The Foreigner Supervisory Service?

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has produced a brochure Ten Helpful Hints for Making Financial Transaction in Korea. 

Let's go through the 10 hints they make:

1. Provide proof of identity when you open a bank account. Okay, but they are saying that Alien Cards will no longer be accepted as proof.  I have mixed feelings about this.  Many people prefer to use their drivers licence as it prevents a lot of you can't you're foreign excuses.  However for those that don't drive, carrying passports around is risky. The fine for losing an Australian Passport is AUD$100 in the first instance plus the cost of a replacement passport is AUD$226.  I don't want to carry my passport outside the house unless it is vital.  The rationale behind this is that an Alien Card cannot be verified, I'm sorry but this is not true.  Verification of Alien Cards happens and is possible under the Telecommunications Act;
2. Designate a correspondent bank for foreign exchange transactions, I have not given up hope that someone will explain the sense of this regulation one day, as it is completely pointless, anti-competitive and discriminatory;
3. Use Internet banking and specialised remittance service, this is a good tip.  Transferring money in branch inefficient and inconvenient;
4. Get a debit card instead of a credit card, getting even a debit card can be difficult and there is a difference, I suggest shopping around for what you want;
5. Enroll in foreign worker insurances and get your insurance money, good hint, but usually employers are the main offenders for not registering for these insurances.  Avoid the independent contractor scam;
6. Take out private insurance for additional coverage, a good hint, but the FSS says that refusing to sell insurance to foreigners who cannot prove Korean language ability is legal.  Yes it makes sense, to a point, but will you deny my Korean wife and daughter the benefits of insurance because I cannot speak Korean?
7. Note that a variable insurance is a dividend-paying policy based on investment performance, say no to these policies. In the words of P.J. O'Rourke complexity beyond a certain point is fraud.  Unfortunately Koreans love this type of policy where you pay your insurance and you get a lump of money in 10-20 years.  I am taking a bath on the policy my wife likes, it's expensive and should anything happen to me it doesn't provide for my wife and daughter.  Luckily I still have some Australian insurance coverage;
8.  Show proof of auto insurance subscription abroad to get discount on Korean auto insurance, great tip; 
9. Apply for an investment registration certificate (IRC) at the FSS to trade Korean listed stocks, more pointless paperwork;
10. Click on online sources of information on Korea’s capital market, see my sidebar.

What's in a number?

One of the frustrations of many foreigners in Korea is that our ID numbers won't work with many computer systems as they are different to Korean's ID numbers.  A Korean ID number takes the form of YYMMDD-XYYYYYY where X is 1, 2, 3 or 4 for most Korean citizens, 5 or 6 for foreigners, and 7 is a specific number allocated to people who make international transactions, to allow the tracing of all transfers without the need for stupid foreign exchange bank declaratory forms.

Korean citizens who hold permanent residency in another country lose their original number and have to apply for a 5 or 6 number, the logic for which escapes me.

I don't want a new number, I want my number to work.  If you go somewhere and they tell you they can't handle your ID number, make some noise, I do.