I thought I was gonna dai without knowing how to speak korean here (after reading the posts here) and my first day was hell speaking only English. my first meal at a local korean restoran.. i said "soegogi nono" while making no sign... then the korean no understand.. then i ask got english menu? with her limited english i dunno what toking her and we just left the shop. after that i realize most of the koreans here speak Mandarin (sales promoter, kedai makan owner, any locals i meet) so everythng suddenly became so simple !! when i go restoran makan i toking mandarin, when i go those cosmetics shop i also toking mandarin.

So to those who wory about not knowing Korean language, dont worry, just speak Mandarin and chances are they will reply u in mandarin too.