Korea travel guides, checked on the ground.

Hi, and welcome to Korea On The Ground.

I was born and raised in Jeonju, a city in southwestern South Korea. I went to university here, too. My parents and most of my longtime friends still live here, so even when I was away, Jeonju was always home.

I did spend more than ten years living in Seoul for work. Living in both places gave me two very different experiences of Korea: the huge, fast-moving capital that most international visitors see first, and a regional city where everyday life looks and feels quite different.

I'm now based in Jeonju again, and this is where Korea On The Ground begins.

Why I Started This Site

There is already a huge amount of information about Korea online. But the simple, practical questions can sometimes be surprisingly hard to answer.

How do I actually get from the train station to where I'm staying? Can I use my transportation card here? What does this menu say? Is this restaurant okay if I'm eating alone? How much should this cost? Is this place really worth making a trip for?

Those are the kinds of questions I want to answer here.

I don't want this site to be another collection of Korea travel information gathered from behind a screen. I want it to be useful when you're actually here — standing at a station, choosing a bus, looking at a menu, or deciding whether somewhere is worth your time.

How I Make These Guides

Whenever something can be checked in person, I do my best to check it myself. I visit the place, take my own photos, try the route, look at the menu, check the price, or use the service I'm writing about.

Some information is better checked at the source. For train schedules, fares, admission fees, event dates, rules, and other official information, I use the relevant government, organization, or operator's website rather than relying on secondhand information.

So the idea is simple: official sources for official facts, and on-the-ground experience for everything I can check myself.

Things change, of course. Restaurants close, prices go up, bus routes change, and apps get updated. That's why you'll often see a “Last checked” date on my guides.

What You'll Find Here

Korea On The Ground is mostly about the practical side of traveling in Korea.

You'll find information about getting around by train, bus, and taxi; local destinations beyond Seoul; Korean food and how to order it; menus and real prices; useful apps; and the little things about traveling in Korea that aren't always obvious until you're actually here.

Jeonju will appear a lot, especially in the beginning. That's simply because I live here and can check things properly rather than relying on information I find online.

But this isn't a Jeonju-only blog.

As the site grows, I plan to cover more places around Korea, particularly regional cities and everyday travel experiences that don't always get as much attention in English.

One Last Thing

I don't think every famous place in Korea is a must-see, and I don't think every popular restaurant is worth waiting an hour for.

If something is great, I'll tell you why. If there's an easier option, I'll tell you that too. And if I'd personally skip something, I'll say so.

That's really what Korea On The Ground is about: useful information from someone who can actually go there and check.

I hope it makes your time in Korea a little easier.

Welcome to Korea On The Ground.