12 Essential Apps for Expats in South Korea

Must-Have Apps in South Korea for Foreigners

Moving to South Korea soon? Check out these essential apps that you can download today for free!

1. WAUG (Korean, English, Japanese)

Locals use WAUG to save money whenever they eat out, book a weekend trip, or make hotel reservations. Our app can show nearby restaurants that have an English menu as well as thousands of activities for a weekend trip like visiting COEX Aquarium in Seoul.

In terms of payment methods, WAUG is also more flexible than most apps in South Korea. If you don’t have a credit or debit card from a local Korean bank yet, you can use your Visa, Mastercard, or AMEX card from overseas!

WAUG is free to download on Google Play here and the App Store here. Sign up to get your ₩3,000 or $3 discount coupon!

2. Emergency Ready App (English, Chinese)

Get real-time updates for calamities and health risks in South Korea with Emergency Ready. The app’s main feature, Disaster Alerts, provides information on COVID-19 cases, forest fire, earthquakes, extreme cases of fine dust, and the like. This is especially valuable to foreigners who have yet to get a long-term local SIM card but want to receive safety notifications.

Download the Emergency Ready App for free on iOS here and Android here. To limit alerts in your vicinity only, you can go to Setting > Set Receive Area > (Toggle) Set as your preferred location > Add area.

3. Papago (English, Japanese, Chinese)

Google Translate works just fine, but if you’re looking for an alternative that’s more common among locals, you can try Papago. It’s an English to Korean translator app from Naver, which is Korea’s largest search engine.

Download it for free on iOS here and Android here. Make sure to enable offline translation by going to the Menu > Offline translation > English-Korean & Korean-English.

4. Naver Map (English, Japanese, Chinese)

Naver Map is a GPS and navigation app in Korea that provides rich route suggestions depending on your preferred mode of transportation. The recommendations are more localized compared to similar apps, so you’ll get more information as you plan your commute.

For bus searches, you’ll be shown the fare costs, real-time bus locations, and your ETA. Subway results will have a quick overview of the number of transfers you need to take, fare costs, train timetable per day, and exit information. The app also has a built-in subway map of Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, and Daejeon, so you won’t have to download a separate one.

Get Naver Map for free on Android and iOS. Upon installation, you may want to save your home and work addresses so you won’t have to type them in each time.

5. Coupang (Korean)

For online shopping in Korea, the most popular app used by Koreans is Coupang. From fresh groceries, wardrobe, gadgets, luxury goods, and camping gear, Coupang has it all!

If you’re new in South Korea and would like to have a hand cream to moisturize your hands or a hand sanitizer to keep your hands clean and protected, you’ll also find lalafranc’s hand care collection in Coupang!

6. Coupang Eats (English, Korean)

While the two most popular apps for food delivery in Korea are Baemin and Yogiyo, both still don’t have an English interface. If you want to order food fast without having to translate from Korean, download Coupang Eats here and select from a variety of local restaurants, chains, pizza places, cafes, and more!

7. Hana EZ (English, Chinese, Filipino)

If you’re just getting ready to fly in and are thinking about setting up a local bank account, you may want to consider Hana. This Korean bank prides in their financial tech that’s designed for expats, specifically for those who need to transfer money overseas regularly. One of their latest products is the Hana EZ app, which allows registered Hana clients to send money from South Korea to the US, Australia, Canada, Philippines, Indonesia, and others. The app supports several languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese, Nepali, Mongolian, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, Filipino, and Khmer.

Hana EZ’s app is available on iOS and Android, but you’ll first have to visit a Hana Bank branch and set up a bank account. If you’re not available to drop by during weekdays, you may want to visit Hana Bank’s designated Sunday branches, which specifically cater to foreigners. You can find the list here: Weekend Banking in Korea: Hana’s Sunday Branches for Foreigners

8. Kakao T (English, Japanese, Korean)

Kakao T (or the enhanced Kakao Taxi) is an app that lets users find and book a cab in Korea, just like Uber and Grab in other countries. It also allows those with vehicles to find nearby parking spots and hire a professional chauffeur in case the user is unable to drive. The app is very helpful on those times when hailing a cab is difficult, but just like with other online services in Korea, a local SIM card and a bank account may be required before usage.

Kakao T is available for iOS and Android users.

9. Kakao Talk (English, Chinese, Spanish)

Kakao Talk is one of the two most used smartphone apps in South Korea. New foreigners will want to download the app as soon as possible to be able to reach out to classmates or coworkers. Just like other social messaging platforms (such as WhatsApp or Messenger), Kakao Talk has a feature called Channels, which allows users to connect to various brands and be informed of their promotions (most likely sent in Korean).

Kakao Talk is available on Play Store and the App Store. You may also want to install the app on your Mac or PC so you have it all in one place when you’re working.

10. Naver (English, Chinese, Japanese)

Finally, we have Naver, the most popular app in South Korea. The platform not only has the most preferred search engine in the country, but also has portals where you can get the latest on almost all facets of life, including entertainment, fashion, news, shopping, and what have you.

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Author’s note: Except for the company asset, WAUG Inc. and the author of this article do not endorse the apps listed on this guide.