Korea Actually is an independent practical guide for international visitors, residents, students, and anyone trying to understand how everyday life in Korea actually works.
The site focuses on decisions that are easy to get wrong from outside Korea: payments, transport, phones, housing, healthcare, shopping, food, paperwork, and other practical parts of living or traveling here. The goal is not to make Korea sound simpler than it is. It is to show the conditions, exceptions, and friction points that matter before a reader spends money or makes a decision.
Founder & Editor
Cheolho Lee is the founder and editor of Korea Actually. He is based in South Korea.
He studied Business Administration at Yonsei University and earned an MBA from Waseda University in Japan. His career includes about a decade of export work at LG Electronics, later executive roles at foreign-affiliated and mid-sized companies, and experience running an independent business before retirement.
That background is useful for understanding Korea from both inside and outside the country, but it is not presented as first-hand expertise in every subject covered on this site. Korea Actually does not turn desk research into invented personal experience. When a guide has not been personally experienced, the article is strengthened with field checks, primary sources, current operator information, real interfaces or documents where available, and clearly stated limits.
How Korea Actually Researches a Guide
First-hand means the point comes from direct personal experience. Field-checked means a location, interface, route, price display, store condition, or other real-world detail has been checked without claiming the entire process was personally completed. Source-verified means a factual claim has been checked against a relevant primary or authoritative source. Desk-researched means the point comes from research and is presented as research, not personal experience. Illustrative means an example is used to explain a decision and is identified as an example.
For higher-risk topics such as healthcare, immigration, finance, tax, housing, legal rules, prices, deadlines, or eligibility, primary sources are prioritized and important conditions are stated rather than compressed into a simple yes-or-no answer.
Articles are updated when procedures, prices, systems, links, or practical conditions change. If a correction materially changes a reader's decision, the article should be corrected rather than quietly defended.
Contact
Questions, corrections, and business inquiries: urijulie0202@gmail.com