One thing that you may know about Korean websites is that they usually require a 주민등록번호 (”residents registration number”). But this kind of number is only available to Korean nationals. Therefore foreigners, even if they are residents in Korea, do not have such a number. A foreign resident will get a 외국인등록번호 (”foreigner registration number”)
Therefore, not all websites and their functions will be accessible to foreign residents, let alone non residents. However, the largest ones are increasingly opening their doors to foreign nationals. Today I will start with the website “Naver” which is number portal in Korea, even more used than Google for searches!
If you register, you can enjoy a large number of facilities such as a @naver.com email address, a blog, discussion boards, and other services. In this aspect, this functions a lot like Google because a single account will enable you to access a wide range of different services.
However Naver is different from Google because it is a portal. Their website is a simple expression of that:
Put it simply, Naver actually contains the information, while Google just enables its users to access information through its search function.
But why would you want to have a Naver account? A Korean email address is a big reason, but if you have (Korean) friends using Naver, using Naver yourself might help you to remain in contact through the blog comment or communities for exemple. But another big reason to join is to practice your Korean. If you are learning the language, surfing the website and confronting your brain with the Korean language can only help you to get better. ;-)
Now, if you want to create a Naver account but cannot read and understand Korean fully yet, you just have to follow the following instructions. All you need is a cell phone (anywhere in the world, as long as you can receive a text message) and another email address. The process is really short and if you keep cool in front of the Korean script, everything will be alright.
Let’s go!
1. Go to the « Registration page for foreigners living outside of Korea »
2. Tick all the boxes and click 동의
3. Click 휴대폰 인증받기
4. Choose your country in the popup (if you can’t read Korean, you can recognize your country by the country code that is indicated between brackets)
5. Type in your cell phone number
6. You will now receive a text message on your cell phone like this : [Naver]Register No XXXXXX
7. Enter the number, and click 확인
8. Another window appears, click 확인 again
9. Now you have to fill in the following form :
| 사용자 이름: Name [25 characters limit; long names beware] | Just type and if you type your name in English, you must use BLOCK LETTERS |
| 희망 아이디: User ID (login) |
Type it in, then click on the 중복확인 button next to it. A pop up will open. If you see a large field in the middle of the popup, you have to try a new login because it is already in use. Click 중복확인 after typing it in [in the pop up]. If the same message appears again, try again until you reach this message : {see below} Then click 사용하기 |
| 비밀번호: Password | Type your password |
| 비밀번호 확인: Confirm password | Type your password again |
| 비밀번호 재발급 질문: Question to recover your password | If you are using this tutorial, I suppose your knowledge of Korea is limited. I suggest you not to change anything here. Just let the first one selected [가장 기억에 남는 장소는 ?]. |
| 비밀번호 재발급 답: Answer to recover your password | Technically, the question you selected is « Where did you have your greatest memory ? ». So you can either answer this answer or type anything. Anyway if you lose your password, you will have to go through this process in Korean of course. So I suggest you not to forget your password. |
| 국적: Nationality | Choose your country in the list [use Google translator if you do not know what your country name looks like in Korean] |
| 성별: Gender [남자 = Male; 여자 = Female] | Tick the correct box |
| 생년월일: Birth date [년 = Year; 월 = Month; 일 = Day] | Select your year/month/day of birth |
|
본인확인용 이메일 인증 |
This field is used to confirm (again…) your registration. Type in your email with what is before @ in the left field, and choose your domain name (e.g. gmail.com) in the right-hand field. If your domain is different, select 직점입력 and you will be able to type in your domain. Then click on 인증 이메일 발송하기. You should receive an email on that email address shortly. Then insert the registration that you received by email number in the field below. |
| 이메일 주소 및 수신여부 |
See below |
| First thick box: 네이버 이메일 사용 | This means that if Naver wants to send you an email, they should send it to your new naver address. If you do not tick this box, you have to type in another email address just above. |
| Second tick box: | If you want to receive newsletters from naver, tick this box. |
10. Click 확인. If there is a problem, there will be an error message and the incorrect field will be put in emphasis.
11. Finished!!!
If this message was helpful in anyway, please leave a comment below.. Thanks!!
Later on I will post more on naver and other Korean portals as well. ;-)
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