About Key to Korea

Key to Korea is an independent guide for people visiting Korea for the first time, run by a long-term resident of Seoul. We cover the practical things that decide how a trip goes: getting from the airport, paying for transport, finding the right subway exit, and knowing what's open, what it costs, and what's changed.

How we check our guides

Official sources first. Fares, hours, and rules come from the operator or government body that sets them: Korail, AREX, Seoul Metro, city halls, the Korea Tourism Organization, and so on. Every guide lists its sources at the bottom.
Korean-language sources first. English pages from Korean organizations are often months or years behind. We check the Korean notices and Korean press, where changes are announced first.
Dated. Every guide shows when it was last checked. When sources disagree, we give the range or tell you what to confirm on the spot, rather than picking one.
No guessing. If we can't confirm something, such as an exit number, a price, or a bus route, we leave it out.
Privacy-minded. Our K-pop guides list public places only. We don't publish homes, schools, or other private places connected to artists or their families.

Photos

We use photos that are in the public domain, released under CC0, or published by Korean public bodies under the Korea Open Government License (Type 1). Where none exist, we use Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY or CC BY-SA) photos and credit the photographer with a link to the original. We don't use photos where a modern building or artwork is the main subject, because Korean copyright law doesn't clearly allow that.

How this site makes money

We plan to show ads through Google AdSense. Ads never affect what we write or recommend.
We don't currently use affiliate links. If we add them, they will be clearly marked on the page where they appear.
Nobody pays to be included in a guide.

Spotted a mistake?

Prices and rules in Korea change often. If something in a guide is out of date or wrong, please let us know so we can fix it.