I’ve recently been to South Korea and had a great time. Learning how to read Hangeul helped a lot, even though I don’t know the meaning of most things that I read!
One of the things I liked about traveling to South Korea was that many establishments accepted credit card for payment. When traveling abroad, I prefer managing my finances with the help of a credit card, so most of my expenses in Korea were charged to it.
The only challenge was figuring out which establishment charged which bill entry, because the labels can be cryptic.
It took some effort, but I’ve finished deciphering where each credit card charge came from.
I thought it would be nice to share them in case anyone faces the same challenge. Though I don’t know if this blog entry will still show up on Google search results. Ahh, fall of blogs’ popularity… (And years of me neglecting this blog :-p)
Credit card charge labels from South Korea:
Anyway, here are the credit card charges from South Korean establishments that I was able to decipher:
“KOLEILYUTONG(JOO)ÝR.FJ Seoul KR”: This was from an Etude House cosmetics vending machine, which was located in a Korail subway station. I had already flown back home when I realized that we got double-charged by the vending machine that only released one item. T_T Anyway, I have read elsewhere, that someone was charged “KOLEILYUTONG(JOO)NAM BOOSAN REF# MISC/SPECIALTY R” for baggage deposit at a train station. So I think that if you see any “KOLEILYUTONG” charge from your credit card, it could be a retailer that you transacted with in a Korail subway station. Fun fact: If you search for “코레일유통” (KorailYutong) you may stumble upon the “Korail Retail” website, which is currently at korailretail.com as I write this post!
“SSIJEOIIOLLIBEUNETEUUE SEOUL KR”: Olive Young
“AK PLAZA SOOUEONJEOM Suwon KR”: SPAO in AK Plaza, Suwon City
“OLMASHUKEUSHUTORI 4HOJ SEOUL KR”: All Mask Story in Myeong-dong, Seoul City
“7-ELEVEN Suwon KR”: Self-explanatory 😛
“INISEUPEULI MYEONGDONG Seoul KR”: Innisfree in Myeong-dong, Seoul City
“E-MART 24 SUWON STATI SUWON-SI P KR”: E-Mart convenience store in Suwon Station
“LODDEOIJIALENJEOILINEO SUWON-SI KR”: ANGELINUS, formerly known as Angel-in-us Coffee, in Suwon Station
“LIGIMBABAKSOOUEONJEOM SUWON-SI P KR”: Lee Gimbap, in Suwon Station
“SSIYU(CU) JINJUPLIMIUM” / “SSIYU(CU) INKYEPLIMIUM“: CU (Convenience Store) Jinju Premium branch / Ingye Premium branch
2025 update with some more credit card charge labels from Korea:
- “AK PLAZA Suwon KR”: This is a purchase from the AK Plaza Mall, located in Suwon City, South Korea.
- “CJ OLIVE YOUNG GANGNAM DAEJEON KR”: one of the Olive Young (a health & beauty store) branches in Gangnam.
- “CJ OLIVE YOUNG GANGNAM SEOUL KR”: one of the Olive Young (a health & beauty store) branches in Gangnam.
- “CO.,LTD ART BOX SUWON SUWON-SI P KR”: This is a purchase from Art Box, a “lifestyle and stationery” store in Suwon City, South Korea
- “SSIYU(CU) INCHUNGONGHA INCHEON KR”: SSIYU is CU, a popular CVS (convenience store) in South Korea. This one is specifically a branch at Incheon Airport.
New! Credit card charge labels from Japan:
- “Mujirushiryohin” is from MUJI!
- “Junkudoushoten Ikebuku”: A branch of Junkudo Shoten bookstore in Ikebukuro
- “Toraberazufuakutori”: This is Traveler’s Factory, a shop that sells stationery such as Traveler’s Notebooks and other retro-vibe tools!
- “Toraberazufuakutori” is from the NAKAMEGURO Traveler’s Factory branch.
- “Jr East Shopping Cente”: Traveler’s Factory STATION branch in Tokyo Station. I think the charge is labeled as such because the shop’s operation is tied to JR East (a railway company).
- “Travelers Factory – Chiba” – Traveler’s Factory AIRPORT branch at Narita Airport
That’s all folks! :3
On a side note, I had to fix this WordPress site because an update broke it! Good thing that my host’s support agent was able to point me to a way to restore my site to a previous state. Phew. I don’t like WordPress anymore but I can’t be bothered to plan and actually do the moving to another platform. Maybe someday, on a day, far faaaar away. Or, in a parallel universe.
