Getting a Korean phone number
Prepaid to land, postpaid to live — and what 2026's new rules change.
Prepaid first, postpaid later
On arrival, a prepaid SIM or eSIM with a Korean 010 number covers calls and data — airport counters charge roughly ₩30,000–60,000 depending on days and data, while online vendors and convenience-store SIMs are noticeably cheaper. Bring your passport AND your entry stamp/slip: since the 2026 crackdown on fraudulent activations, vendors increasingly require proof of entry, and airport counters may run a facial-recognition check.
After your ARC arrives, switch to a postpaid plan in your own name — that's what banking apps and identity verification (PASS) require. Prepaid balances typically stay valid 30–90 days per top-up; if you stop recharging for around 90 days, the number is reclaimed.
The 2026 rules you should know
From July 6, 2026, Korea is phasing in facial verification at activation across the big-3 carriers and MVNOs (part of the anti-fraud package; alternatives are the government Mobile ID app or a same-day registry document, with automatic ID-forgery checks arriving from September 2026). Data-only travel eSIMs without a Korean number are not affected.
Line limits: foreigners can open at most 2 new lines within any 180 days (Koreans 3) — prepaid and MVNO lines count, even cancelled ones. Check your status at msafer.or.kr. And note: standard postpaid contracts generally require more than 60 days of legal stay remaining.
What you need for postpaid — and what it costs
ARC (mobile ARC increasingly accepted), passport as backup ID, and a Korean bank account or Korean-issued card for auto-payment. MVNO (알뜰폰) plans are 50–70% cheaper than the big three: roughly ₩11,000–25,000/month (LG Hello Mobile, KT M Mobile, EG SIM, Mobing, SK 7Mobile) versus ₩45,000–80,000 on SKT/KT/LG U+ — same networks. Compare live prices on moyoplan.com.
The name-spelling trap
Banks verify your identity against your carrier's records. If your name at the carrier differs even slightly from your passport/ARC — spacing and hyphens included — app verification fails. Insist the staff enter your name in ALL CAPS exactly as printed on your ARC; if PASS later fails, call 114 and ask the carrier to read back the stored spelling.
The chicken-and-egg problem
Phone needs a bank account for auto-pay; bank apps need a phone. The standard order: prepaid SIM → branch-opened bank account → postpaid switch → banking apps. Our diagnosis sequences these steps for your exact situation.
Not sure where you are in the process?