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SUMMARY
Yes. Daegu is a good place to live as an expat if you already have reliable income or a job and you value affordability, convenience and a more Korean day-to-day life over a huge international scene.
Housing is the clearest advantage. Central rents can be less than half Seoul levels, which changes the budget far more than small differences in food, cafés or transport ever will.
Daegu is also becoming more international, but only gradually. More than 40,000 registered foreigners now live in the city, yet they still represent only about 1.7% of the population, so foreigners are visible without shaping everyday life across whole districts.
The job market is the main filter. Engineers, researchers, teachers and people transferred into local companies have plausible paths, while generalist professionals arriving without work will find a much thinner English-language market than in Seoul.
Daegu's compactness is an underrated advantage. Three metro lines, cheap taxis, fast KTX links and a central nightlife district make the city easy to use without a car, and Seoul or Busan are close enough for occasional trips.
The trade-off is that English stops being dependable once life gets complicated. Routine shopping and transport are easy, but housing disputes, banking, healthcare administration and government paperwork become much smoother with at least basic Korean.
Families get a lot of space and good infrastructure for the money, but international schooling can reverse the savings quickly. Daegu International School tuition alone is high enough to absorb much of the annual rent gap with Seoul.
Daegu also works particularly well for people who want mountains rather than beaches. Apsan, Palgongsan and the Sincheon corridor make hiking, running and cycling unusually accessible from a large city.
The biggest everyday downside is climate, not infrastructure. Daegu's summer heat is severe and persistent, even though its long-term air-quality trend has improved substantially.
The best fit is someone who wants to live in Korea rather than build an English-speaking bubble inside Korea. For that person, Daegu offers a lot: lower housing costs, strong hospitals, decent regional flights, quick rail access and a calmer rhythm, with the price being fewer international jobs and more pressure to adapt locally.
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Is Daegu becoming a genuinely international city?
Daegu is becoming noticeably more international, but foreigners are still a small enough share of the population that everyday life remains overwhelmingly Korean.
Daegu had 40,024 registered foreign residents at the end of 2025, according to the city's latest statistics. That was up 9% in one year, while Daegu's total population has continued to edge down. Foreign residents now account for roughly 1.7% of the city's population.
The composition is also useful to understand. Vietnamese nationals numbered 12,312, around 31% of registered foreigners, while Chinese nationals accounted for another 5,543. Nearly two-thirds of Daegu's foreign residents were in their 20s or 30s.
So there is clearly more international life in Daegu these days. Forty thousand foreign residents can support international students, foreign-worker communities, language exchanges, specialised services and a small expat nightlife scene. The scale still looks very different from Seoul, where foreigners are far more visible across entire neighbourhoods and industries.
For an expat, that difference is important from day one. Daegu has enough foreigners that we are unlikely to feel completely alone, yet the city rarely adjusts itself around foreigners.
| Daegu foreign-resident indicator | Latest figure | Recent change | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registered foreigners | 40,024 | +9.0% in one year | International population is growing quickly |
| Share of Daegu population | ~1.7% | Still low | Daily life remains predominantly Korean |
| Vietnamese residents | 12,312 | ~31% of foreigners | Largest foreign community |
| Chinese residents | 5,543 | ~14% | Another major community |
| Foreign residents in their 20s and 30s | — | ~65% | Foreign population is unusually young |
Who is Daegu actually good for as an expat?
Daegu works especially well for expats who already have a job or outside income and want affordability, convenience and a more Korean daily life.
That qualification changes almost everything.
A university researcher, teacher, engineer, remote worker or foreign employee transferred to Daegu can enjoy a large Korean city while paying far less for housing than in Seoul. The calculation becomes much less attractive for someone arriving without employment, speaking little Korean and hoping to find a broad international job market after moving.
The same divide appears socially. An expat who actively joins university groups, language exchanges, sports clubs or the downtown nightlife scene can build a circle fairly quickly. Someone who expects English-speaking social life to appear naturally around every neighbourhood may struggle.
Daegu suits a fairly specific kind of expat better than it suits everyone. We would be much more confident recommending it to someone whose income and visa are already sorted than to someone using the city as a place to start a new international career from scratch.
