Seoul-based · A person replies 9am–10pm KST
Every place in your Korea itinerary, checked by a person in Seoul before you land.
We compare each restaurant, café and spot against Korea's national business registry and Naver on the day we send your plan. If it closed, changed hours, or can't take foreign bookings, you know before your flight. Then we make the reservations that need a Korean phone number.
- Draft within 24 hours
- Every item stamped with its check date
- Reservations confirmed within 72 hours
- A human reply 9am–10pm KST during your trip
- 12:30OnjiumOpen · foreign bookings via Catchtable Global · next slot Oct 12OpenBooking · confirmed
- 15:00Hongdae cat café (from your list)Closed in June per the business registry. Two alternatives below.ClosedAlternative given
- 15:30Layered YeonnamOpen · no bookings needed · 12 min walk from the last stopOpenWalk 12 min
- 19:00Eid Halal Korean FoodHalal · Muslim-friendly · Itaewon, 35 min by subway · booking requested, awaiting replyHalal · Muslim-friendlyBooking · pending
Places are real examples; check dates and slots are illustrative. Your plan shows the actual date each item was checked.
Korea is easy to love and hard to navigate.
The three things foreign visitors report most, and what a checked itinerary does about each.
Bukchon → Insadong · 14 min on footGoogle Maps can't route you here.
Turn-by-turn directions don't work in Korea. We order each day by actual subway and walking time from your hotel, so Myeongdong to Hongdae is planned as the 30–40 minutes it really is.
Booked by phone, in KoreanGood restaurants want a Korean phone number.
Many take bookings only by Korean phone or Naver. A person in Seoul books for you, in Korean, during Korean business hours. That's the part no app does.
Closed since June · business registryPlaces close. Guides don't notice.
Every item is cross-checked with the national business registry and Naver on the day it's sent, and shows its check date. Closed places come back marked closed, with an alternative.
Trips we plan
Planned for the people actually going.
With a baby or toddler
Korea is safe, clean and full of things a toddler loves. It is also full of stairs, floor seating and cafés that quietly don't admit children. We plan around all three, place by place.
With parents or grandparents
A trip with your parents is about the same places, at a different pace. Palaces have gravel and steps, hanok villages are hills, and the best restaurants seat you on the floor. We plan the version they will actually enjoy.
Around a medical or wellness visit
You have an appointment in Seoul. We take care of everything around it: where to eat when your face is swollen, which days to keep empty, how far the pharmacy is at 11pm, and what to do with the family while you're at the clinic.
How it works
- 1About 6 minutes
Answer 12 questions
Dates, who's coming, where you're staying, up to three interests, anything you've already saved, food rules, pace and budget. Then pick a plan and pay.
- 2Within 24 hours
We build and check the draft
The draft comes from places we verified this week. A person in Seoul reads every line before it goes out, and each item carries its check date.
- 3Confirmed within 72 hours
We make the reservations
On booking plans, we ask you three short questions on Telegram or WhatsApp, then book in Korean. Each item shows confirmed, waiting, or alternative.
- 49am–10pm KST
We stay with you on the trip
Same-day reminders and a human reply in your language while you're here. Afterwards, three questions and a referral code.
Who checks your trip
Jeongseong Yoo
Founder of Before · the person who checks your plan
This started with a friend in Japan. For years we have planned each other's trips: I do Seoul when my friend visits, my friend does Tokyo when I go. Every place checked by someone who lives there, every reservation made in the local language. That is the whole idea here, offered to people who don't have a friend in Seoul.
I'm Jeongseong, the person behind every itinerary. Your 12 answers come to me, not to a queue. I check each place against Korea's business registry and Naver, phone the restaurants in Korean, and answer your messages myself between 9am and 10pm Korea time.
I don't sell hotels or take commissions from venues, so what goes into your plan is only what passed the check. If a place fails, you hear why and get an alternative, not a shrug.
- 30 years in Seoul
- Founded Before (b4our) in 2019
- Based in Gangnam, Seoul
- Replies 9am–10pm KST
- Telegram · WhatsApp · KakaoTalk · Email
Questions before you order? ceo@b4our.com
What we check, and against what
We don't publish a database. We use one, every day, so your plan only contains places that passed.
- SeoulVerified daily
- BusanVerified daily
- JejuChecked by phone
- Gyeongju · Jeonju · GangneungChecked by phone
Each item in your plan says which kind of check it had.
