[UPDATED] Korea Discount Coupons by VKC (Visit Korea Committee) 2015-2016

About VKC

The Visit Korea Committee (VKC) has been exerting efforts to make Korea a more attractive tourism destination through the nationwide tourism campaign “Visit Korea Year” held from 2010 through to the end of 2012. Our committee has successfully concluded the “Visit Korea Year” campaign, with the number of foreign tourists visiting Korea in 2012 alone reaching 10 million. The committee has now established a longer-term vision: the qualitative growth of Korean tourism.

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DISCOUNT COUPONS

The official website of the Visit Korea Committee provides various shopping discount coupons you can use any time of the year. Enjoy a more economical shopping tour through discount coupons available for more than 100 stores.

There are bunch of coupons from various stores, services and recreation parks! such as...

and many more!

More coupons are available at 

http://vkc.or.kr/en/benefit/coupon.asp

Tourism Site: Namsan Hanok Village (Free Entry!)

Are you a fan of Saeguk Korean Dramas (Korean Historical-themed Dramas)? If you are one of them, this place is a must-visit place for you. If you observe in all Saeguk Korean dramas, there are a lot of Korean traditional houses that were use for shooting purposes. This place is also recommended for those who are interested in Korean culture, Korean architecture, and also those who wanted to take pictures with Korean-related settings.

Namsan Hanok Village

Namsan Hanok Village is a large place with large space, filled with a lot of Korean Traditional Houses, which the local Koreans called them Hanok. This place is 8.000 m2 large. There are 3 sections, which are Korean Traditional Park, Time Capsule Plaza (Korean Culture Exhibition), and the Hanok village itself. 

The entrance fee to this place is FREE. You can walk around and visit this place without spending any money, unless you want to purchase some souvenirs and food inside.

Info, Address and Direction:

• Address: 84-1, Pildong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
• Direction from Subway: Chungmuro Station, Line 3&4, Exit 3
• Hours of Operation: 
• April ~ October - 9:00 ~ 21:00
• November ~ March - 9:00 ~ 20:00
• FREE Services: Free entrance, Free Baby Strollers Rentals, Free Wheelchair rental Service

Tourism Site: Gyeongbokgung Palace, The National Palace Museum of Korea, National Folk Museum

GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE (pronunciation: Gyong-Bok-Gung) is the most oldest palace and the most important palace during Joseon Dynasty period when they ruled Korea. This palace was built in 1394 and there are a lot of sections inside of the palace.

Gyeongbokgung Palace 경복궁

Inside this palace, there are other tourism sites that you could visit, which are THE NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM OF KOREA and NATIONAL FOLK MUSEUM. If you're interested on Korean History about the law system and people, those places is a must-visit places. If you're not, those places might be a new experience for you to learn and know more about Korea interestingly (with interactives diagram, dioramas, etc.).

The National Palace Museum of Korea is a museum of kingdoms history during Joseon Dynasty, while National Folk Museum is a museum that shows and present the evidence of Korean culture until now.

The National Folk Museum of Korea
국립민속박물관

If you visit those places, you can take picture freely there. The most recommended time to visit those place is at around 3-4:00 P.M, but the other time is also okay (depends on the month you will visit).

Info, Addresses and Directions:

1. Gyeongbokgung Palace

• Address: 161 Bunji, Sajikno, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• Direction from Subway: Gyeongbokgung Station, Line 3, Exit 5
• Hours of Operation: 9:00 - 18:00
• Price Ticket: 3,000 KRW (24 000 IDR)

2.  National Folk Museum of Korea

• Address: Samcheongno 37, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• Direction from Subway: Gyeongbokgung Station, Line 3, Exit 5
• Hours of Operation: 
• March ~ October - 9:00 ~ 18:00 (Entrance closes at 17:00)
• November ~ February - 9:00 ~ 17:00 (Entrance closes at 16:00)
• May ~ August / Saturdays & Holidays - 9:00 ~ 19:00 (Entrance closes at 18:00)
• Closing Days: Every Thursday
• Docent-led Museum Tour (FREE): 2x a Day (10:30 and 14:30) in front of the Exhibition Hall 1

Food Tips: Buying Delicious Food while Saving Money @ Korea

Low price is often identical with low quality, but not for this one that I will recommend to you. Wherever you travel, you always need to eat to regain energy. Food is one of the essential aspects in travelling. 