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Is Daegu really much cheaper than Seoul?
Yes. Daegu's current housing costs are dramatically below Seoul's, and the difference is big enough to change how comfortably an expat can live.
Recent Numbeo data put the average one-bedroom apartment in central Daegu at about ₩565,000 a month. The equivalent figure in Seoul was roughly ₩1.29 million.
That puts central Daegu about 56% below Seoul on this measure.
The gap remains almost as wide outside the centre. A one-bedroom averaged around ₩366,000 in Daegu against roughly ₩865,000–₩872,000 in Seoul. For a larger household, a central three-bedroom was about ₩1.42 million in Daegu compared with roughly ₩3.6 million or more in Seoul.
These figures are crowdsourced averages rather than guaranteed asking rents, and Korean rental deposits can shift the monthly payment substantially. Still, the scale of the difference is too large to dismiss as sampling noise.
Daegu can therefore give an expat something increasingly difficult to buy in Seoul: a relatively central apartment without devoting a huge share of income to rent.
| Typical monthly rent | Daegu | Seoul | Approximate Daegu discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-bedroom, city centre | ~₩565k | ~₩1.29m | ~56% |
| 1-bedroom, outside centre | ~₩366k | ~₩870k | ~58% |
| 3-bedroom, city centre | ~₩1.42m | ~₩3.6m+ | ~60% |
| 3-bedroom, outside centre | ~₩836k | ~₩1.9m | ~56% |
Does living in Daegu actually save much money beyond rent?
Mostly through housing. Daegu is cheaper than Seoul overall, but groceries, cafés and everyday Korean prices do not suddenly become half-price.
Recent local price data put an inexpensive restaurant meal around ₩13,000, a cappuccino near ₩5,300 and a cinema ticket around ₩15,000. Those are recognisably Korean big-city prices.
Imported groceries, fruit and Western products can still feel expensive. Utility bills can also become substantial during Daegu's hot summers and cold winters, particularly in larger or poorly insulated apartments.
Housing is where the financial difference becomes compelling. Saving ₩500,000 to more than ₩1 million a month on rent can easily outweigh relatively small differences in coffee, supermarket shopping or restaurant prices.
That makes Daegu particularly attractive when income stays the same after the move. A remote worker paid from overseas, for example, captures much more of Daegu's cost advantage than someone whose salary also drops sharply after leaving Seoul.
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Is renting an apartment in Daegu difficult for foreigners?
Renting in Daegu is manageable for foreigners, although Korea's deposit-heavy rental system can be confusing the first time.
Most newcomers will encounter either jeonse, which requires a very large refundable deposit in exchange for little or no monthly rent, or wolse, which combines a smaller deposit with monthly payments. Wolse is usually the easier option for an expat who does not want tens or hundreds of millions of won tied up in housing.
Even inexpensive Daegu rentals can require several million won upfront, so an advertised monthly rent never tells the whole story.
Language is another practical issue, but Daegu offers a useful workaround. The city officially designates “Global Real Estate Agencies” where licensed agents provide services in foreign languages. The current city list includes eight English-capable agencies as well as agencies offering Japanese and Chinese.
We would still check the property registry, confirm who owns the apartment and make sure the deposit receives the usual legal protection. Foreign-language assistance makes the process easier; it does not make due diligence optional.
The good news is that Daegu's low rents remain genuinely accessible to foreigners rather than being an advantage that disappears as soon as we try to sign a contract.
Can you comfortably live in Daegu without speaking Korean?
An expat can get through daily life in Daegu without Korean, but living there becomes much easier once we can handle basic conversations ourselves.
Transport, convenience stores, large supermarkets, chain restaurants and most routine purchases are easy enough with translation apps. Korea's highly digitised infrastructure also removes quite a few situations where spoken language would otherwise be essential.
The friction appears when something goes wrong or becomes complicated.
A landlord dispute, hospital visit, banking issue, phone contract, government document or conversation with a local repair person is very different from ordering dinner from a touchscreen. English availability becomes less predictable once we move away from universities, large hospitals and foreign-oriented services.