- Still open
- Korea's national business registry (closure status, updated nightly), cross-checked with Naver activity.
- Current hours & temporary closures
- Naver Place listing on the day we send. One weekday off is normal here; we plan around it.
- Takes bookings from abroad
- Catchtable Global and Naver passport-verified reservations. If neither, we book by phone in Korean.
- Halal grade
- Muslim-friendly (no pork or alcohol in the kitchen, confirmed with the owner) or Self-check. Prayer rooms added to the route.
- Real travel time
- Subway and walking time from your hotel door, so the third day doesn't burn out.
- Fit for your group
- Seats for 6, strollers, step-free access. Many small Seoul restaurants seat 2–4 and won't take larger groups.
Plans
Priced by how much human time goes in. Prices in USD; itineraries show ₩ with a same-day USD estimate.
Booking plans need 7+ days' notice.
Verified Itinerary
- Day-by-day plan built from places we verified this week
- Every item stamped with its check date
- Real travel time between stops, from your hotel door
- One round of changes
- Sent within 24 hours · no reservations
Booked & Companion
- Everything in Verified Itinerary
- 5 reservations made by a person in Seoul, in Korean
- Same-day reminders on Telegram or WhatsApp
- A human reply 9am–10pm KST during your trip
- Confirmed within 72 hours · extra bookings $12 each
Booked & Companion
- Everything in the 4-day plan
- 8 reservations included
- Fits the usual Seoul 4–5 days + Busan 2–3 days
Booked & Companion
- Everything in the 4-day plan
- 12 reservations included
- KTX and intercity bus tickets between cities
Graded restaurants with the reason for each grade, prayer-room routing, and ingredient checks with owners. Add it to any plan.
Restaurants and cafés, activities and classes (cooking, hanbok, K-pop dance), hair, nails and photo studios, KTX and intercity buses.
For Muslim travelers
Korean food hides pork and alcohol where you'd never guess.
Kimchi stew, bulgogi marinade, fish cakes. We don't rely on “looks fine”. Every place on a halal plan gets one of two grades, and you see why.
- Muslim-friendly
No pork or alcohol in the kitchen, confirmed with the owner by us.
- Self-check
Seafood and vegetable dishes available; ingredients not confirmed. You decide.
Rules we keep, so you can trust the rest
No booking plans under 7 days
Short-notice reservations mostly fail. We sell only the $10 itinerary for those dates.
We don't sell hotels
Neighborhood advice comes without a commission behind it.
Nothing before payment
The checked itinerary arrives within 24 hours after you pay. Not in chat before.
We guarantee we'll try every reservation and offer an equal alternative if one fails. We don't guarantee a specific table on a specific night. Booking items that can't be filled are refunded.
Questions
Why not just use a free AI planner or a 2026 blog guide?+
They give you a list. We give you a list where each place was checked against Korea's national business registry and Naver on the day we sent it, with the date on it. Blogs and AI drafts quietly include places that closed last spring; ours come back marked closed, with a reason and an alternative.
Can I get the itinerary before paying?+
No. The checked itinerary arrives within 24 hours after payment. That's the whole product, so we don't hand out drafts in chat.
What if a reservation fails?+
We guarantee that we'll try every reservation and offer an equal alternative if one fails. We don't guarantee a specific table on a specific night. Booking items we can't fill are refunded.
I land in 5 days. Can you still help?+
Yes, with the $10 Verified Itinerary. We don't sell booking plans for trips starting in under 7 days, because popular restaurants open bookings 1–4 weeks ahead and short-notice reservations mostly fail.
Which cities do you cover?+
Seoul and Busan are verified daily. Jeju, Gyeongju, Jeonju and Gangneung are planned from public data and checked by phone, and each item says which kind of check it had.
Do you book hotels?+
No. We don't sell hotels, so our neighborhood advice has no commission behind it.
How do we talk during the trip?+
Telegram or WhatsApp. You write in your language; we read and answer in yours, from Seoul, between 9am and 10pm Korea time. Outside those hours you get an automatic note and a reply the next morning.
Tell us about your Korea trip. We'll check every place before you go.
12 questions, about 6 minutes. Checked itinerary within 24 hours.
Replies from Seoul, 9am–10pm KST. Telegram · WhatsApp · email.