Signing a rental contract entirely in Korean — how do people do this?

Do not sign something you cannot read, and do not let "it's standard" close the conversation. There are three good ways to get it checked, and the room is not as scarce as the agent is implying.

How to get it checked:

1. Your university's international office. Many will look over a lease for a student, and some have a housing advisor specifically for this. Free, and they have seen hundreds. This is the first call.

2. Photograph the contract and run it through Papago or Google Lens. Machine translation of a standard Korean lease is good enough to understand the substance — deposit, rent, term, notice, who pays for what. It will not catch a subtle clause, but it will catch the big things.

3. Foreign resident support centres. The Seoul Global Center and the district foreigner support centres offer free consultations, including on housing contracts, often with an interpreter. This is what they are for and they are underused.

4. For a large deposit, a certified administrative scrivener (행정사) or a legal aid clinic. A modest cost against a 5,000,000 won deposit.

What to verify regardless of translation:

- The 등기부등본 (property register). Confirm the person signing is the registered owner and that the property is not mortgaged beyond its value. If it is heavily mortgaged and the owner defaults, your deposit ranks behind the bank. Any legitimate agent produces this without argument; a certified copy costs under 1,000 won online.
- The deposit and monthly rent figures in numbers and in Korean words, matching what you agreed.
- The contract term and the notice period.
- Who pays maintenance (관리비) and what it covers.
- That the bank account you transfer to is in the owner's name, matching the register.
- 확정일자 — after signing, take the contract to the local community centre and get this date stamp. It gives your deposit legal priority. It costs almost nothing and students skip it constantly.

On the pressure: an agent saying "just sign" about a document you cannot read is a reason to slow down, not to hurry. Rooms come up daily. A lost room costs you a week; a bad contract costs you your deposit.