9 Korean phrases for the airport and immigration, including what the officer will ask
Incheon is one of the easier airports in the world to get through without Korean. The signs are bilingual and the officers switch to English, which is exactly why a few sentences go a long way: you understand the question before the switch, and you answer in the language of the country you just landed in.
These nine run in order, from check-in to the train into the city. Officials speak in the formal -습니다 style; you answer in polite 요 speech, and the notes mark which lines are yours and which you will hear.
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창가 자리로 주세요.
changga jariro juseyo.
A window seat, please.
At check-in, if the app did not let you choose. 통로 자리 is an aisle seat. Korean airline staff switch to English the moment you hesitate, so this one is as much for pride as for need.
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이거 기내에 가지고 탈 수 있어요?
igeo ginaee gajigo tal su isseoyo?
Can I take this on board?
기내 is the cabin. Hold up the item; 이거 (this) does the pointing. The answer you want is 네, 돼요.
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여권 보여 주세요.
yeogwon boyeo juseyo.
Please show me your passport.
What you hear at the desk. 여권 is passport; 네, 여기요 (yes, here) and the passport across the counter is the whole exchange.
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방문 목적이 무엇입니까?
bangmun mokjeogi mueosimnikka?
What is the purpose of your visit?
The formal -습니까 question form, which officials use and almost nobody else does. At Incheon the officer will probably ask in English; the Korean is here so you recognise it when they do not.
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관광이에요.
gwangwangieyo.
Tourism.
One noun plus 이에요 is a complete answer. 출장이에요 is a business trip, 공부하러 왔어요 is 'I came to study', 친구 만나러 왔어요 'to see a friend'.
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얼마나 계실 거예요?
eolmana gyesil geoyeyo?
How long will you be staying?
계시다 is the honorific of 있다 (to be, to stay), so the officer is being polite to you. 며칠 (how many days) sometimes replaces 얼마나.
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일주일 있을 거예요.
iljuil isseul geoyeyo.
I'll be here a week.
Swap the length: 열흘 (ten days), 한 달 (a month), 삼 개월 (three months). Use 있을 for yourself, never 계실; the honorific is for other people.
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짐은 어디서 찾아요?
jimeun eodiseo chajayo?
Where do I pick up my luggage?
짐 is the everyday word for luggage; the signs say 수하물 (baggage) and 수하물 수취대 (baggage claim). Know both so the sign and the question match up.
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공항철도 어디서 타요?
gonghangcheoldo eodiseo tayo?
Where do I get the airport train?
공항철도 is the AREX line into Seoul. For the bus, 리무진 버스 어디서 타요?; 타다 is 'to ride' and takes 어디서 (where at) for the boarding point.
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The honorific 계시다 is the detail to carry away. The officer uses it about you, and you use plain 있다 about yourself; getting that pair right in one short exchange sounds more fluent than any amount of vocabulary.