I just got back from Seoul last week. There's a few things that appear in almost every meal. They are gochujang (a firm salty red pepper paste), sesame oil, and doenjang (a firm salty bean paste). All three are combined with a few other ingredients to make their dipping or wrapping (in leaves) sauce called ssamjang.
You can buy all of the above from the internet, and once in the fridge, it will all last an eternity.
Kimchi usually shows up as a part of banchan, or a set of side dishes, that must accompany a meal. It's added in main dishes too of course to bulk up and flavor the dish.
So once you acquire the ingredients above, you can easily make a full blown Korean meal at home such as samgyeopsal, grilled sliced pork belly.
