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South Koreans take free Wi-Fi access available in public places for granted, but it was the most impressive experience for foreigners visiting Asia's tech powerhouse, a survey showed Thursday.

According to the poll conducted by Cosmo Jin Travel R&D Institute on 706 foreign travelers between June and July, 55 percent were most surprised by being able to use the free Internet connection in such places as airports, subway lines, restaurants and ancient palaces during their stay here.

Over 130 respondents listed public transportation as the second best experience, saying it is cheap and allows free transfers between buses and subway lines within a specific period of time.

Foreigners, who usually cut meat with a knife, considered cutting meat with scissors at restaurants as something peculiar.

They also picked out purchases of quality cosmetic products at affordable prices as one of memorable experiences.

"The free Wi-Fi in public places or cutting grilled pork with scissors, which are common to Koreans, can be seen as unique and surprising thing to foreigners," said Jung Myung-jin, CEO of Cosmo Jin, a Seoul-based travel agency. "In response to growing interest in Korean culture, we need to combine unique characteristics and strong points to develop them as tourism resources."

The range of wireless broadband will further expand in Seoul as the capital city plans to provide free Wi-Fi networks at every public place by 2017 as part of its efforts to strengthen its digital platform. (Yonhap)