Korean Address Format 2026: Road Names, Postal Codes, English

What are the two Korean address systems?

Korea has used two systems, and you will still see both.

Lot-number address (지번주소, jibeon juso). The older system describes land parcels. It runs city, district, neighborhood (동, dong), then the lot number (번지, beonji). The Institute for Basic Science (IBS), a government research institute, notes on its living guide for foreign staff that this is not the same thing as a street address: there is no street name in it.

Road-name address (도로명주소, doromyeong juso). The newer system is based on named roads and building numbers, much like North American and European addresses. IBS says it took effect on January 1, 2014. It is also called 새주소 (saejuso, new address).

The two cannot be converted by a simple rule. If a store or a friend gives you a lot-number address, look it up on juso.go.kr, the government's address site, to get the road-name version.

What are the parts of a Korean road-name address?

Hanam City's official guide gives the order and an example. In Korean, an address runs like this:

Full example from Hanam City: 경기도 하남시 하남대로784번길 29, ○○동 ○○호(신장동, ○○아파트).

The detailed address (상세주소, sangse juso) is the unit inside the building: the apartment building (동), floor (층, cheung) and unit (호). Hanam's office-building example is 경기도 하남시 검단산로 239, 00호(창우동).

The reference item (참고항목, chamgo hangmok) goes in parentheses: the legal neighborhood name (법정동, beopjeongdong) and, for apartment complexes, the complex name. It helps the courier but is not the core of the address.

The Universal Postal Union's list for Korea names the same pieces: -do and -si for province, -gun, -si and -gu for sub-province, -eup, -myeon and -dong below that, and -ri for locality. Inside a building, it lists cheung (floor), dong (block) and ho (apartment).

What do daero, ro and gil mean?

Korean road names end with a word that tells you the size of the road. Hanam City's guide defines them:

Branch roads are numbered. A gil that branches off a main road takes the main road's name plus a number and 번길 (beon-gil). IBS explains this with Daejeong-ro 23beon-gil, a side road about 230 m from the start of Daejeong-ro. So 784번길 means the side street branching off at roughly the 784 point of the main road.

Keep the suffix in English. Write Hanam-daero, not "Hanam Boulevard." The suffix is part of the name, and couriers match on it.

How are Korean building numbers assigned?

Building numbers are not random. Hanam City's guide sets out the rules:

• Direction. Road sections run west to east or south to north.
• Sides. From the start of the road, the left side gets odd numbers and the right side gets even numbers.
• Spacing. Base numbers are set at about 20 m intervals, so each step of one number is roughly 10 m along the road.
• Main entrance. A building's number is based on its main entrance.

Estimate the distance. On a daero or ro, building number × about 10 m gives the distance from the start of the road. Hanam's example: a road sign reading "1→153" on Daecheong-ro means the road is about 1.53 km long. On smaller roads, Hanam uses about 5 m per number.

Korea's culture ministry notes the system's precision: the country is divided into 10 m × 10 m grid segments, which lets even remote areas be mapped exactly.

How do you read a Korean road sign?

If you visit a forwarder's warehouse or meet a seller in Korea, the blue road signs use the same numbers as the address. IBS and Hanam City give these examples:

The arrow shows which way the numbers rise. If you are looking for building 29 and the sign at the corner says 1 → 153, you are close to the start of the road.

Korea's culture ministry adds that the system gives ground-level streets, overpasses and underground routes their own identification, and that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recognized the system in 2023.

For foreign residents, IBS notes that the residence card shows the road-name address on the back, with the old lot-number address in parentheses. That is a handy way to see both versions of one address side by side.

How does the Korean postal code work?

Korea's postal codes have five digits. The Gyeonggi provincial government announced the change on August 1, 2015:

• Five digits, replacing the old six-digit codes.
• Built on the State Basic District system (국가기초구역, gukga gicho guyeok), which took effect with the road-name system on January 1, 2014.
• The first three digits show the metropolitan city or province, and the city, county or district.
• The last two digits are serial numbers assigned within each city, county or district.

Codes can still change. Incheon reorganized its districts in 2026. The city announced that from July 1, 2026, the new Yeongjong-gu and Geomdan-gu were given new postal codes, while Jemulpo-gu and Seohae-gu kept their existing ones. If your Korean address is in Incheon and was saved before July 2026, check it again.

Where to look up a code. Gyeonggi Province points to e-Post Office (epost.kr), Korea Post (koreapost.kr) and the road-name address site (juso.go.kr).

How do you write a Korean address in English?

Korean order goes from big to small. English address lines usually go from small to big. So reverse it:

Apartment shorthand. IBS notes that 102동 304호 is often written as 102-304. In that example, 102 is the building, 3 is the floor and 4 is the unit.

Romanization. Use the official romanized road name rather than translating. Search the address on juso.go.kr and switch to English; IBS says the site shows romanization for both the road-name and the lot-number versions.

Korean is safest for delivery inside Korea. Korean couriers read Korean. When a Korean form gives you the choice, use the Korean road-name address and add the English only where asked.

How do you fill in an address on a Korean shopping site?

Korean checkout forms usually split the address into three boxes:

1. 우편번호 (upyeon beonho, postal code) with a 검색 (geomsaek, search) button.
2. You type the road name and building number, or a building name, into the search pop-up.
3. You pick the right result. The form fills in 기본주소 (gibon juso, main address) for you.
4. You type 상세주소 (sangse juso, detailed address) yourself: building, floor and unit, such as 101동 1203호.
5. Many forms also ask for 수령인 (suryeong-in, recipient), a Korean mobile number, and a 배송 메모 (baesong memo, delivery note), such as "leave at the door."

The Korean mobile number is often required, and the order may also need 본인인증 (bon-in injeung, identity verification). See Korean phone verification for why that stops many overseas buyers.

Do you need a Korean address to shop from Korea?

It depends on how you buy.

Forwarders. You enter the forwarder's Korean address at checkout and usually add your customer code in the 상세주소 (detailed address) box, so the warehouse knows the parcel is yours. A mistake there can leave the parcel sitting in the warehouse with no owner attached. Copy the address exactly as the forwarder gives it.

Purchasing agents. You do not touch a Korean address. You send the product link, the agent buys it, and the agent's warehouse is the Korean delivery address. More: purchasing agent vs package forwarding.

What are the most common Korean address mistakes?

How does ordering through HaulKorea work?

You never need to write a Korean address.

1. Find the item on a Korean site and copy the product link.
2. Send us the link with the size, color or option you want, and your delivery address in your own country.
3. We show one total for the item, Korean shipping and international shipping before you pay.
4. Pay once with PayPal. If the actual weight is lower than estimated, we refund the shipping difference. We never ask for extra payment.
5. We buy the item and have it delivered to our warehouse in Korea. We can combine orders from several Korean stores into one box.
6. You get inspection photos before the box leaves Korea.
7. Import duty, VAT or sales tax in your country is paid by the recipient on arrival.

For the address words you see on Korean pages, keep our Korean online shopping glossary handy.

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