Daegu's own foreign-resident support reflects that reality. The city publishes an English living guide, provides information on multilingual medical institutions and runs Korean-language programmes through universities and support centres.
For a year abroad, we could probably survive using English and Papago. For several years in Daegu, learning Korean would improve daily life far more than it would in the most international parts of Seoul.
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Will an expat in Daegu actually have people to hang out with?
Yes. Daegu has enough foreigners and internationally minded Koreans to build a social life, although we usually have to make more of an effort than in Seoul.
The city's 40,000-plus registered foreigners are spread across universities, manufacturing companies, English teaching, research institutions, migrant-worker communities and the U.S. military presence. That creates several social circles rather than one huge expat scene.
Dongseongno and the surrounding central area are the easiest places to encounter foreign-oriented bars and nightlife. University districts add international students and language-exchange groups, while KakaoTalk, Facebook and hobby communities fill some of the gaps offline.
Daegu's scale actually helps once we start meeting people. Social circles overlap more than they do in Seoul, and getting across the city for dinner or drinks is rarely a major expedition.
Still, Daegu will disappoint someone looking for endless international events, dozens of foreign social scenes or a different expat crowd every weekend.
The social environment is small enough to feel familiar and large enough to avoid being isolated.
Does Daegu get boring after a few months?
Daegu can feel repetitive faster than Seoul, but there is enough going on for people who prefer a manageable city over constant novelty.
Dongseongno gives Daegu a proper central nightlife and shopping district. Seomun Market is one of Korea's best-known traditional markets, while Suseongmot, university areas, department stores, cafés, restaurants, cinemas and seasonal festivals spread activity beyond one small downtown strip.
What Daegu cannot match is Seoul's depth. The capital has far more international restaurants, exhibitions, concerts, niche communities and new places opening every week. Busan also has the obvious advantage of beaches and a larger visitor economy.
Yet the smaller scale can become a quality-of-life advantage. Dinner across town does not require planning around an hour-long subway trip. Friends living in different districts are still relatively close. A normal Saturday can combine hiking, shopping, dinner and drinks without spending half the day moving around.
Daegu is better at being an easy city to live in than an endlessly exciting city to explore.
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Is Daegu a good city if you like hiking and being outdoors?
Daegu is one of Korea's better large cities for combining everyday urban life with easy access to serious hiking.
Apsan rises directly south of the built-up city and offers trails and elevated views over Daegu. Palgongsan provides a much larger mountain area to the northeast, while the Sincheon corridor gives residents a convenient place to run, walk and cycle without leaving the city.
The useful part is the proximity. We do not have to choose between living near mountains and having access to universities, hospitals, restaurants, metro stations and large shopping areas.
Daegu also works well for spontaneous outdoor plans. A resident can hike in the morning and be back downtown for lunch rather than treating nature as a full weekend trip.
Busan clearly wins if beaches are essential. But for hiking, mountains and a city lifestyle in the same place, Daegu has a strong case.
Can you live in Daegu without owning a car?
Yes. Most expats living near Daegu's subway network can comfortably manage without a car.
Daegu has three urban-rail lines covering many of the places foreigners are most likely to use regularly. Line 1 serves Dongdaegu Station and central Daegu, Line 2 crosses downtown and continues through areas such as Suseong-gu and toward Keimyung University, while Line 3 adds another north-south corridor.
Buses fill many of the remaining gaps. Local public transport costs around ₩1,500 for a typical journey, while taxis are inexpensive enough that using one occasionally does not destroy the savings from living car-free.
Location still matters. Daegu Metropolitan City became geographically much larger after Gunwi County was incorporated, and some peripheral industrial or rural areas remain inconvenient without a vehicle.
For most newcomers, choosing an apartment within easy walking distance of a metro station is more useful than owning a car.
| Transport factor | Daegu currently | Practical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Urban rail | 3 lines | Covers most major central corridors |
| Typical local fare | ~₩1,500 | Daily travel is inexpensive |
| Taxi starting fare | ~₩4,000–₩4,500 | Cheap fallback for awkward trips |
| Dongdaegu to Seoul | ~1h40 on faster KTX services | Easy occasional capital-city trips |
| Dongdaegu to Busan | Often under 1 hour | Busan is very accessible |
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Does living in Daegu leave you cut off from Seoul, Busan or international travel?
