How to legit check Korean Pokemon cards | KrystalKollectz

Instagram @KrystalKollectz 
Youtube Channel KrystalKollectz 

Origin
Korean Pokémon cards were first printed in the United States in 1999 by Wizards of the Coast and had the same print/card quality as Western releases. The only difference was the language - Korean Pokémon cards featured Hangul / 한글 characters instead of the English alphabet.  


Korean Base Set pack 
Printed in the United States 

In 2003, Korean Pokémon cards interestingly featured Japanese card backs. This can be seen in cards from EX Ruby & Sapphire, also known in Korean as 제1탄 확장 팩 (First Expansion Pack). 

See the language comparison below displaying Pokémon in different Asian languages: 

🇰🇷 Pokémon in Korean = 포켓몬스터 (Hangul) 
🇯🇵 Pokémon in Japanese = ポケモン (Katakana) 
🇹🇭 Pokémon in Thai (Thailand) = โปเกมอน
🇨🇳 Pokémon in Simplified Chinese = 宝可梦
🇹🇼 🇭🇰 Pokémon in Traditional Chinese = 寶可夢
🇮🇩 Pokémon in Indonesian = same as English lol 

1. Card Numbering.. it's not sus (I promise)
No, you have not pulled an error card. Nor is it fake. Card Numbering is a topic that concerns a lot of people when first pulling a trainer or supporter card in Korean as the numbering will slightly differ from the Japanese versions. Please see the example below:

Example - Fight Gong - Mega Brave / M1L

Korean card number - 060/063 | Left
Japanese card number - 059/063 | Right

2. Card Quality
Korean Pokémon cards feature unique card stock as Pokémon Korea decided to print cards in their own printing facility - in South Korea 🇰🇷. This is separate from the other Asian-language Pokémon releases that are printed in Japan 🇯🇵 and share the same card quality (this includes S-Chinese 🇨🇳, T-Chinese 🇹🇼🇭🇰, Indonesian 🇮🇩 & Thai 🇹🇭 Pokémon cards). Korean Pokémon cards slightly resemble English / International Pokemon card quality but still have some differences, such as color saturation and overall card stock. If you have any Korean Pokémon cards in your personal collection that you especially treasure, I highly recommend storing them in a top loader or binder as they tend to warp during the summer time from humidity. You'll notice that the cards can sometimes bend so much that stand up on their own (which is not ideal, obviously). 

I like to call these K(c)urvy Korean cards :)  

3. Packaging/Sealing
Over the years, Korean Pokémon booster boxes have consistently changed its packaging throughout the eras. Once dissociating from the Wizards of The Coast, Pokémon Korea decided to remove shrink wrap from booster boxes and instead sealed them with just a single piece of plastic tape - at least from Black & White era up until Sun & Moon Era.

During the Sword & Shield era, all Korean Pokémon booster boxes were sealed with shrink wrap (not containing any logos).

In the Scarlet & Violet era, you'll notice that the booster boxes no longer have shrink wrap once again for some releases. Instead, these booster boxes are sealed with a rip tab and tape. This started with Scarlet ex & Violet ex up until the first High Class set of this era, Shiny Treasure ex / 샤이니트레저 ex. Even the Special Set, Pokémon 151 / 포켓몬 카드 151, had this type of packaging. Some booster boxes might also feature a "tamper-proof" void sticker on the bottom - but not always.

However, shrink wrap reappeared on Korean Pokémon booster boxes with the release of Wild Force & Cyber Judge (the two sets that comprise Temporal Forces) in early 2024. This shrink wrap still has no logo. This changes again with the next release, Crimson Haze / 크림슨헤이즈 - also known as part of Twilight Masquerade. The shrink wrap at this point now has  "Pokémon Card Game" repeatedly printed on all over it - in contrast to the Pokeball logo we see on the English Pokémon booster box shrink wrap. This type of shrink wrap continues to be used up until present day.

My unboxing video of Glory of Team Rocket / 로켓단의 영광 serves a good example of what to expect from a 2025 Scarlet & Violet Korean Pokémon booster box. 



4. Pull rates are VERY different 
If you have seen any of my Korean Pokémon Opening videos on Youtube (KrystalKollectz), you'll often hear me mention that "the secret rare is not guaranteed". A lot of people love to dispute this topic in the comment section of my videos since they likely have not seen a "no-Secret Rare box" for themselves. But I can assure you, there are videos on my Youtube channel that display Korean Pokémon booster boxes without a secret rare pull. This occurred more frequently in the Black & White, XY and Sun & Moon eras than in the more recent eras. But I occasionally still come across the odd box here and there with no secret rare pull. If you are streaming a rip & ship / box break, please consider letting buyers know that the secret rare is not guaranteed to prevent any issues. Over the years, I have received many emails from people claiming that their Korean Pokémon booster box was "tampered" with. In reality, they just got unlucky getting a box without a secret rare. You can oftentimes see trusted eBay sellers get hit with negative reviews from buyers claiming they had received a tampered box - yet that is not always the case. 

Example of a NO Secret Rare box - watch here 

5. Can you grade Korean Pokémon cards?
Yes, you can grade Korean Pokémon cards with well-known grading companies such as PSA , CGC , Beckett & ACE. Who you decide to grade with depends on your personal preferences. Due to cheaper card quality, it can be hard to score a 10 with Korean Pokémon cards. If you wanted my opinion, I personally recommend grading Korean Pokémon cards with PSA as it will be easier to get a higher grade from them than other companies that have harsher grading criteria. PSA tend to have a lot of Korean card information in their data vase making the grading process a little easier and less room for errors (such as wrong language). Some grading companies are still getting used to grading non-english cards and can often get the languages mixed up. This has unfortunately happened a few times when grading with CGC.      

Be sure to also use my discount code (KOLLECTZ25) for 10% off your first PSA grading submission ;) 

6. Why are Korean Pokemon Boxes cheaper? 🍕
A combination of inferior card quality (when compared to Japanese print) and the lack of a guaranteed Secret Rare pull accounts heavily for the affordable cost of Korean Pokémon cards relative to other languages of Pokémon cards. To help make this situation easier to understand, let's envision Korean Pokemon cards as a Dollar Pizza (that's been sitting around for awhile) and Japanese Pokemon cards as a freshly-made brick oven pizza. Both pizzas are good, but you can really feel (and taste) the difference in terms of quality 🍕. 

Basically, Japanese Pokemon cards win in terms of quality, but Korean cards win in terms of affordability. 

7. Should I Invest In Korean Pokemon cards? 🥴
This is a very frequently asked question from American viewers of my Youtube channel and every time this question pops up, I just say no. The market is almost non-existent when it comes to looking for "accurate" Korean Pokemon card single pricing as print quality is also inferior to Japanese Pokemon cards. Korean Pokemon boxes & cards are moreso to be collected for fun if the Japanese print cannot be obtained. 

Since you made it this far, why not subscribe to my Youtube channel to learn more! 

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