How to cancel a reserved immigration office visit in South Korea as a Hi Korea non-member

If you need to make a reservation to visit an immigration office in South Korea, I think it is still better to create an account in the Hi Korea website. Just make sure to remember, take note or not forget your account details as trying to find your password through the site is a bit of a complicated process.

However, in cases that you reserved a visit through the website as a non-member and need to cancel that reservation, here are the steps to do so:

Go to the Hi Korea website. Close any pop-ups that appear, and click reserve visit.

Click appointment reservation status (non-member) on the left-hand side options.

Enter the required information in the boxes on the page, and click confirm button.

A list of your reserved appointments will appear. Select the appointment you want to check details of.

Details of your visit reservation will appear. Enter the password you registered upon reservation of the visit, and click the cancel button. 

A pop-up will appear asking if you will cancel the online reservation, click ok (or the blue button). A pop-up will confirm that the reservation has been cancelled successfully. Click ok (or the blue button). 

You will also receive a text message on your phone that your reservation has been cancelled.

Our overnight stay in the log cabin at Biseulsan Natural Recreation Forest

This is such a late post since we stayed in the log cabin last September 2019. However, I hope that some of the information here would still be helpful to those who are planning to book and stay overnight at Biseulsan Natural Recreation Forest.

Only vehicles registered during the reservation process will be allowed to enter the Natural Recreation Forest area. When we arrived, a guy was waiting by the barrier to check the vehicles wanting to enter. After telling him my name and showing my alien registration card, he let us through.

We dropped by the management office first to get the keys to our accommodation. We were also given a trash bag. The guy in the office said to me (in Korean) that we can bring the car close to the location of our reserved log cabin to drop off our stuff and then we should park the car in the designated parking area after. We did as he suggested as that was easier compared to hauling our stuff up the hill (which I think was a bit steep) if we had parked the car first.

I decided not to take pictures of the log cabin as I found a Naver blog post that have pictures of the exact same place we stayed at (which is the Sonamu log cabin). I did take pictures (shown below) of the other amenities available in the cabin. Dishwashing liquid and a mesh were also provided. The cabin had free Wi-Fi as well.

However, there were also some things which I noticed were not available, such as toiletries (soap and shampoo), microwave, and mugs or cups. Make sure to bring these items if you are planning to stay overnight. We were lucky that the store close to where we were staying was open so I was able to get a mini soap to use in the kitchen and bathroom.

There is a rice cooker available but I decided to use microwavable rice instead to make it easier. I ended up putting it in boiling water to heat it up for dinner.

After check-out the next day, we decided to take the electric car at Biseulsan that takes people up to the top of the mountain where a temple is located. Even if private vehicles are allowed inside the Recreation Forest, they cannot go up to the top. Only the electric cars are permitted to do so.

We are planning to book a caravan the next time we visit.

Booking at Biseulsan Natural Recreation Forest Part 2: Reservation, payment and cancellation

Once you have successfully signed-up as a member (check previous post), you can now book accommodations at Biseulsan Natural Recreation Forest. In this post, I will show how to book a log cabin. The reservation process for a caravan is the same.

First, go to the site and log-in to your account. A pop-up will appear saying that you have logged-in to the site. Click ok (blue button). It will return you to the main page of the site.

Point to 관광지시설and click 비슬산자연휴양림. If any pop-ups appear, just close it.

The left-hand side of the next page will show the accommodation types offered in Biseulsan. There are log cabins, condo, caravans and camping decks. Each accommodation type comes with a specific number of allowed occupants. Choose the accommodation type that you prefer. In my case, I went for the 통나무집 4인용 (log cabin for 4 persons). 

Select date of stay by clicking it on the calendar.

Select length of stay (e.g. 1 night, 2 days; 2 nights, 3 days) and the specific name of the room you want to reserve. In the tab, 이용안내, there is a map at the bottom showing the location and names of the log cabins. Select residency type in Dalseong-gun. I just clicked 일반 or general resident.

The rate of the room will appear below. Click the blue button to reserve. A pop-up will appear saying that you have to input information and then your reservation will be complete. Click ok.

Make sure to tick the tiny box near the top of the page agreeing to the notices. You will need to provide additional information such as your address and vehicle plate number. Once that is done, click the blue button to reserve.

A pop-up will appear saying your registration is complete. The next page will show your complete reservation information.