To eat delicious, high quality and hygiene food while travelling, no need to go to a 5-stared hotel restaurant or other large expensive restaurant, there are lots of other alternative that you can choose beside those expensive places. Below here are some tips and choices of buying low price food with high quality that is useful for tourist that wants to save his or her money. 

1. Microwavable Food

Microwavable Bibimbap

There are a lot of instant microwavable Food in Korean Convenience Stores. Beside quick, the price is also affordable for students, so that means it's affordable for tourist. Don't worry about the variety of foods, there are a lot of kind of food, such as Tteokbokki, Bulgogi, Rice, Hamburger, Pizza, Chicken, and many more. You can heat and eat your food in the convenience store itself or bring it to the hostel or guesthouse that you're staying.


2. Street Foods

Kimbap - Street Food

Street Foods are well-known for their delicious taste and low price. There are variety of street foods, I have mentioned some of those in my last post, here. Street foods' price will never exceed over 10,000 KRW, you could eat variety kinds of street foods until full just for 5,000 KRW. You could find street food kiosk in every corner of Seoul and other city. The portion is large enough, it's for 2 people.



3. Supermarket Sushi

Sushi

Sushi are widely sold in some large supermarket around Seoul area, such as in E-Mart & Home Plus. There are variety kinds of fresh sushi in those supermarket's sushi corner. This dish is the healthiest and the most delicious this with the most low price. You could get a piece of sushi for 500 KRW. Go buy a lot of pieces and eat until you full!



4. Supermarket Sampling

This choice is recommended to those who are having an extra time on their travelling agenda because this might takes time. Large scale supermarket usually provide a lot of food samples, such as curry, meats, dumplings, soups, seafoods, noodles, and many more. Go walk along and explore entire floors at the supermarket and eat free foods.

Beside those choices, there are a lot of choices out there around Seoul. Go find and explore by yourself, travelling don't have to spend a lot of money :)

FREE Hanbok Experience @ Seoul (Korean Traditional Clothes)

Want to experience using "Hanbok" (Korean Traditional Clothes) without spending any money? Now it's FREE for foreign tourist! Below here are the details about the place, time and how to experience it freely.

Traditional Costume Experience Hall
@ Seoul Global Culture & Tourism Center

You can experience it at Seoul Global Culture & Tourism Center that is located on the 5th floor of M Plaza, Myeongdong, Seoul. The is place offering information about Seoul and some culture from it.

How to Experience FREE Hanbok?

To experience free Hanbok, you just need to register yourself at the counter. Don't worry if you're not fluent in Korean, there are three language options, which are English, Chinese and Japanese. After that, you need to wait for your time slot. You're free to take pictures.

Address of the Location

27, Myeongdong 8-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
 서울특별시 중구 명동8길 27 (명동2가)

Direction from Subway

• From Myeongdong Station, Subway Line 4 (Exit 4)
  Go straight (about 150 m) to arrive at M Plaza on the right
• From Euljiro-ga Station, Subway Line 2 (Exit 5)
  Go straight on Euljiro Street, and turn right onto Myeongdong 9-gil Street.
  Turn right onto Myeongdong 9ga-gil Street.
  Turn left onto Myeongdong 7-gil Street.
  Go straight for 300m to arrive at M Plaza on the left.

Still need more information? Just dial  +82-2-3789-7961~3 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese),
or visit the website http://www.seoultourism.kr/en/index.asp