Korea eSIM With a Phone Number: Which One to Get

Do you need a Korean phone number?

Only for apps that send you a code by text. LG U+ states it plainly: with its voice and text plans, text-message verification works for restaurant and taxi reservation apps, and with its data-only plans it does not.

Several apps built for visitors avoid the question. Kakao Mobility's k.ride and CatchTable Global both take a Google or Apple account, and the Korea Tourism Organization says the TADA taxi app accepts an international number. Naver has verified foreign users by passport, without a Korean number, since 4 June 2026. If those cover your trip, data alone is enough.

Our pick is still the number, because it costs so little. SK Telecom's call and text eSIM costs the same 27,500 won for five days as a data-only plan at KT or LG U+, and KT's own voice plan adds 5,500 won.

What can a tourist number not do?

It cannot pass identity verification. SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ each say their tourist eSIMs do not support it. That is the check Korean banks and government services use, and SK Telecom adds that text messages for payments are not received either. A tourist number gets you into reservation apps, not into anything that treats you as a resident.

Calls work one way by default. Incoming calls and texts are free once your passport is verified, and outgoing calls and texts need a top-up. SK Telecom and LG U+ both charge 4.4 won a second for calls within Korea.

Which carrier should you pick?

LG U+, for most trips. Five days start at 27,500 won at all three carriers, so price does not separate them. Data does. LG U+ describes its eSIM data as truly unlimited with no speed cap, on 5G or LTE. SK Telecom's is unlimited at LTE speed and then capped at 100Mbps, and KT slows to 5Mbps after 11GB in a day, which a day of maps, video calls and a shared hotspot can reach.

The cost of the LG U+ plan is one stop after customs. The QR code for its data and voice eSIM is handed over with a passport check at its airport counter, which is also where a plan of three days or more gets its free T-money card. LG U+ keeps that counter open 24 hours at Gate F on the Terminal 1 arrival floor.

Ticket · Creatrip

LG U+ eSIM with a Korean 010 number

LG U+ eSIM with unlimited data and no speed cap, from 1 to 90 days. The Korean number works after a passport check at the airport counter.

Check availability on Creatrip

SK Telecom is the pick if you want the number working before you reach the arrivals hall. It is the only one of the three that sells its call and text eSIM online and verifies your passport online, from 8am to 10pm, with the airport roaming centre covering other hours. KT sells its voice eSIM only at its airport roaming centres, and its daily data cap makes it the weakest of the three for heavy users.

SK Telecom and KT also bundle a transit card: SK Telecom with three-day and longer plans bought on its own site, and KT with its "Data & Travel" plan. Which card is worth loading is covered in WOWPASS vs T-money vs Climate Card.

Will the eSIM work on your phone?

Only if the phone is unlocked and takes an eSIM. All three carriers say country-locked phones cannot use their eSIMs. To check support, dial *#06#: LG U+ says that if an EID appears, the phone takes an eSIM.

Install it once and carefully. LG U+ and KT both say an eSIM cannot be reinstalled after it has been set up, so deleting it by mistake means buying another.

You can keep your home number running alongside. On an iPhone with dual SIM, Apple says both numbers can make and receive calls, while only one line at a time uses mobile data, which is the job the Korean eSIM should take.

Related guideJeju Without a Car: What the Island Still Gives YouJeju is a ring and its sights sit around the edge, so going car-free is not a smaller version of the same trip. It is a different one. Here is what it contains.

Is pocket Wi-Fi a better deal?

For a group sharing one device, it can be. SK Telecom and KT both rent routers at 4,400 won a day, and SK Telecom takes 3,300 won a day when booked online. Data is unlimited at up to 20Mbps. SK Telecom's router takes three users at once, and LG U+ says its device connects up to ten.

The catches are the deposit and the device. Both SK Telecom and KT require a credit card for the deposit rather than a debit card, the router has to be charged and carried, and it gives nobody a phone number. For one or two people with eSIM phones, an eSIM is simpler.

Once you are connected, the next thing that trips visitors up is paying: how to pay in Korea covers cards, cash and apps, and the South Korea travel guide covers the rest of the planning.