Cost Of Living In Korea For Indian Students And Workers 

 January 20, 2021

By  Smriti Ekka

Do you want to know what is the cost of living in Korea as a student or while doing a job in Korea?

Today I’ll talk about the average cost of living in Korea as a Indian student and also will provide a general overview about living costs for the workers who are planning to work in Korea. We’ll cover major expenses like Housing ,Food, transportation and utilities etc.

Generally As we know when we talking about the cost of living in any country whether in India, Korea or America it varies a lot for instance in India in Delhi if we say there are people who are spending 1lakh rupees a month there are people who are spending 10,000 a month so it always varies depending on where one chooses to live? How is one living? What is His/Her lifestyle?

Impact of expenses according to your city:-

So the first thing that will impact your expenses is the city? Whether you are living in Seoul or Busan or some third area city or fourth area city or some village or some island that will impact the overall expenses.

  • PLACE:-

In Seoul:

Even in Seoul it will depend where you are living whether you are living in Gangnam Area or Itaewon area or in some other outside Area like

Incheon and so on so city we’ll definitely impact the living expenses for worker as well as for student’s.

  • RENTAL:

In South Korea there are many different housing options available. If you are a student you choose to stay somewhere near your university. So all the major universities in Seoul they have some nearby neighborhoods accommodations where the students live in small housing apartments and Some places called kositel “kositel is Just like small room a very small room” it will have like a small very small bed on which only one person can sleep and there is a small desk and a chair and there is attach Bathroom which will be like a glass partition box and then it will have a shower and tap and a commode but it’s good enough for survival so it will cost you Approximately 15 to 20,000 rupees.

In a university neighborhood like near Korea university SNU or University or all the major universities in Seoul nearby those places if you find a small Kositel you will have to spend 15 to 20 000 rupees or other options like Dormitory (10-12 thousand approximately) or Goshiwon (an off-campus dormitory) in an expensive one room. Really, there is something for everyone’s needs.

Students and working people who need decent living in two-room apartments but that will be more expensive than mentioned above a decent place would cost around 50-60 thousand INR. For a working person if he or she prefers a residential area then the one needs to give first security deposit around 5-6 Lakh INR Before as a deposit. If you want to reduce these security deposits then the rent should be increased and it works vice versa.

  • FOOD EXPENSES:-

For a little bit bigger room with the proper kitchen those kitchens will be a common kitchen with 1 room so let’s say on one floor seven people are living so they will have one kitchen and they will also provide sometimes free rice and kimchi for students and all these things and there will be a refrigerator common for everyone so you can put your stuff there. It’s good enough because most of the time Korean people living there eat outside so the Kitchen will mostly be free and mostly people there will Cook some ramyeon for five minutes So for working people or students can also make roti and dal and dosa one can do that.

So the major Cost will be food so if one choose to cook by own then can manage to save some bucks. For the one who are sharing and one really wants to you know to reduce your expenses you can manage In around maybe 15,000. 15-20 should be enough for a student so 15 to 20 thousand even if you eat out a few times.

Or even if you eat some normal Korean Food Just live like Koreans, that will be cheaper. But if He/She lives like a foreigner or if one wants to go to Indian Restaurants then that will be expensive as foreign food is expensive. if He/she is going to Indian restaurants for even a minimum of a basic lunch then it will cost around something like 1000 rupees and that’s expensive.

On the other hand if you eat Korean food local Korean food You can save some money there. This can also be increased if you are a family person around 30-40 thousand for food. Not just this if you have schooling kids or if you are sending your child to some private institutions then that is super expensive in South Korea.

• Transportation:-

For Transportation I would say these expenses are very small. Transportation is very cheap and very efficient in South Korea so you can use public transportation like buses or metro. The basic fare is like 1200 won that is like 70-75 rupees and for this amount you can travel a long distance.

Also for transportation and phone expenses you can include that you can keep 6000 rupees as the budget. Sometimes in some apartments some utility services are provided and those persons could know basic English too or if you are a company worker then some services amount is managed by the particular company.

The total overall is 40 rent plus food plus 6-7 more for transportation and phone expenses and so it becomes 46-47 so let’s keep some more so I would say that 50 to 60,000 should be sufficient for a student for a normal decent living not very luxury. For a working person with a family and a small kid at least 1.5-2 lakhs will be required to manage in South Korea. Also if person is planning on this budget then one thing should be kept in mind that if your company is giving you 2 lakhs per month then you will only get 75-80% from that because 20-25% would be taken from the person as taxes so that’s very important to keep in mind for your budget planning.

For more info check out my video and leave questions down below.

 

Smriti Ekka


Smriti Ekka graduated in Commerce and Library science, and currently she is working as a content writer at TOPIK Guide website. She is a Korean language and culture enthusiast and has been working across multiple disciplines which broadly addresses narratives of similarities between Korean and Indian culture. Apart from being a content writer at TOPIK Guide she manages Annyeong India website and has had her pieces published in Learn Korean in India website as well. In her other life, she is a singer, rising entrepreneur, life enthusiast and a learner.

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  1. I’m currently doing my under graduation in India. I want to take PG and PhD from South Korea in Chemistry. What will be the possible expenses per month and is there any scholarships available for this? Is it true that I need to learn Korean language for one year and then start the PG course?

    1. You can apply for the Korean Scholarship and then can come to Korea. The second option you directly can apply to the university of your choice.
      The expenses mostly depend on you. The Article clearly told how much it can cost you. Yes, you need to go through the language course in PG. And believe me, you definitely need that.

  2. If I get free education in Seoul National University then can I live in Kositel for free?? And also please tell me if there are another way to get free housing in Seoul city near SNU

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