Restaurants: the price on the menu is the price
From 1 January 2013 Korean restaurants and cafés have had to print the final price the customer actually pays — the government's announcement of the rule requires VAT (value-added tax) and any service charge to be folded into the menu figure and forbids listing them separately. The same rule made per-100g pricing mandatory for meat, which is why a pork-belly (삼겹살) board quotes a weight. Premises of 150㎡ or more must also post their main prices outside the door.
Check that the bill matches the menu prices and what you ordered. A tip is not needed to complete the listed price. You usually pay at the counter by the door rather than at the table, which removes even the moment a tip would be left. Seoul's own etiquette page says it in one line: "Tipping is not customary in Korea."
Taxis: the meter, and one app
Pay the metered fare and any applicable tolls or surcharges. You do not need to round up as a tip. Pay by card or by tapping a transit card.
The one wrinkle is inside Kakao T, a taxi-hailing app used in Korea. In July 2023 it added a 감사팁, a thank-you tip, which appears only after you give a five-star rating, offers ₩1,000, ₩1,500 or ₩2,000, and has a 지급 안함 ("do not pay") button. The reaction in Korea was hostile, and Kakao undertook to switch the feature off for any driver reported for pressing passengers to use it. If the app offers a tip, you can decline it; check the current controls rather than relying on an older screenshot.
Check hotel service charges
The 10% figure people half-remember comes from hotels. In 1979 the transport ministry set a flat 10% service charge (봉사료) on hotel room and restaurant bills, to stop staff soliciting tips individually and share the proceeds out. The government recommended dropping it in 2006; some international chains did and several Korean groups did not. So a hotel rate can read "봉사료 및 부가세 별도" — service charge and VAT extra — or "++": room rate plus 10% service plus 10% VAT, 21% more at checkout than the headline. Read the rate line before booking, and if a service charge is on your bill, you normally do not need to add a separate tip. Housekeeping, porters and concierge are not tipped as a matter of course.
Where a small amount does change hands
None of these is a percentage, and none is expected:
- Bellhops at luxury hotels — a ₩5,000–₩10,000 note for luggage is
accepted without surprise.
- Private guides and drivers hired for a full day — a Western convention
the operator has usually already explained.
- Delivery in bad weather — residents occasionally add a little; a
personal gesture, not a rule.
Everywhere else — cafés, convenience stores, barbers, bathhouses (찜질방), street food, tented street bars (포장마차, a street-food tent with plastic stools), bars — the answer is no. The tip jar you may spot near a till in a tourist district is an oddity that Koreans themselves argued about.
What to do instead
Staff may mistake extra cash for an overpayment and return it. Say the food was good on the way out, and leave a review on Naver (Korea's dominant search portal) or Google if you would like to share your experience. "잔돈은 괜찮아요" (keep the change) is on the phrase list for completeness; it is the phrase that most often gets change pressed back into your hand.
