South Korea Quarantine Guide

Are you planning on traveling to South Korea? This will be a guide with tips to make your travel a bit easier during these times. 

Additional Comment: Check when this post was written as South Korea is constantly changing its laws in regards to COVID-19. 

Entry to South Korea

Before coming to South Korea check that you can travel with a visa or permit to the country. Click on this link to find out if you are eligible to travel. You can also check what documents you are required to bring at your local South Korean embassy. 

Once in South Korea they will immediately be checking your temperature. If you are symptomatic (exhibit fever or respiratory symptoms) you will be tested for COVID-19 at the airport. If you are asymptomatic you are required to do a 14 day self-quarantine in a facility or in your residential home (only if you are a foreign national with a long-time visa).  In this case, you will be tested for COVID-19 at the facility or you will be required to visit a local health center to be tested within 24 hours after your arrival.

APPS TO DOWNLOAD: If your cell phone doesn’t have storage, make some! It’s REQUIRED to download one or two apps, the Self-Quarantine Safety Protection App and Self-Diagnosis App. These are going to be your friends for the next 14 days or so during your trip here in Korea since they will be contacting you every day to find out how you are doing and if you are showing any symptoms.

In case you do not have a cell phone, do not worry! The local government will rent you one and do not forget to return it after since there can be some penalties. 

At the airport they will be putting a sticker on you with different colors depending on your route or your condition. There are plenty of officials there to help you and guide you along the way. If you have a friend, family or some sort of contact in South Korea that can help you, make sure to have their phone number with you in case of any emergency.

Make sure to wear a mask at all times. Here in South Korea it is mandatory to wear masks outside and indoors. 

14 Day South Korea Quarantine 

So if you are coming here as a tourist you are more likely to be doing self-quarantine in a government facility. 

PRICE: To quarantine in a government facility you do have to pay a price. Unfortunately if you are visiting as a tourist you are kinda stuck with paying. The price right now seems to be around  1,680,000- 2,000,000 KRW per person. This price does include your meals. For more accurate information please check with your local embassy. 

WHAT TO BRING DURING YOUR QUARANTINE STAY: Now if you self-quarantine there are certain things you should consider. You are not allowed to leave your place at all. Not even to go downstairs and get a bottle of water at the closest convenience store, and trust me they will know if you leave the room. 

Because it’s so difficult to leave the room, we recommend you come prepared with food and snacks if you get extra hungry. It’s going to be 14 days where you will be alone. We love the new personal hot pot trend that is going on here in South Korea and it will probably be totally useful to have one in a room all by yourself. 
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There are also great apps like gmarket or shuttle for food purposes. E-mart mall is also a great website that you can use with a foreign card. We suggest that you buy a Korean SIM card to make gmarket and shuttle easier to use. They will need a Korean number but not in particular a Korean card. 

Additional comment: It seems that South Korea is accepting vaccinated people abroad and will be more lenient in the future about quarantine. 

Leaving South Korea Quarantine/ Life in Korea

Once you are finished with your quarantine it’s time to explore South Korea. There are quite some rules and guidelines to follow when exploring around. Till now the country has been very strict about maintaining social distance. At the current moment we are in Level 4 which means there can only be a reunion of 2 people. HOWEVER, please check out the current news to see what level South Korea is at during your stay. 

MASKS: as mentioned before, masks are still mandatory here in South Korea whether you’re indoors or outdoors. So bring a mask for your trip. If you run out of masks don’t worry because they sell them here quite cheap and they are also HIGH QUALITY. 

Helpful tip: buy as many masks as you can to take home if you seem to like them and are required by your home country.

Moreover, we recommend you to download the app ‘KakaoTalk’. This is the Korean version of WhatsApp and it can be very helpful for your daily life! Currently, all restaurants, cafes, banks and other businesses are currently asking customers to provide their contact information to facilitate the tracing process. You can either scan the QR located in the ‘KakaoTalk’ app or write your info in a small check-in book. 

Please do not forget  that most places are closing early also because of the social distancing rules. Make sure to take this into account when you are planning out your outings. 

If you are traveling to other areas outside of Seoul there are different guidelines for social distance therefore check with your local Korean embassy for better guidance as well. 

More Information

There are a lot of websites out there with tons of information. I will be linking all of them below so you are able to access them much quicker. 

COVID-19 Korea – ​​http://ncov.mohw.go.kr/en/baroView.do?brdId=11&brdGubun=111&dataGubun=&ncvContSeq=&contSeq=&board_id=&gubun=

Quarantine Guidelines– https://overseas.mofa.go.kr/viewer/skin/doc.html?fn=20200904033155359.pdf&rs=/viewer/result/202110

List of embassies – https://www.mofa.go.kr/eng/wpge/m_5756/contents.do 

Facebook Group– https://www.facebook.com/groups/quarantineinsouthkorea