No. Daegu is unusually well connected for a city that costs so much less than Seoul.
Dongdaegu Station sits directly on Korea's main high-speed rail corridor. Faster KTX services can reach Seoul in roughly 1 hour 40 minutes, while Busan can take less than an hour.
That makes a surprisingly large difference to expat life. We can live in Daegu and still use Seoul for occasional meetings, concerts, specialist shopping or visits without turning every trip into a flight or overnight stay. Busan is close enough for spontaneous weekend plans.
Daegu International Airport adds another layer. The city's latest route information lists 14 international routes across eight countries and territories, with around 195 international flights per week.
Current direct destinations include Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Taipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Cebu. The airport's international schedule expanded substantially compared with the previous summer season, and Hong Kong service returned after an absence of several years.
Long-haul travel is less convenient because Europe and North America generally require a connection. For regional Asia trips, however, Daegu is better connected than its international reputation suggests.
| Destination or network | Typical access from Daegu | How useful is it? |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul | ~1h40 by faster KTX | Excellent |
| Busan | Often under 1 hour by KTX | Excellent |
| Japan | Direct flights to major cities | Very good |
| Taiwan / Hong Kong / China | Several direct routes | Good |
| Southeast Asia | Bangkok, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Cebu and others | Good |
| Europe / North America | Usually requires a connection | Limited |
Can foreigners find good jobs in Daegu right now?
Daegu has real jobs for specialised foreigners, but it remains a difficult city for an expat who arrives without a position already lined up.
The local economy is large and fairly diversified. Daegu's latest official industrial data show services accounting for 71.9% of regional output and manufacturing for another 21.3%.
Manufacturing companies with at least ten employees collectively employ just over 100,000 people. Machinery and metal industries account for about 44,800 of those jobs, automotive for around 15,600 and textiles for nearly 12,900.
That industrial base creates opportunities for some engineers, researchers and specialists. Universities, hospitals and English-language education add other routes for foreigners.
The broader labour market looks less reassuring. Daegu's unemployment rate reached 4.9% in the latest annual figures, versus 4.1% nationally. Toward the end of 2025, manufacturing employment was down around 17,000 year on year even as employment in public, personal and business services increased.
Daegu has employment niches rather than a broad international professional market. A foreign engineer recruited by a local company may have a very good reason to move here. A marketer, finance professional or generalist hoping to browse English-language vacancies after arrival will find far more options in Seoul.
| Daegu labour-market indicator | Latest figure | What it tells us |
|---|---|---|
| Services share of GRDP | 71.9% | Most economic activity is in services |
| Manufacturing share | 21.3% | Industry remains important |
| Workers in larger manufacturing firms | ~100,330 | Significant industrial employment base |
| Machinery / metal workers | ~44,800 | City's strongest manufacturing cluster |
| Automotive workers | ~15,600 | Relevant specialist sector |
| Unemployment rate | 4.9% | Above the national 4.1% rate |
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Is healthcare in Daegu good enough for expats?
Yes. Daegu has the kind of hospital infrastructure we would expect from one of Korea's largest metropolitan areas.
Major hospitals include Kyungpook National University Hospital, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center, Yeungnam University Medical Center, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center and Daegu Fatima Hospital.
Several of these institutions handle international patients, and Daegu's municipal foreign-resident information identifies medical facilities where foreign-language assistance is available. Kyungpook National University's hospital system also operates dedicated international healthcare services.
A random neighbourhood clinic may still involve a translation app, particularly outside central or university areas. Serious medical care is different: an expat generally does not need to travel to Seoul simply because Daegu lacks major specialists or tertiary hospitals.
Healthcare is one of the easier parts of choosing Daegu over the capital.
Is Daegu a good place for an expat family?
Daegu can be a very comfortable family city, but international-school fees can wipe out a large part of the money saved on housing.
Daegu International School offers a straightforward English-language option. For the 2026–27 school year, annual tuition runs from ₩22.9 million for kindergarten to ₩31.9 million for high school, before some additional fees.
