Editorial policy

Travel information about Korea goes stale fast: fares rise, transit cards are launched and retired, booking sites change their rules. This page explains how guides on Korea Field Notes are researched, checked and kept current.

1. Official sources first

Facts that you will act on — prices, opening dates, eligibility rules, refund conditions, routes — are taken from the organisation that runs the service, wherever possible from its Korean-language pages, because changes are usually published there first. Typical sources are Korail, SR (SRT), T-money, Seoul Metro, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Incheon Airport, the Korea Tourism Organization (Visit Korea) and the mobile carriers. Each guide lists its sources at the bottom and marks the Korean-language ones.

If a fact can't be confirmed from a reliable source, it is left out rather than guessed. When sources disagree, the guide says so.

2. Dates on every guide

• Updated — when the guide's text last changed.
• Facts checked — when the prices and rules in the guide were last compared against the sources. The key-facts table at the top of each guide uses this date.

3. First-hand claims

The writer lives in Seoul and uses the public transport, cards and apps covered here. But guides never invent personal experiences: no "I stayed here" or "I ate here" unless it really happened. A guide built from official information is presented as such.

4. How AI tools are used

We use AI writing and research tools to help draft, organise and translate material, and to search across sources. AI output is not treated as a source. Every price, date and rule is checked against the linked source before publication, and a person is responsible for what is published. AI-generated photos are not presented as real photos; most visuals here are tables and diagrams built from the data in the guide.

5. Topics we avoid

We don't publish medical, cosmetic-procedure or dermatology advice, and we don't give legal or immigration advice beyond summarising the official rule and linking to it.

6. Updates and corrections

Guides are reviewed when a source announces a change and on a regular schedule for the most-read guides. Errors reported through the contact page are checked and fixed; when a correction changes a fact you might have relied on, the guide notes what changed.

7. Money and independence

The site earns money from affiliate links and may show ads in future. Commercial relationships never decide what a guide recommends — see the affiliate disclosure. No sponsored posts are published.

Questions about this policy: contact · About the writer: About