Getting online in South Korea
A travel eSIM is a data plan you install before departure and switch on when you land, so your phone is online in South Korea without roaming charges and without hunting for a SIM counter at arrivals. Your home number stays where it is — the eSIM sits alongside it.
Plans, prices, data amounts and validity are set by our partner and shown on their own page. We do not repeat them here because they change and we do not measure them.
Where you land in South Korea
These are the airports in South Korea with scheduled flights and an IATA code. The minute you step off one of them is the minute an eSIM stops being optional.
| Airport | Code | City |
|---|---|---|
| Gimhae International Airport | PUS | Busan |
| Incheon International Airport | ICN | Seoul |
| Jeju International Airport | CJU | Jeju City |
| Seoul Gimpo International Airport | GMP | Seoul |
| Gwangju Airport | KWJ | Gwangju |
| Sacheon Airport / Sacheon Air Base | HIN | Sacheon |
| Ulsan Airport | USN | Ulsan |
| Yeosu Airport | RSU | Yeosu |
Where you will actually use the data
The largest towns and cities near those arrival airports, by population (GeoNames). Coverage is the partner's to state, not ours — this is simply where travellers in South Korea tend to be.
- Seoul10 349 312 people
- Busan3 285 147 people
- Incheon3 015 482 people
- Daegu2 365 523 people
- Daejeon1 441 203 people
- Gwangju1 401 235 people
- Suwon1 234 582 people
- Ulsan1 098 421 people
Before you buy
Two things worth checking on your own handset, because they decide whether any eSIM works at all: the phone must be eSIM capable, and it must be carrier unlocked. Most phones sold in the last few years are both; phones bought on a carrier contract often are not until the contract ends.
We do not test handsets and cannot tell you whether yours qualifies — your phone's settings screen and your carrier can.