A family paying around ₩1.4 million for a central three-bedroom in Daegu may save well over ₩20 million a year compared with a similar Seoul rental. Put one child into international school, however, and a large part of that housing advantage can disappear.
Families using Korean schools face a completely different equation. Public schooling is far cheaper, and the local education system provides Korean-language support for foreign and multicultural students.
Daegu also offers plenty of things families usually care about beyond school fees: large hospitals, parks, mountains, relatively straightforward transport and a generally safe urban environment. Personal-security concerns are rarely a major reason expats rule out the city.
The key family question is schooling. If that part works, Daegu's combination of space and everyday convenience becomes much more attractive.
| Daegu International School | Current annual tuition |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten | ₩22.9m |
| Grades 1–5 | ₩24.8m |
| Grades 6–8 | ₩27.0m |
| Grades 9–12 | ₩31.9m |
| One-time entrance fee | ₩3.0m |
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How bad are Daegu summers these days?
Daegu's summer heat is genuinely severe, and anyone who struggles with hot weather should treat it as a serious drawback.
Daegu sits in an inland basin and has long been known as one of Korea's hottest major cities. Recent weather records show that the reputation is still deserved.
Korea's weather service defines a heatwave day as one when the maximum temperature reaches at least 33°C. Daegu recorded 54 such days in 2025. That works out to almost eight weeks of heatwave-level days spread across the warm season.
Recent regional climate reports also placed that year among the hottest ever observed around Daegu and North Gyeongsang.
Air conditioning makes daily life manageable, and practically every modern workplace, café, shopping centre and metro facility is prepared for Korean summers. But walking, running, commuting outdoors or living in an older apartment can become unpleasant for long stretches.
An expat choosing between Daegu and coastal Busan should take this difference seriously. Daegu's weather is one of the few everyday disadvantages that money saved on rent cannot really fix.
Is Daegu's air pollution still bad?
Daegu's air has improved a lot over the past decade, although fine-dust days have not disappeared.
The city's official annual air-quality data show average PM2.5 falling from 26 μg/m³ in 2015 to about 14 μg/m³ in the latest published annual figure. That is a decline of roughly 46%.
PM10 also fell from 46 μg/m³ to around 27 μg/m³ over the same period. Nitrogen dioxide has moved down substantially as well.
Those are large long-term improvements rather than a one-year fluctuation. Daegu's latest annual PM2.5 average also sits just below Korea's national annual standard of 15 μg/m³.
Sensitive residents will still see days when an air-quality app recommends limiting outdoor activity, particularly during seasonal fine-dust episodes. Yet the idea that Daegu constantly has terrible air is increasingly outdated.
| Annual Daegu air measure | 2015 | Latest published annual figure | Approximate change |
|---|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 26 μg/m³ | ~14 μg/m³ | -46% |
| PM10 | 46 μg/m³ | ~27 μg/m³ | -41% |
| National PM2.5 annual standard | — | 15 μg/m³ | Daegu is slightly below it |
| NO₂ | 0.021 ppm | ~0.013 ppm | Large decline |
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Where should an expat live in Daegu?
Jung-gu is the easiest all-round choice for a first-time expat in Daegu, while Suseong-gu, Dong-gu and university districts work better for more specific lifestyles.
Jung-gu puts us close to Dongseongno, shopping, restaurants, bars and major metro connections. It is probably the simplest place to understand the city quickly and makes meeting people easier.
Suseong-gu is more residential and polished. It appeals to professionals and families who prefer quieter neighbourhoods, strong amenities and easy access to Suseongmot, although housing can cost more by Daegu standards.
Dong-gu suits people who travel frequently because Dongdaegu Station and Daegu International Airport are both on the eastern side of the city.
Around Kyungpook National University in Buk-gu and Keimyung University farther west, students create cheaper food options, younger neighbourhoods and a little more international activity.
We would choose proximity to work and a metro station before chasing the absolute cheapest rent. Daegu is compact enough that a well-located apartment makes most of the city easy to use.
Should Daegu's shrinking population worry an expat?
Daegu's population decline matters mainly for long-term career prospects because the city continues to lose young Koreans to the Seoul metropolitan area.
