my uncle and aunt are coming from korea soon, and i wanted a cell phone from there?
and i was wondering if korea sells unlocked phones?
because I know Hong Kong and others do, but i'm not sure about korea.

if they do, what do they need to tell the store?

Where do you live? If you live anywhere aside from Japan, unless the phone supports GSM, you'll have to be very careful as to whether the phone will work or not. Most Korean and Japanese phones are CDMA I believe so I don't think they'll work overseas? I'm not 100% sure though, so maybe someone else can explain better.

they will not work since korean phones are CDMA
you would need to go to a store that does this stuff (like in k-town here in LA) but even then i doubt they will do it for u
so u cant "unlock" it....only gsm phones are unlockable (sim card)

I highly doubt you could use it. =\

Well... Technically they're usuable... To an extent.

Japan is starting to transition to WCDMA so, these special WCDMA phones will not be able to (under no circumstance) work here (since no one offers WCDMA service). Korea currently employs CDMA so the handsets it sells *should* (by theoretical means) be compatible with similar CDMA technology carriers in the U.S (i.e. Verizon, Sprint). The downside is that I heard that Sprint and Verizon need to assimilate your phone into their network by "activation" and also, your phone might not utilize or be able to use certain CDMA wavebands that your carrier might offer (meaning low reception). Since Sprint and Verizon loses profit if they let sell some of their handsets cheaply (i.e. Free with activation and 2-year contract), they like to tie you down with two-year contracts and high termination fees so you don't go off buying a Verizon phone for $20 and then using it on Sprint's network. Because of that, companies don't like it when you use unlocked phones. Well... in most GSM phones, you can just switch the SIM card... CDMA (which doesn't use any SIM cards), phones need to be reprogrammed to use the network. This means you need the correct NAM settings for use on networks. So, the server as well as your phone needs to have matching MDN (mobile identification number - your phone number) and MIN (mobile ID number). You also need to program the CDMA and AMPS settings (respective of your network). This includes knowing the CDMA channels, SID and NID and possibly the network and country codes. It's a pretty confusing process but in order to even get this far, you need exclusive access to the phone's menu settings.

Even if you do manage to suceed, be prepared to live with only the basic calling and possibly text services.

i actually noticed better reception with my sky phone.....

lol but dont do it....waste of time and money.....theres a 99.9% chance you wont get it working even though it would work for sure......nobody will do it for u

do you know the name of that place that can unlock a korean cell phone? i have a samsung anycall sph-w2700 that i want to unlock, but havent found a place that can. name, number, address, anything would be useful. thanks.

i highly doubt they will do it for u
but u can try OK cellular its in los angeles k-town
i could get the rest of the info for u
they sell korean phones for use, but i doubt they will unlock ur fone for you since it does not give them any business

^ They might do it for him. He would have to pay for it, and it's pretty expensive.

then they should offer better phones, but i guess people in the states only want the next iphone, razr, blackberry, sidekick, or the cheapest phone out there

I heard that you can get SKY phones at k-town in L.A. but it can only be used with Verizon...
I don't know many korean phones that can be used in North American networks..there are but I don't see much..

pretty expensive....
most of their fones they offer with new contract are 300+
out of contract would be 700+
so id say somewhere in between they MIGHT unlock it for u

i dont see why they wouldnt unlock it for me if i paid them money. many companies around the world do it for a fee (less than $50), i just havent found a place that can unlock this particular model.