The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has an info desk between gates 1 & 2 and 12 & 13 on the arrival floor of the Incheon Airport (tel. 032/743-2600, ext. 3; daily 9am-10pm).
The main KTO office is located off of Jonggak Station B1, KTO Building (T2 Tower), level B1, 40, Cheonggyecheon-no, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-180 (tel. 02/729-9497, ext. 499; daily 9am-8pm; http://english.visitkorea.or.kr). It publishes a variety of free brochures and maps, as well as providing transportation reservations and other travelers' assistance.
One of the best services the KTO provides is what they call Goodwill Guides. These English-speaking volunteers (usually students wanting to practice their English) will provide free translation and travel assistance to you. Visit the KTO website at least a week in advance of your trip, click on "Goodwill Guide" in the "Travel Tools" box on the right, and input the dates you are traveling. If you didn't do any advance planning, you can see which guides are available for the upcoming 3 days. You can also e-mail them at goodwillguide@mail.knto.or.kr for additional assistance.
The Tourist Assistance Center can be reached at tel. 1330 (or from a cellphone, dial the area code of the region plus 1330). In areas other than the 22 registered cities, call tel. 080/757-2000 (toll-free).
The KTO has offices all over the world, including several in the U.S.: Chicago, 737 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 910, Chicago, IL 60611 (tel. 312/981-1717; chicago@kntoamerica.com); Hawaii, 1188 Bishop St. Ph1, Honolulu, HI 96813 (tel. 808/521-8066); Los Angeles, 5509 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 201, Los Angeles, CA 90036 (tel. 323/634-0280; la@kntoamerica.com); and the New York metropolitan area, 2 Executive Dr., Suite 750, Fort Lee, NJ 07024 (tel. 201/585-0909; ny@kntoamerica.com). There are also offices in England (New Zealand House Haymarket, 3rd Floor, London SW1Y 4TE; tel. 44-20-7321-2535 or 44-20-7925-1717; london@mail.knto.or.kr); Canada (700 Bay St., Suite 1903, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z6; tel. 416/348-9056 or -9057; toronto@knto.ca); Australia (Australia Square Tower, Level 16, 264 George St., Sydney, N.S.W. 2000; tel. 61-2-9252-4147 or -4148; visitkorea@knto.org.au); and major cities throughout Asia.
Here are some websites helpful for your travels in South Korea: www.korea.net, www.lifeinkorea.com, and www.koreanculture.org.
If you want to get a variety of perspectives on Korea and its culture, the Korean Blog List (http://korea.banoffeepie.com) is an unofficial list of over 400 blogs about Korea in English. The blogs are categorized as "Foreigners Living in Korea," "Koreans Living in Korea," "Koreans Living Outside Korea," and the like.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