To pay for the accommodation, deposit the amount to the account of the company managing the area (Dalseong County Facilities Management Corporation). Once that is done, give their office a call (053-6594400) to say that you have already deposited the money. You will receive a text message once they have verified the payment.

There were a lot of notices posted throughout the pages while booking. To make it easy for me, I used Naver Papago to translate them. I have posted them below. Please make sure to read and follow their regulations so you won’t have any issues during your stay. For example, pets are prohibited and the use of charcoal is not allowed.

How to check reservation: Go to the site. Log-in to your account. A pop-up will appear saying that you have logged-in. Click 예약정보. Choose비슬산자연휴양림. The next page will show the details of your reservation. 

How to cancel reservation: Follow the steps in checking your reservation. Click the cancellation button (located at the very end of your reservation information). Provide the account name, number and bank name. Click the refund button. I originally booked a caravan in June but had to cancel. It took around three days after cancellation for the money to be deposited back to my account.

Booking at Biseulsan Natural Recreation Forest Part 1: Signing-up to be a member

My husband has always wanted to go camping but I am not really into it. However, I told him that I would not mind “glamping” since it looks a lot more comfortable than actual camping.

 

When we visited Biseulsan Mountain last year, we noticed that there were caravans and what looked like cabins in the area. We wondered then if they can be rented and how it can be done. It was only recently that I remembered it again because my husband asked me to check O2 Glamping. As their peak season starts in May, O2 Glamping was a bit expensive for us so I searched for the one in Biseulsan Mountain. I found out that their rates are a bit more affordable and their peak season is July and August so we will be able to save a little for our stay in June.

In this post, I would like to share how I booked a caravan for us in Biseulsan Natural Recreation Forest. However, before proceeding, please be aware of the following:

NOTE: The whole website is in Korean and to be able to reserve, you need to be able to at least read and understand Korean. You do not have to be fluent (since I am not fluent at all) to do that. I just used Naver Papago a lot to help me understand the gazillion terms and conditions.

To be able to reserve, you need to sign-up and become a member first. This will be the focus of this post. The actual caravan reservation will follow in the next post.

First, go to this site. If there are any pop-ups, just close them. Go to 고객센터 and choose 회원가입.

Next, click 안심본인인증. This seems to be an identity verification process through the use of your registered mobile phone number. A pop-up will appear showing the different network providers in Korea. Choose your phone network provider.

The next page will provide two options for verification: one through an app called “PASS” (which means you have to install it in your phone) and another through text message. I chose the text message option. Provide all the needed information and make sure to check the tiny boxes for the terms and conditions. Click the big grey button (확인) after.

You will then be instructed to input the 6-digit code sent to your mobile phone via text message. After doing so, you will need to input the personal information required.

I was not able to take a screenshot of the buttons at the bottom of the page and I cannot remember exactly what I clicked to finish signing up, but there should be a button below that you will click once you are done.

A pop-up window might appear saying that your sign-up is successful. My memory of the event is not so clear now as I was really frustrated that time. I initially tried to sign-up twice using my husband’s information but he did not receive any text message (for the code) so I finally decided to use my information instead.

The next post will focus on how to book the caravan and pay for it.

How to get to Costco Innovation City branch from Ansim Station (Line 1)

The second Costco branch in Daegu is located at Innovation City. Since my husband was meeting someone at Ansim station, he decided that we might as well check out this Costco branch. The walk from Ansim station to Costco Innovation City took us around 16-18 minutes (times may change depending on where you cross and the wait at the crossings). 

To help others out, I am providing a visual guide below showing the way to Costco Innovation City from Ansim Station.

Get out of Ansim Station Exit 1 and go straight until you reach a corner. Turn right on this corner.

Keep walking straight and you will eventually see a bridge.

We decided to cross the street and walk on the left side before reaching the bridge.

Pass under this bridge and keep going straight until you reach a corner. 

Turn left on this corner.

Keep walking straight until you reach the pedestrian lane in front of the Costco building. 

Cross this lane to get to Costco.

You will need to go up two floors to get to the store. There is no need to get a cart at the ground floor since they are available on the third floor near the entrance.

In this branch of Costco, all of the products are in the same floor unlike the Costco branch near EXCO where the products are spread out into two floors. The food court is also located inside. I am not sure if there is a way to access it without needing to enter the store. In our case, we immediately went through the entrance to shop and only after paying at the cashier did we get to the food court area.

Just in case you need lockers, they are available on the ground floor.