Despite efforts by all three of Korea’s mobile networks, expats still struggle to get access to smartphones.

Things have improved from the days when those arriving here had to persuade a Korean they barely knew to guarantee their phone bill or settle for an under the counter pay as you go phone. But shops that aren’t directly managed by the networks still often ask foreign customers to pay for devices up front, or outright refuse them.

Now SK dealer Mobile Boo have come up with an option to do the whole thing online. The site is entirely in English and tailored toward expats.

“We’ve especially been useful for teachers out in the countryside, where the only cellphone dealership has one employee and no one who speaks a word of English,” said a spokesperson for SK Telecom Hulics, which runs the website.

He said that since English operations started, they had delivered phones to Jeju Island, the Jeolla area and Gangneung

“These are not traditionally places where foreign teachers and residents can walk into a storefront and get a contract on their terms.”

The selection of devices is small, but that was a decision made by design.

“Our goal is to provide the most popular devices beginning with the iPhone and Galaxy,” the spokesperson said. “The site’s concept is to be simple, straightforward, uncomplicated.”

Currently the smartphones offered are the iPhone and the Galaxy S and S2, as well as the Optimus 3D. SK Huilics said the vast majority of customers wanted an Apple product.

“Call it a two year drought from 2009 till now, but most people who held out were ready for an iPhone.”

Mobile Boo is targeting teachers, with an eye on Korea’s plan to put all textbooks onto smart devices by 2014. The company is visiting foreign schools offering teachers discounts on phones, which it says it is able to do because they don’t have storefront costs.

To order a phone, applicants need a passport and bank account that can make automatic payments. The phone plans the company offers are identical to regular phone plans, lasting 24-months including an installment plan to pay for the device, where applicable.

For more information visit www.mobileboo.com

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)