Essential Korean phrases

The Alien Registration Card. Its 13-digit number, not your passport, is what Korean systems recognise you by. Apply within 90 days of arrival.

The rental deposit — refundable, and far larger than most countries. Even a monthly-rent flat usually wants ₩5-20 million of it.

The Korean lump-sum lease: you hand over 50-80% of the property's value and pay no monthly rent, getting it all back at the end. Uniquely Korean, and the thing to understand before anything else.

The 'fixed date' stamp on your lease. With the move-in report it gives your deposit legal priority over later creditors. Skipping it is how people lose everything.

The move-in report at your district office. Do it the day you take the keys — the protection it creates only starts at midnight the following day.

The monthly building maintenance fee, on top of rent and utilities. Often ₩70,000-200,000 and routinely left out of quoted prices.

The all-purpose Busan interjection — 'oi', 'hey', 'come on'. Delivered flat and loud. It is not aggression, whatever Seoul thinks.

'What are you on about?' in Busan dialect — standard Korean would say 뭐라고 해. The -노 / -나 question endings are the giveaway that you are in Gyeongsang province.

Busan's own cold wheat noodles, invented by North Korean refugees here during the war when buckwheat ran out. The city's summer dish.

Pork-broth rice soup, eaten at any hour, and the single most Busan thing on a menu. Season it yourself with the shrimp paste on the table.

Help me! — 112 for police, 119 for fire and ambulance, both free from any phone.