going to korea in mid july

Your question is a very general one. Where are you arriving in the country? You mention Kunsan - are you going to the air base there? Kunsan is on the coast about 150 miles south of Seoul.

You won't be able to do much in 5 days except for the capital and one or two other places. Perhaps spend a couple of days in Seoul, and 3 days elsewhere .... Busan and Gyeongju could be combined, but you won't get a whole lot of time in each.

I suggest you get a guidebook (Lonely Planet Korea is far from the best LP guide but it does cover the main tourist attractions in Korea). Then you will be able to work out what interests YOU and build an itinerary around that.

As for personal safety, there is no need to worry. Almost all of Korea is extremely safe. The main danger is the traffic and bad driving (and watch out for scooters driving on the sidewalks!).

thank you so much for your reply! I actually am not very interested about the capital. I was actually thinking more of Busan and Gyeongju. Is there anything else in Kunsan other than the air base, i know where it is. but I was hoping to find something interesting there. If NOT, then go to the mud festival. Do you know how far from Busan would this festival be? Do korean people understand english more or less? your reply is much appreciated!! :)

I have never been to Kunsan (also spelled Gunsan) so I don't know, sorry. I don't know about the mud festival either! Not much use am I :-(

As for Koreans understanding English, the short answer is "no". Away from Seoul, I would say that the majority of people don't speak or understand any English at all. Brush up on your sign language. Learning how to read Korean doesn't take too long and is a useful skill to have (although perhaps not worth it for only a 5 day trip).

July is also the wettest month of the year in Korea with over 400mm or 16 inches of rain in many parts of the country. Having said that, there are sunny days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunsan

THANK YOOU SO MUCH...I WISHED THEY COULD AT LEAST SPEAK CHINESE!! WELL THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU BOTH!! I WILL WORK ON MY SIGN LANGUAGE...

Chinese is taught in the schools here, but so is English. Learn the Korean alphabet. There's only 26 consonants, & public transport around Korea is great, with busses that go everywhere & the KTX fast train service to Iksan & on to Daejeon, Daegu & Busan. Maybe you could buy a phrase book at your airport bookshop?

oh thank u so much..that sounds amazing.i will def do that..im so scared cuz i have no idea anymore..i used to speak it but now i only speak chinese.it confuses me:(

Here's an image of the Korean script for 'Motel'.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OLPh9dIbP8c/S1hRgYqOLzI/AAAAAAAAASw/IdX_hjFNOHk/s320/korea+036.JPG

The box or square is an 'M', & the symbol that looks like a capital 'E' in English is a 'T' (in English.) You've just learnt your first 2 consonants! Only 24 to go!