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| *Travel Tips>>>Korea Travel Tips |
How much does...in korea cost?(about/average)? |
Travel Info meals: dinner? lunch? breakfast? shopping: clothing? electronics? transportation: taxi? trains/subways? Travel Tips dinner = 5000 won lunch = 4000won breakfast = 2000won clothing = 50000 won electronics= impossible taxi normail=800 per 1 km luxury= 2000 per 1 km subway= 900 won train = impossible Source(s): living in Korea now Other Travel Tips Korea is not inexpensive. In general expect to pay the following: Meals: Dinner - about $25 per person; Lunch - you could get by at about $8; Breakfast could be inexpensive especially if you eat in a local noodle shop Shopping: Electronics are about the prices of the US. But you could get very new models - in some cases models that have not made it to the US yet. So you could find some interesting and good electronics for good (similar to the US) prices; Clothing - if you shop in the big malls like Lotte World, you would pay US prices Transportation: Taxi -- VERY EXPENSIVE; the ride from the Incheon (airport) to downtown Seoul could run you over US$100. There are cheaper alternatives -- take the shuttle bus from the airport to the city. It will cost you about 13000 Won (much much cheaper than the taxi) Have a good trip Personal experience from frequent travel to Korea standard of living korea is very similar to NY (info is based on Ny city as 100 pts), because according to http://english.seoul.go.kr/residents/inf... you can see that Seoul is rank in 10 is about 95.3 and NY rank in 8. http://english.seoul.go.kr/residents/inf... Sorry but I don't agree with one of the other posters, Korea is considered very expensive, in fact, it has been rated as the second most expensive city in the world for Expat cost of living after Moscow. I live in Seoul and can tell you that if you eat Korean food, you can live cheaply - Lunch / Dinner about the same price 8 - 10 $ of course cheaper if you can live on noodles or something. All other costs are higher than in the US or Canada - you will pay more for anything of good quality than you would normally pay in N. America. Contrary to the other poster, taxis are very cheap in Korea - yes the taxi fare from Incheon airport is about maybe 60 or 70 dollars, but it is also at least an hour drive, most of which is by highway - its a long way so of course its expensive. However, hailing a taxi in the city is cheap - starting rate is about $1.90 and trips are far cheaper than any city in N. America where taxis are not the norm. There are 78,000 taxis in Seoul. Electronics ...not cheaper in Seoul - just check the internet for the costs. I am always amazed that it is cheaper to buy the same Korean made goods in N. America than it is in Korea. Korea is a closed economy therefore, the tariffs on any imported goods are very very high. That is how the Korean economy has been built - force the Koreans to buy Korean made goods - at inflated prices - why? because foreign made goods are either not let into the country or have a huge tariff put on them which makes them ultimately more expensive to buy. Korean goods are then priced higher in Korea then elsewhere because they do not have to compete with foreign brands thanks to the gov't tariffs. I get a kick out of going on to bestbuy.com or futureshop.ca and showing the Koreans in my office how much more they pay for goods made in Korea than others do around the world. Public Transport is very cheap - it varies depending on how far you are traveling but I think the maximum subway fare it about $1.10. Domestic air travel is comparatively expensive for the same reasons as the electronics are expensive - there is no outside competition to drive the prices down. Utilities are extremely expensive - gasoline is about $1.40 per liter ($5 per gallon for the Americans reading) Generally, it鈥檚 expensive here unless you are willing to leave your lifestyle at the border and live and eat like a Korean. EDIT : ADD NEWSPAPER ARTICLE BELOW: THE CHOSUN ILBO - SEOUL - FEB 26 / 07 The price of everyday commodities in Seoul has risen to the highest level in the world. While Korea隆炉s per-capita GNP barely exceeds US$20,000, consumption in Seoul was similar to big cities in countries with per-capita income of some $30,000-40,000. Foreigners from New York, Tokyo and other cities with notoriously high prices are aghast at Seoul prices, which are due to a combination of the strong won and high consumption. High tariffs and tax barriers raise the prices of agricultural products, cars and fuel to among the highest in the world. Reason 1: The strong won According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), prices in Korea were the lowest among member countries in 2001. Putting Korea at 100, prices in Mexico then were at 122, in the U.S. at 160, in Switzerland at 186, and in Japan at 217. But by 2006, Mexico was at 78, the U.S. at 107, Japan at 136, and Switzerland at 152. The price gap between Korea and Japan dwindled, while prices here rose to a similar level as the U.S. and the ratio against Mexico was reversed. The first reason is the exchange rate. The U.S. dollar fell 23.6 percent from W1,291 in 2001 to around W955 in 2006. That of course makes Korean goods more expensive in dollar terms. A more fundamental reason is the improvement in living standard. The aggregate price level showed an average 3 percent rise since 2000, but higher consumption boosted the prices people actually feel. The OECD evaluates the living standard of Korea as similar to Paris, London, Brussels and other major cities in Europe. Reason 2: Consumption exceeds income The average price in 2002 of 750-900 g of powdered milk for infants in Korea was around W12,000, but that rose to 20,000 in 2006 due to a trend toward better quality goods. A staffer with a powdered milk company said, 隆掳High-quality powdered milk with several benefits started to dominate the market, and cheap powdered milk was driven out.隆卤 That in effect means that consumption patterns raised the price. In other words, the standard of living and everyday consumer prices are headed in same directions. Consumption in Seoul is high even in the eyes of the Japanese. The Mainichi Shimbun隆炉s Seoul correspondent Tetsuo Nakajima said, 隆掳Though ordinary people隆炉s living expenses are still lower in Korea, it seems to be more expensive than in Tokyo to consume as much as others.隆卤 Reason 3: High tariffs and tax Among the things foreigners consider especially expensive is farm produce. According to a study by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), potatoes, apples, carrots and beef were the most expensive in the world. One kg of beef in Seoul costs $48.10, 10 times the price in China ($4.70) and more expensive even than Japan, which is famous for expensive beef and where 1 kg is sold at $46.50. According to market theory, cheap farm products should be imported in order to lower prices, but Korea blocks imports with high tariffs. Tariff rates on imported potatoes, apples and carrots stand at 30-45 percent -- three times the tariff imposed by European countries. Much the same is true for industrial products. The tariff on imported cars in Korea is 8 percent, much higher than that of the U.S. or Japan, where it is 2.5 percent and 0 percent, respectively. The average price of 2,000搂娄 automobiles is in the order of $22,241 in China, $18,000 in Korea, $14,500 in the U.S. and $12,310 in Japan. An importer says a BMW sedan sold for W80 million in Korea costs W50 million in Japan. Seven types of levy including tariff make the price difference, he added. According to a study by Energy Detente of the U.S., gasoline in Korea, which costs around W1,500 per liter, is 36 percent more expensive than in Japan, where it costs W1,100. This is not unconnected to the fact that 60 percent of the price of gasoline is tax in Korea. In Japan only 46 percent of the total price is tax. Jeong Jae-hwa of the Korea International Trade Association said, 隆掳High tariffs on imported goods and tax eventually influence domestic price,隆卤 he added. (englishnews@chosun.com ) |
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