Money

The first thing most visitors want to settle is the tipping rate, and for Korea the answer is short: you do not tip. Restaurants, taxis, salons—none of them. Leave notes on the table and staff may chase you down the street to return them. Here’s the thing: paying is not entirely simple. Upscale hotels and some restaurants mark prices “++”, adding 10% service charge and 10% VAT. That is not a tip, so there is no reason to leave cash on top.

Arrive with London habits and the gate will beep at you: open-loop is phased to 2030, and in 2026 the gate still wants T-money. Here’s the thing, though—shopping, dining and taxis run almost entirely on cards, and new ticket machines top up T-money with foreign cards. ATM fees are about frequency, and always choose KRW. The line, drawn scene by scene.

VAT is 10%, but the refund agency’s commission comes out of it, so roughly 5–7% reaches your hand. Here’s the thing: the minimum dropped to 15,000 won in 2024, immediate refunds cover under 1,000,000 won per purchase and 5,000,000 across your stay, and at the airport the order is customs → bags → immigration → counter. Get it wrong and there’s no refund.