Damn, well this is starting to seem difficult. I'm planning on living in Korea to just play poker, so I won't be able to get ARC I assume. Will I be fine getting an apartment without a ARC?

Also, if I can't get a bank account, how will I money from my bank in Canada into local currency?

Renting one

Renting one of the apartments listed on craigslist should be no problem, I'm sure you'll be able to find places that will let you a place for 2 months rent in advance. I found a place like this when I first came here on a tourist visa many years ago.

Banking, I suggest getting an international debit card from your Canadian bank. You will be able to withdraw money from Korean ATMs. You ma even be able to opens bank account somewhere when you get here. I'm not 100% sure that you can't but I certainly wouldn't count on being able to.

Try opening a Korea Exchange Bank back home then coming here with it. I use mine all the time and it's pretty good. I use moneybookers and they never hassle me. Cheers.

recently came to korea and don't know alot of people. anyone down to go clubbing?

http://www.internations.org might be a good place to find "friends" to go out with when you're new to a city.

I never used it myself but I've heard that the meetings organized by this website are quite enjoyable.

mind blown. and im korean.

un-possible.

they are probably all working-girls

I found Busan people pretty friendly when I visited up there. Seems like they are bit more open than more remote areas. Night life was pretty good too but I'm comparing it to Jeju do so..

How quickly will my SC2 game improve if I move to South Korea?

My kids never really got into that much. They loved counter strike but I taught elementary school.

Yesterday pstars told me my time zone settings had changed and updated something which totally ****ed up my HEM2 HUD... Going to go play live in Daegu tonight because fixing it is going to be such a headache of back and forth email exchanges and me trying to work out computer stuff I have any idea about. Did anyone else have this problem?

It won't.

Because they all play like this:



I've been to internet cafes and I see teenagers attached to IVs (there was a hospital nearby) playing SC. Now that's dedication.

Well, I'm not sure to understand totally your problem, but you can click on the bottom right of the lobby (on the left of the "CASHIER" button) and change your time zone.

I was at Walker Hill the other day and some players were talking about playing in the Stars satellite tourney's online to try to win a seat for the APPT thats being held at WH this March in Seoul. One of the players said that it is illegal for anyone to gamble online, which he said included poker here in SK. Does anyone know if this is true and if so would it also pertain to foreigners/dual citizens etc?

Every country has it's own laws regarding online gambling. I suppose it's technically illegal in Korea but AFAIK there have been no moves to restrict. In Australia where my account is based I'm pretty sure it's 100% legal,

stars has had SK pros and ran a promotional series of tournaments exclusively for players with location SK a couple years ago fwiw.

For Koreans it's illegal to gamble online or in casinos except for 1 or 2 places. I know the horse track on Jeju allows Koreans to go. I heard it's due to many men losing their family savings.
Korean people with second citizenship can gamble using the other countries passport. If you are not Korean then you can play online and I've never had a hard time cashing out. I wouldn't go around and brag about it to Koreans but I've worn a stars shirt out many times. Nobody really cares.
If you're a teacher in Korea on a E2, work visa, then you shouldn't cash out because it might be flagged as second income which is illegal for teachers. Also, the government thinks you're doing privates on the side, again illegal.

Looking for a local Korean that would be willing to show me the punting scene in Korea, or where to point me in the right direction.

My Korean is passable at the conversational level to a point, and I look like a gyopo. Hoping for a favorable reply.

I don't quite get what "punting" means in this context lol.

if you're a gyopo you should be able to get around fine. my Korean isn't great(1st graders?) and gets around fine

punting = he wants to go ballws deep in some korean clunge

he wants someone to show me the night life

Lol, who doesn't?

So I'm near 100% going to Busan in May Probably going to stay for 6 mo

How reliable is the Japan visa run situation? Should I be able to sign a 6mo lease, then leave all my belongings in my apt, then do a visa run knowing I'll be able to get back in?

With the key deposit, how do I actually pay it? I'll probably go through a Realtor. Will they accept a check from my US/Canadian bank? And I'll be staying in a hotel for ~week when I first get there, so I'll actually be leaving Korea ~week before my lease is up. Will I have any trouble getting my key money back before I leave the country?

Redarator, I have answers for you but I'm in Vietnam at the moment ad it's annoying to write anything that requires thought on my phone. Will be back in Busan next week, will answer then.

Okay as some one who probably will be moving to South Korea I have some questions. I have heard some conflicting evidence about depositing and withdrawing to stars. Bankwire 5k min, Moneybookers and Neteller transactions were declined but others weren't. There was also difficulty getting the required documents showing address for Pokerstars from the bank. I couldn't find any info about withdrawals. This seems pretty important but I can't really find anything concrete on this.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

I would go with KEB bank since I've never had a problem. Netteller doesn't work in Korea fyi. Not really to hard to get the doc if you know what ur doing. Pm if you have problems.

I was in South Korea for a month (so I didn't relocate) and had no problems playing on pokerstars and even cashed from skrill (moneybookers).

Though, I had my account verified a long time ago and made a lot of skrill transactions before.

One thing you could do if you can't cash in/cash out is using the player to player transfer. I usually need it too (from stars to skrill and vice versa) so you can PM me if you want.