*Essential items needed – Passport, POSB card/VISA/MASTERCARD debit card, Alien card (optional)

For those who are wondering the needs to open a bank account in South Korea, here’s a list of reasons why:
1. To deposit the ridiculous amount of cash you have brought over
2. Withdrawal of cash from a local bank ATM is FOC

For those WITH Alien Card
STEP 1: Get an Alien Card, your passport and head off to any bank you like to open a bank account.

DONE!

For those WITHOUT Alien card
STEP 1: Get your passport and head to BANK OF BUSAN/HANA BANK to open a bank account. Only BANK OF BUSAN and HANA BANK (*thanks to Desiree for the info) allows you to open a bank account without the need for an alien card.

STEP 2(optional): Pay 2,000 WON to get an ATM card that allows you to withdraw cash from their ATMs (conveniently located at DONG-A campus and popular areas)

DONE!

For those who are wondering which banks near DONG-A university allow you to withdraw cash from your Singapore bank account, well…if you live in HANLIM DORMITORY, congrats to you because….

There’s one such bank that is located near BUMIN SHUTTLE BUS STOP.
– KB STAR BANK.

Picture of the vicinity


Look for this bank – KB STAR BANK

KB STAR BANK allows you to withdraw money from their ATMs as long as your debit card possess any of these symbols (printed at the back of your card)
- Maestro
- Cirrus
- Plus

NOT ALL KB Star ATMs accept the cards though. The only ones that do are located in this KB STAR BANK.

*TIP – If you can’t find any KB STAR Bank, look for any ATMs that accept Maestro, Cirrus or Plus cards. It will be a tough find though, considering that ATMs around here do not list them out nicely like what Singapore ATMs do.

*TIP – Each successful withdrawal from such ATMs will automatically charge you SG$5 for the banking services, regardless of the amount you withdraw. My advice would be to draw out as much cash as you want in a single transaction, and then deposit it into a local bank account (e.g.: Bank of Busan) where you can later withdraw money, FOC.

*WARNING – Banks in Busan closes roughly around 4p.m. Do make sure you have not made a wasted trip to a closed bank.