Latest: every figure dated and sourced
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You Cannot Check Whether Your Korean Airbnb Is Legal. Here Is What You Can Check.
The culture ministry admits no unified database exists. But the registration rules make four things checkable from the listing alone – and 98.3% of properties Seoul caught were on a booking platform.
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Korean Hotel Cancellations: The Refund Table That Probably Doesn’t Apply to You
Accommodation is Korea’s top tourist complaint and 84.3% of complainants are foreign. There is an official refund schedule – and a Supreme Court ruling that lets platforms override it.
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What Korean Food You Can Actually Take Home
Incheon Airport surrendered 165 tonnes of passenger goods in six months – 5.1 tonnes of it kimchi. Then there is your own country’s border. Both gates, checked against official sources.
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Korean Hair Salon Prices: What Can Legally Be Added to Your Bill
Korean salons must post final prices including VAT. Hair length, stylist tier and add-on treatments are all applied on top – and the national consumer dispute standard has no category for overcharging.
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Korea Refunds the VAT on Your Hotel Room. Almost Nobody Claims It.
Korea refunds hotel-room VAT to foreign visitors for stays up to 30 nights, at a shrinking list of designated hotels. The official English page lists hotels from 2020 — and the government has proposed ending the scheme on 30 June 2027.
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Duty-Free Saves 10% on Korean Cosmetics. Olive Young Discounts More.
On a Korean-made product in a Korean duty-free shop the only tax removed is 10% VAT. What is actually cheaper where, the base exchange rate that moves the price, and the alcohol rule most guides still get wrong.
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You Can Buy Soju at 3 a.m. in Korea. You Just Can’t Have It Delivered.
Korea sets no closing time for alcohol in shops. What it bans is selling at a distance: a delivery app cannot send you a bottle on its own.
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Your 249-Gram Drone Is Legal in Korea. Flying It Over Seoul Is Now a Crime.
Weight exempts you from registration and licensing. It exempts you from nothing over central Seoul – and since 17 September 2026 the penalty there is criminal, not administrative.
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Bulguksa Stopped Charging Admission in 2023. So Did 64 Other Temples — and Five Didn’t.
Since 4 May 2023, 65 Jogye Order temples charge no admission, Bulguksa among them. Five still do. The government reimburses the rest.
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You Can Legally Drink in Public in Korea. The Han River Ban You Read About Never Happened.
Korea has no general ban on drinking in public. Since June 2021 local governments may designate specific alcohol-free zones, and only those carry a fine.