How to Pay Rent in South Korea as an American Military Family

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Absolutely. Your original has a great personal story buried inside it, especially the money changer, the Jeep, and those yogurt drinks. I’d keep those details because they make the post sound like you, but I’d update the framing so readers understand that this was your experience living off-base in Korea, not necessarily the exact payment process every military family will use today.

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• You May Need a Money Changer
• 1. Monitor the Dollar to Won Exchange Rate
• 2. Withdraw the Money
• 3. Find a Money Changer You Trust
• 4. Know the Exchange Rate Before You Walk In
• Tip #1 Know the Rate Before You Go
• Tip #2 Be Firm, Not Rude
• 5. Pay the Rental Agent and Get a Receipt
• Tip #3 Keep Records of Every Rent Payment
• Your Dollar Cost Can Change From Month to Month
• Start With the Housing Office

Paying rent in South Korea is not always as easy as writing a check or setting up an automatic payment. At least it wasn’t when we lived there.

For American military families living off-base, there can be a few extra steps between receiving your housing allowance and actually getting the rent into your Korean landlord’s hands. The first time you do it, the whole process can feel unnecessarily complicated. After a few months, though, it becomes just another one of those things you learn how to do when you live overseas.

One important thing to know before we get into my experience: procedures can vary depending on your installation, lease, landlord, and current military housing requirements. Service members authorized to live off-post may receive Overseas Housing Allowance, or OHA. The Department of Defense describes OHA as a cost-reimbursement allowance for eligible service members stationed overseas, with rent typically paid in foreign currency even though OHA is paid in U.S. dollars. [travel.dod.mil]

So if you’re moving to South Korea with the military, start with your installation Housing Office and follow its current guidance. For example, USAG Daegu currently directs personnel authorized to live off-post to work through USFK-registered licensed realtors, with lease preparation handled through the Housing Office. [home.army.mil]

With that said, here is how we paid rent in South Korea, along with a few things I learned along the way.

You May Need a Money Changer

At the end of every month, it was time to pay the rent again.

We were paid in U.S. dollars, but our rent was paid in Korean won. That meant somewhere between payday and rent day, those dollars had to become won.

For us, that meant getting to know a local money changer.

And when I say “getting to know,” I use that phrase loosely. We could barely communicate with each other, but somehow we managed to conduct a fairly large financial transaction every month.

Living overseas teaches you things.

1. Monitor the Dollar-to-Won Exchange Rate

Toward the end of the month, I would start watching the exchange rate to see how the dollar was doing against the Korean won.

I used XE to keep an eye on it.

Let me be clear: I wasn’t doing any sophisticated foreign-exchange forecasting. There were no spreadsheets, graphs, or financial models involved. I was simply watching the rate and making an informed guess about when it might be a good time to exchange our money.

Currency fluctuations actually matter when you’re living overseas. The Defense Travel Management Office notes that OHA is paid in U.S. dollars while rent and other housing expenses are typically paid in foreign currency. [travel.dod.mil]

When you’re exchanging enough money to cover an entire month’s rent, even a change in the exchange rate can get your attention.

2. Withdraw the Money

Once I decided it was a good day to make the exchange, I went to the bank and withdrew the money in U.S. dollars.

I always asked for large bills.

Our money changer preferred larger denominations, and in my experience that could help when negotiating the exchange. We generally didn’t use the bank to exchange the dollars because we could usually find a better rate elsewhere.

Again, this is one of those areas where I recommend following current installation guidance rather than assuming the way we did it is still the way everyone should do it.

3. Find a Money Changer You Trust

Finding a money changer was almost like finding a good hairstylist or nail salon. Once you found someone you trusted, you didn’t want to start over somewhere else.

Ask around.

Other military families who have been there for a while can be a good source of practical information, but make sure anything involving your lease or housing payment also follows the rules established by your Housing Office.

Our money changer was quite a character.

He didn’t really have office hours. When I needed to exchange dollars for won, I called him. His English was worse than my Ancient Egyptian, and unfortunately, my Korean wasn’t going to save either one of us.

