Korea · money + entry
A transit card on day one. The KTX is a different ticket.
Read Korea first — jeong, a used mountain, a table that keeps arriving — then run this door. Official K-ETA fee and exemption window, live KORAIL PASS FX names, Korail’s KRW table. Dated 17 August 2026. No invented single-seat KTX prices.
This page is the later sentence
The culture desk is the Korea hub. This page is only the official door and the rail table — after you already know what you came to sit with.
Entry: K-ETA is the government surface
Visa-free short stays still run through Korean government rules. For most visa-exempt nationalities the electronic travel authorization is K-ETA — apply only on the official site or official app, not a random “korea-eta.com” clone.
- Official portal: www.k-eta.go.kr
- Application guide (English fee wording): K-ETA Application Guide
- Visas / other cases: visa.go.kr
What the official guide said on this check (17 Aug 2026)
- Fee: ₩10,000 KRW (guide also says approximately USD $7–8). Online payment fee charged separately. Non-refundable even if denied.
- Assessment: typically 72 hours or less; can run longer under load. No official “expedite” product.
- Validity after approval: up to 3 years (or until passport expiry if sooner). Stay length on each entry is still the visa-free period for your nationality — K-ETA validity ≠ stay length.
- Apply before boarding. Approval does not guarantee entry; immigration at the port decides.
Temporary K-ETA exemption (dated government notice)
On 23 Dec 2025 the Ministry of Justice posted that the temporary K-ETA exemption for currently exempt countries/regions is extended 1 Jan 2026 through 31 Dec 2026 (KST). Exempt travelers get a pop-up when scanning a passport on the apply flow. You may still apply voluntarily (fee charged) for arrival-card convenience benefits.
Official notice — Extension of K-ETA Temporary Exemption
Yomu does not publish a full world matrix of who is exempt. Match your passport on k-eta.go.kr. If a middleman site is not that domain, treat every won as a private service tax.
Confidence: high on fee ₩10,000, 72-hour wording, and the 2026 exemption end date from the MOJ notice. Medium that your personal nationality is still on the temporary exemption list without checking the live pop-up — lists move.
KORAIL PASS FX — official products + KRW
Source of truth for foreigners: Korail global — KORAIL PASS guide and the live pass purchase flow on korail.com/global. On 17 Aug 2026 the live pass-types API still offered four flexible products only:
| Product | Code | Adult (13+) | Child (6–12) |
|---|---|---|---|
| KORAIL PASS FX (2 day use) | F002 | ₩131,000 | ₩66,000 |
| KORAIL PASS FX (3 day use) | F003 | ₩186,000 | ₩93,000 |
| KORAIL PASS FX (4 day use) | F004 | ₩234,000 | ₩117,000 |
| KORAIL PASS FX (5 day use) | F005 | ₩275,000 | ₩138,000 |
How the days work (guide wording)
- These are select / FX products: from the starting date of the validity window you choose travel days (guide text: choose the pass days within 10 days).
- Age bands on the guide table we cite: Adult from age 13; Child 6–12. Under-6 rules appear on the official page (often free without a seat when with an adult — re-read before you buy).
- Pass is for foreign visitors riding Korail passenger trains (including KTX where the product allows). Seat reservation still matters on peak trains — “unlimited” is not “guaranteed empty seat at Friday 18:00.”
- Re-check the KRW total on the official checkout before you pay. We label this table dated because Korail can change products (they already collapsed older consecutive-only menus into FX codes F002–F005 on the live API).
One Seoul week on metro + one Busan KTX pair is usually single tickets. Three long steel days across the peninsula is when you open the FX calculator.
When to skip the Pass
- Seoul-only 4–7 days — T-money / climate card habits + walking. No national pass.
- One Seoul ↔ Busan punch — price the real KTX seats on Korail before you buy multi-day unlimited. We do not invent seat fares here.
- Jeju add-on — island air/ferry is outside Korail math. Pass does not fix a thin calendar.
- Two+ long rail days (Seoul–Busan–Gyeongju–Seoul style) — then run 2-day vs 3-day FX against the sum of the trains you actually want.
City layer (not KTX)
Inside Seoul and Busan the daily driver is metro + bus + occasional taxi. T-money and peers are the local habit — buy and top up at stations and convenience stores. We do not invent deposit or fare ladders because they move. Airport rail and limousine buses are separate products from KORAIL PASS.
Booking order that protects focus
- Confirm K-ETA vs temporary exemption vs visa on k-eta.go.kr / visa.go.kr for your passport.
- Lock nights on a spine: Seoul base · Seoul + Busan · optional Gyeongju overnight · Jeju only with spare days.
- Decide Pass vs single KTX only after city order is honest.
- Soft season check: events / blossoms.
- Multi-country: Japan–Korea corridor if you are arriving by Fukuoka sea/air · Korea–Vietnam corridor · Korea–Taiwan corridor.
Sources (this page)
- Official K-ETA portal — checked 2026-08-17
- K-ETA Application Guide — ₩10,000 · ~72 hours · 3-year validity wording
- MOJ notice — K-ETA temporary exemption through 31 Dec 2026 (KST)
- Korea Visa Portal
- Korail global — KORAIL PASS guide (KRW select-pass table)
- Korail global English main / purchase flow — live products F002–F005 “KORAIL PASS FX (N day use)” via pass/types API 2026-08-17