Korea How Now is an independent guide to the parts of a Korea trip that are hard to figure out from abroad: getting a Hallasan summit slot, winning a national park shelter lottery, finding out whether a foreigner can book a forest cabin, and getting train tickets the day they go on sale.
Why this site exists
Most of these systems were built for Korean residents. The official pages are often only in Korean, English versions lag behind, and many English guides online repeat rules that changed months ago. When booking windows move (KTX tickets now open two months ahead) or a trail reopens, visitors are usually the last to know.
We are based in Korea, read the official notices in Korean as they are posted, and turn them into plain English with exact dates, times in Korea Standard Time, and the steps that actually work for a visitor.
What makes our guides different
- Checked against official sources. Every guide links the park, rail or government notice it is based on, and shows a “Last checked” date.
- Our own availability data. We run a vacancy-alert service that watches sold-out cabin and trail dates in Korea. Where it helps, we share what that data shows — for example, how often cancelled spots come back — together with its limits.
- Honest answers. If something is not possible without a Korean phone number or ID, we say so and show the alternatives.
Read more about how we check facts.
Independence
We are not affiliated with Korea National Park Service, Hallasan National Park, Korail, SR or the Korea Forest Service. Nobody pays us to recommend them, and official booking channels always come first.
Get in touch
Spotted something out of date, or stuck on a booking step we have not covered? Contact us — corrections are the most useful messages we get.