Usually non Korean citizens have to go to a government mandated hotel where they take you and you’re stuck there for 14 days lol. $100 a day I heard

Visited Seoraksan a few years back and I loved the autumn colors there (but this is coming from someone living somewhere without 4 seasons lol)

If you're travelling around Japan (ie. not just staying in Tokyo or something), look up the JR Pass. You'll be glad you did. You'll need to get it before you go to Japan though, as it's not available there.

For Korea, EPIK is definitely the best. Its the government run program that puts you into elementary or secondary schools. I've been teaching in Korea for 5 years and loved working and living here. The pay is good compared to the costs and it's really easy to save a lot each month. I wrote a guide to teaching in Korea that should help you https://joelstraveltips.com/teaching-english-in-korea-with-epik/

Get in touch with your embassy. They can tell you what protocals are in place.

For korea, it’s relatively easy to get around with the subway bc all the signs and announcements are in multiple languages. If you stick to the touristy areas, you should be fine with minimal korean but the locals love it when tourists try to speak the language because it shows they’re trying 🙂 I would recommend Airbnb for korea

Advise changing the route, otherwise you will be waiting for months on months, with no guaranteed timeline. What's even more advisable, which would also be smart and considerate to the general public is to cancel your trip (if the situation is the same, which it probably will be in all honesty) and book it again at a later time when we don't have a virus that is extremely resilient, rampant, and contagious spreading globally. It's obviously unfavourable and REALLY sucks, but I cancelled my Europe trip (planned and booked for over 4 months) that I had been looking forward to, and I was initially pretty stubborn and and adamant about going.

Idk if this is the best forum to ask lol. I'd encourage him to reach out to the Korean embassy where he's at for advice with what you've just presented and go from there.

At least in major cities, lots of signage is in English as well. If you have internet on your phone (like with a SIM card or pocket WiFi), Google Maps or similar is your friend.

I really suggest not to come.. maybe it’s ok by then but we’ll never know the future.