Because K is a foreigner, a clerk at the mobile phone company demanded that he either subscribe to the service under the name of a Korean national or pay a W200,000 (US$1=W941) deposit. He had a similar experience trying to subscribe to an Internet service. In the end, K paid the W200,000 deposit to the phone company and he found a Korean friend willing to sign him up for the Internet. But the episodes soured life in Korea for K. "There seem to be too many complicated procedures that foreigners have to go through to live here," he said.

Even the most basic of daily interactions can be stressful for foreigners. Some non-Koreans have reported food shop owners who browbeat them into buying dishes after they sampled a free snack. A visit to a Korean hospital can be a terrifying experience for foreigners who fear for their safety when medical staff don't understand their language.

Currently there are more than 530,000 foreign residents in Korea, more than three times the number in 2000. But many Koreans are still inconsiderate of their foreign guests.

According to a study on the daily lives of foreign consumers from the Korea Consumer Protection Board, 41.7 percent of 545 respondents said that they're "dissatisfied" with their life as consumers in Korea. When asked what the biggest problem is, 35.9 percent pointed to communication difficulties. Other reasons for unhappiness include a lack of consideration for foreigners on the part of Koreans, financial difficulties, a lack of public information, and cultural differences.

When it comes to consumer goods, 48.7 percent of those foreigners expressed dissatisfaction with their mobile phone companies. Other sources of frustration were credit cards, the Internet, and real estate transactions.

"D", a 36-year-old English teacher from Canada, recounted his difficulties in signing a lease for a residential officetel in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul. The landlord demanded an advance of W9 million, a full year's rent, claiming that he might have a hard time tracking down D if he skipped out on his rent. D decided to try a boarding house in the neighborhood instead. But even some boarding houses don't accept foreigners, and it took D several tries before he found one willing to take him in.

A 34-year-old American expat called "J" said that credit cards presented undue stress in Korea. "I have never had a problem using my credit card in any other country. But here in Korea, merchants rarely accept it. And just because I'm a foreigner, it's impossible to apply for a cash card to withdraw my deposits."

Kim Hyun-joo, a senior researcher at the Korea Consumer Protection Board, said that with the number of foreigners visiting Korea on the rise as a result of globalization and the open-door policy, how the Korean people treat them is becoming an important criterion for national competitiveness. "We need to work out a variety of support programs that assist foreigners in their daily life as consumers," Kim said. For more information or counseling, foreigners are advised to call (02) 3460-3393.

(englishnews@chosun.com )