IES Seoul provides a T-Money card (교통카드 - public transit card) with an amount pre-paid. For my cohort of 14 people we were given a Climate Card that had the first month pre-paid, but the cohort before mine of 42 people were given standard T-Money cards with 50,000 won pre-paid
| Standard T-Money Card | Climate Card | |
| Use Restrictions | Can be used anywhere, with a few exceptions like the KTX | Can only be used in the Seoul Metro |
| How often it needs to be reloaded | Needs to be reloaded as you use it | Only needs to be reloaded monthly (62,000 won = about $43). Once paid for, the card has unlimited use until the month ends. |
| Cost of going to and from school for 20 days, via subway (about a month) | 56,000 won = about $39 | 62,000 won = about $43 |
| Cost of going to and from school for 64 days, via subway (about the entire semester) | 179,200 won = about $122 | 248,000 won = about $169 186,000 won = about $127 (* takes into account that if IES gives you the Climate Card with the first month pre-paid) |
When it comes to choosing which T-Money card to get, I think the Climate Card is worth it more than the Standard T-Money card because it lets us explore all of Seoul and make mistakes when doing so.
Forget to get off on your stop? No worries, just turn around and get on the next one back. Your friend forgot their card? No worries, just scan them through and then yourself. Have family and/or friends coming over? Just scan them all through with your one Climate Card.
While I admittedly haven’t been keeping the best track of how often I’ve been using my Climate Card, I know that I’ve definitely used it enough to make it worth it now and will continue to do so during my time here. I also know that some of the people in my cohort had been keeping better track of how much they were spending in the month and they all agreed that it made more financial sense to reload the Climate Card rather than getting a Standard T-Money card.
If you get the Climate Card, where does it work?
Buses
The blue and green buses work with the Climate Card which will get you pretty far. If you want to be sure, there are images on the front of the buses that show if they accept the Climate Card. Not every bus that accepts Climate Cards will have it, but many that I’ve seen do.
The bus that I know for certain that doesn't accept Climate Cards are the Red buses. The buses with the curtains on the windows also don't accept Climate Cards.
Subway
The subway lines that are available with the climate card are in the picture below.
As someone who grew up with essentially no public transit, Korea’s public transit is very convenient and easy to pick up. I've been to New York City a few times and have taken the subway every single time I visit, but would hands down say that Korea's subway system is much easier to pick up. I think the subways are a bit easier, but even the buses aren’t that hard to figure out once you have.
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Kala Yee
My name is Kendall Yee, though I go by Kala. I’m a junior getting an alternative education at University of Redlands through the Johnston Centre of Integrative Studies. I love to learn new languages, listen to music, read, and travel.