Where to buy a South Korean SIM card in Busan

Hi, can anyone recommend where to buy a South Korean SIM Card to use my UK mobile phone? Are there any restrictions I should be aware of and what do you think would be a good amount to last for 2 weeks - very limited use? thanks for the help

it won't work. foreign manufactured cellular phone, even if it utilizes the same technology, would not allow to connect into local korean network. there are ways around it but just too much hassle. buy a local cellphone then you should be able to get into the korean network.

As mentioned above, local sim cards won't work in your UK phone.

If you're only here for 2 weeks, your best bet is to rent a phone at the airport .... this is certainly available (and fairly cheap) at Incheon airport in Seoul, and I should imagine you can do it at Gimhae airport in Busan too.

Buying a local cellphone isn't as easy as it sounds, seeing as almost all Koreans use contract phones, and there are very few pay-as-you-go options available. In any case it's definitely not worth it for two weeks. I also need to show my alien residency card every time I top my phone credit, which obviously you wouldn't be able to do.

thanks guys - guess we will need to disconnect from the world for a few weeks :(

I dun remember the place but there are a lot of high tech gadgets on sale there. (close to one of the subway stations). On the floor where they sell cellphones they have the 3 major cell providers available to register your pay-as-you-go plan. Only there their reps would sign you in with those kinds of plan with a locally made korean phone. Normal street dealers would not know what you are talking about and seeing you as a foreigner they would not even into that without a ARC. On the same floor they have lots of cellphone merchants where you could buy a cheap secondhand cellphone. Only problem is you really dunno the quality of the deal. Then you head over to one of the 3 service centres to get a PAYG plan. It would be the cheapest option as compared to getting those raw deals at the airport.

thanks energizer, so it seems the only way to use the phone is to buy a korean mobile phone? Its probably not worth it for a 2 week trip..

As per my above post, is renting a phone not an option for you? You can definitely do it at Busan airport (see here).

Some friends rented one when they came to visit me in Korea a few months back and it wasn't expensive, although you need to have a credit card for the deposit.

do you need to drop the phone off at the same location? We will be flying into Busan and leaving via Seoul.

Ah I don't know about that, sorry. My friends flew in and out of the same airport (Seoul).