Buying a Galaxy S 2

[bork]

Hey folks,

I want to buy the new Galaxy phone and I hear that KT Global stores have made it very easy for foreigners to get any phone they want without the hassle of getting someone to sign for it. At the moment I am on LGU and still have time on my contract. I am happy to cancel and pay for that though. My question is can I get the new phone on KT and then transfer the network while I am in that store to keep my number? Or, if that isn't possible, can I buy the new phone and then cancel the old one at a later date?
The issue is I don't live in Seoul and it would be quite awkward if I cancelled my old phone contract and then it turns out that I can't, for some reason, get the new one.

[tealstardust]

I have no idea, as we don't even have our ARC cards yet to get a phone.  My husband wants a Galaxy S 2 for his birthday.  Do you have any idea how much they cost? 

[bork]

I know someone who is paying 66,000 a month, though there's an extra 8,000 on top of that for the first 3 months. It's a two year contract. This was through the KT Global stores I mentioned before. I'm not sure what his plan is like for that though.

At the moment I'm paying around 40,000 a month for a very basic phone so I'm happy to pay the extra cash.

[Morticae]

All I know is, I believe you need at least 3 months on your visa. I haven't made any attempts at getting one because my visa will expire soon. I'm waiting on the certainty of renewal (not just intent) and visa renewal before I aggressively seek this out. I don't live anywhere near a global store, so it'll be a few hours on the train when I am ready... hopefully somebody has some experience and can post the appropriate info.

[e72882]

Around last September I needed to transfer my original cellphone into my name from my boss's name as I would be transferring to a different school and city and my phone company would not let me do so even though I had three months left on my Alien Registration Card (finished in December).  They didn't want to do it even though I was signing a new contract in October, they said that I would need at least 6 months left before they would feel comfortable giving me a phone in my name. This was with LG, KT & SK. I was finally able to get a new cell phone when I had a Korean friend's mother help me out. Now I'm on the line with my current phone for the another 16 moths and I'll be free and clear on my current contract. They said if I complete two years the phone is free.

[Sticks]

I'm on a 2 year contract with KT paying off my subsidised (down to 164,160) GS2 plus 55000/month for the data/rate plan, insurance fee/month and a first timer contract/registration fees over the first 3 months. I've checked my online bill and it says 74830 for May, i'm assuming that'll drop to 55000(plan)+6840(phone)+4000(insurance)=65840/month from August onwards. It's cheap cheap cheap. would be cheaper without insurance but 4000 won is the equivalent of a burger set at Lotteria during lunch hour, no fuss. Also worth noting i'm on an F-4 visa, it shouldn't matter what visa you're on as long as you've got minimum 3 months left.

It might be worth check KT's expat blog and asking any further questions on their twitter page. Ask about their smart sponsor with respect to your visa, I there are different levels of discounts that apply depending on your length of contract.
http://expatblog.kt.com/

[Sandman626]

To buy the phone without a contract costs 85만원.

[kwakman00]

are people still having to wait for the phones to come out or do the stores have them in stock? Might have an opportunity to transfer a 2 year phone contract over to my parents so I was thinking that maybe my wife can get the S2.

[shea.karssing]

Get hold of this company: www.mobileboo.com.. they are like the English-speaking middle man of Sk telecom (with no extra fees) providing Galaxies and iPhones to foreigners.

[siamagoo]

Get hold of this company: www.mobileboo.com.. they are like the English-speaking middle man of Sk telecom (with no extra fees) providing Galaxies and iPhones to foreigners.

This site looks great, but I can't figure out how to see plan details - how much a month etc.

[steves]

I heard there was a recall for the galaxy S 2.  I haven't seen anything to verify this, maybe I was misinformed?

[bork]

Sorry, I had forgotten I had posted this. Thanks for all the replies. Pretty useful. I think what im going to do it switch to KT and pay off my current phone then head to a Global store and buy the S2.