for shampoo, body wash, and personal toiletries. We don't run a hotel; the house is set up for residents not transient guests, and most tenants prefer their own towels for hygiene reasons anyway.

Yes — vacuum cleaner, dustpan and broom, dehumidifier, washing machine, oven, and microwave are all in the unit. You buy your own consumables: dish soap, laundry detergent, toilet paper, dishwashing sponges, all-purpose cleaner. We don't send a cleaning service — common areas are kept tidy by the housemates collectively (informal rotation, not enforced).

No. Houses are quiet by design — explicitly contract-enforced. Parties are not allowed. Police being called for noise complaints, parties, or illegal activity is grounds for immediate termination with deposit forfeiture. We screen at application to filter out party-seekers, and the tenant base skews working professionals, grad students, and remote workers who chose us specifically for calm. If you want a quiet home, you're in the right place.

Quiet hours are 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, every day. No music through speakers, no guests over drinking, no loud calls in that window. Enforcement is graduated: a first complaint is a friendly nudge from us; repeated violations (more than twice a week after warning) are contract grounds for immediate termination. Almost every quiet-hour issue resolves with one conversation — but the contract teeth are real.

One overnight guest is fine without asking. Multiple consecutive nights need a quick message to us for approval. The host tenant is fully responsible for the guest's behavior — if your guest violates house rules (noise, mess, disrespect), it's on you and counts against your record. Subletting, Airbnb listings, and unauthorized long-term occupants are explicitly prohibited and contract grounds for immediate termination. Repeated disruption to other tenants — including persistently loud activity in your private room — can also escalate to formal warnings.

Tenants clean their own rooms, clean up immediately after cooking and eating, and split common consumables (toilet paper, dish soap, garbage bags) equally. There's no rotating-chore guilt schedule. Persistent messiness gets two warnings; on the second, we hire a monthly cleaner for the whole house and split the cost across all tenants. At checkout, every tenant pays a flat KRW 75,000 professional cleaning fee regardless of how spotless the place looks — this covers the shared-area deep clean.

Our process: WhatsApp or email intro → application with ID, ARC, and visa proof → 15-minute video call to align on rules → reference or referral check where possible. We accept tenants who have legal Korea status, can demonstrate ability to pay, and explicitly agree to the quiet/no-party/no-drug/no-smoking standards. We decline applicants who are seeking a party house, who push back on the rules, or who misrepresent their visa or identity (which is also immediate-termination grounds if discovered later).

Three steps. First, we ask housemates to talk to each other directly — most issues resolve there. Second, if it doesn't, we step in as mediator over a group call or in-person meeting. Third, for repeated rule violations or disrespectful behavior, we issue formal warnings and may terminate the tenancy. For severe incidents — physical altercation, drug possession, police called to the house — termination is immediate and the deposit is partially or fully forfeited per the contract. We've never had an unresolved conflict.

The manager shows you the spot by the door on day one, the house keeps the right district bags, and the orange food-waste bucket is already outside. Your part is the sort: general waste in the white bag, food scraps in the yellow bag (freeze them until collection night), clean recycling in a clear bag, all tied and out after dinner on a collection evening. Never mix food into the white bag and never put anything out on a Saturday. Not sure which bag? Ask in the house chat before it goes out; a wrong bag is a ₩100,000 fine to the house.