Still, somehow it worked.

He didn’t sit around the office waiting for customers. He would usually arrive on his bike, we’d exchange the money and communicate mostly through pointing, facial expressions and whatever limited vocabulary we could pull together. Then he’d pedal off again.

I still don’t completely understand how his business worked.

What I did understand was the exchange rate.

And his rates were good.

So we were cool.

4. Know the Exchange Rate Before You Walk In

This was important.

The money changer was running a business. Of course he needed to make money on the transaction. But that didn’t mean I needed to accept the first number without knowing approximately what my dollars were worth.

Before I went, I checked the current exchange rate so I had a reference point.

Then we negotiated.

Not aggressively. Not rudely. Just directly.

When you’re exchanging a substantial amount of money every month, you have a little more reason to pay attention to the rate you’re being offered.

Tip #1: Know the Rate Before You Go

Don’t walk in completely clueless about the current dollar-to-won exchange rate. Check it first so you have a reasonable point of comparison.

Tip #2: Be Firm, Not Rude

Negotiating doesn’t require turning the transaction into a battle.

I went to the same money changer once a month for about two years, so we developed our own strange little routine.

Some days he was especially friendly. He loved my Jeep and occasionally walked outside with me just to look at it. He also kept a refrigerator stocked with little yogurt drinks.

And I developed my own completely unscientific theory about them.

If he offered me a yogurt drink, I figured he thought he’d gotten the better end of our negotiation.

If there was no yogurt?

I figured I’d won that round.

Sometimes I left with cash and yogurt.

Sometimes I left with just the cash.

Either way, the rent was getting paid.

5. Pay the Rental Agent and Get a Receipt

Once I had the Korean won, the next stop was our rental agent.

And this part was important: I wanted documentation showing that the rent had been paid.

With any large cash transaction, you don’t want to rely on someone’s memory. Keep your ledger, receipt, or whatever documentation is provided for your payment.

Our rental agent handled a lot of cash. They would put the money through a cash-counting machine, verify the amount, document the payment, and we’d do it all over again the following month.

Tip #3: Keep Records of Every Rent Payment

Whatever payment method your landlord or rental agent uses, keep a record.

Save the receipts. Keep copies of your lease and housing paperwork. Document your payments.

The Defense Travel Management Office says OHA rental allowances are based on actual rent reported through local finance systems and reimburse rent up to the lease amount or applicable allowance, whichever is less. [travel.dod.mil]

That alone is a good reason to stay organized.

Your Dollar Cost Can Change From Month to Month

One of the interesting things about paying rent in another currency is becoming much more aware of exchange rates.

Your lease may state a fixed amount in Korean won, but the number of U.S. dollars needed to obtain that amount of won can change as the exchange rate moves.

It was something we didn’t think much about before living overseas. Once you’re standing there exchanging enough money to pay the rent, you start paying attention pretty quickly.

Start With the Housing Office

If you’re PCSing to South Korea today, I wouldn’t arrive assuming you need to recreate my monthly cash-and-money-changer routine.

Military housing policies vary by installation and circumstances. Eighth Army says Soldiers and families receive housing guidance during in-processing, and those authorized to live off-post receive assistance through the Installation Housing Office and approved realtors. [8tharmy.ko…a.army.mil]

So start there.

Ask how your particular rent should be paid, what documentation you need, whether your rental agent or realtor is approved, and how your OHA paperwork should be handled.

Once you understand the system, paying rent in South Korea stops feeling nearly as complicated.

And who knows?

Maybe you’ll even find yourself a money changer with a refrigerator full of yogurt drinks.

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How to Pay Rent in South Korea as an American Military Family

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Living off-base with the U.S. military in South Korea? Here’s how we paid rent in Korean won, handled money changers, watched exchange rates, and kept records of our monthly payments.

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Paying rent in South Korea can be a little different for American military families living off-base. Here’s how we handled Korean won, exchange rates, money changers, rental agents, and monthly rent payments while stationed in Korea.

 

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