The latest population data show roughly 2.35 million residents in Daegu, down from about 2.50 million in 2017. That is a decline of around 150,000 people in less than a decade.
Domestic migration shows where some of the pressure comes from. Daegu recorded another net outflow in 2025, with people in their 20s heavily represented among those leaving. Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon absorb many of them.
Young adults typically move for university, salaries, corporate careers and broader opportunities. Their continued departure helps explain why Daegu can simultaneously feel like a large, highly developed city and still offer a relatively thin market for ambitious white-collar workers.
There is an interesting countertrend. Foreign residents rose 9% in the latest year even while the broader population kept shrinking. Daegu is slowly becoming more international while struggling to retain some of its own young population.
For an expat with secure employment, this demographic problem may barely affect daily life. For someone expecting Daegu to become Korea's next major international business hub, the evidence currently points the other way.
Buying real estate in Daegu can be risky
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So, is Daegu a good place to live as an expat?
Yes. Daegu is currently one of the better Korean cities for an expat who already has work or reliable income and prefers lower costs and easier daily living over a huge international scene.
Housing makes the strongest case. A central one-bedroom averages around ₩565,000 in recent market data, compared with roughly ₩1.29 million in Seoul. Daegu still gives us three metro lines, major hospitals, universities, serious hiking, a large downtown, fast KTX connections and an airport with direct flights around East and Southeast Asia.
There are clear reasons to choose somewhere else. Seoul is much better for international careers, English-language convenience, specialist communities and sheer variety. Busan gives us a larger tourism scene and the coast. Daegu's summers are punishing, and people planning to stay for years will get substantially more from the city if they learn Korean.
The employment question probably matters most. If we arrive in Daegu with a good job, the lower rent can translate directly into more space, more savings and less stressful city life. Arriving without work and expecting Daegu to provide Seoul-level career opportunities is a much weaker bet.
As seen above, the foreign population has now passed 40,000 and is growing quickly, so Daegu is easier for foreigners than it was a few years ago. That growth has not made the city internationally oriented enough to live entirely inside an English-speaking bubble.
Our judgment is fairly clear: Daegu is a good expat city for people who want to live in Korea, rather than simply live abroad surrounded by other foreigners. For the right person, the trade is attractive—much cheaper housing, strong infrastructure and a calmer daily rhythm, in exchange for fewer international opportunities and more pressure to adapt to Korean life.
OUR METHODOLOGY
There is no single statistic that tells us whether Daegu is a good place to live as an expat. We treated it as a decision question and broke it into the practical things that shape everyday life: affordability, work, language, mobility, social life, healthcare, schooling, connectivity, climate and the city's longer-term direction.
For structural questions, we prioritized official statistics, government data and first-hand institutional sources. We used current market-facing information where it helped describe day-to-day costs or conditions that official datasets do not capture well, but we did not let one attractive or negative number determine the conclusion.
We read the evidence in combination: foreign-population growth against its still-small share of the city, cheap housing against a narrower international job market, transport infrastructure against actual accessibility, and current conditions against longer-term demographic trends. Comparisons with Seoul and Busan were used only where they helped show what is genuinely different about living in Daegu.
The final assessment comes from that aggregation. We looked for areas where several recent indicators pointed in the same direction, gave more weight to harder evidence than to lifestyle impressions, and then asked which type of expat would actually benefit from the trade-offs rather than trying to produce one universal city score.
Key sources include Daegu Statistics for current population data, the Korean Ministry of Justice for registered foreigners by region, nationality and age, Daegu Metropolitan City for foreign-resident statistics, Daegu's 2026 Guide for Foreign Residents, Daegu's Global Real Estate Agencies list, the Korea Real Estate Board for official residential property statistics, Daegu Metropolitan City for the urban-rail network and fares, Daegu's industrial and labour-market statistics, Daegu Metropolitan City for major hospital information, Kyungpook National University Hospital's International Healthcare Business Center, Korea Airports Corporation for Daegu Airport's current flight schedule, Daegu International School for 2026–27 tuition and fees, the Korea Meteorological Administration for Daegu's 2025 climate assessment, and Daegu Metropolitan City for annual air-pollution data.
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