Why it helps to show the address in Korean
A Seoul taxi driver works from a navigation unit bolted to the dashboard, and that unit indexes Korean text. Typing a romanised address into it is like typing a phonetic spelling of a French street into a French satnav — sometimes it guesses, usually it does not. The Korean name and address can help the driver find the intended destination without guessing its English spelling.
English spellings can vary between businesses and transport operators. Two state-run rail operators demonstrate it against each other: SR's English station list writes Gwangju-Songjeong, Ulsan-Tongdosa and Yeosu-EXPO with hyphens, while Korail (the national railway operator)'s own booking system returns AngseongOncheon and CheonanAsan as single unbroken words in the station list it publishes. Same government, same railway, two conventions. A street name gets the same treatment across a map app, a hotel confirmation and a business card, and none of the three has to match.
So the working rule is blunt: whatever you show a driver, show it in Korean script (한글). Put the English underneath if you like — it costs nothing and it tells the driver you cannot discuss it — but the Korean name and address are the details the driver can use.
The phrase, and how to use it
여기로 가주세요 — yeogiro gajuseyo — "please take me here." You say it while holding the screen up. It is complete on its own: no address needs to be spoken, no place name pronounced. The literal sense is "to here, please go", and the -juseyo ending is the ordinary polite request form Koreans use with a driver.
A note on the grammar, because guides get it wrong. 가주세요 (gajuseyo) asks the driver to go somewhere for you, which is what you want. 가세요 (gaseyo) on its own is closer to "off you go" — it is what you say to someone leaving, and used at the start of a ride it lands oddly. 90 Day Korean has a short explainer on exactly this pair. Use gajuseyo.
While the taxi is stopped, unlock your phone and make the address large and bright enough to read comfortably. Hold the screen where the driver can read it comfortably. Keep the screen awake while showing the address. Restore your normal lock setting afterwards.
What a Korean address actually is
Since 2014 Korea's legal address format has been the road-name address (도로명주소), and its structure is fixed by Article 2 of the Road Name Address Act (도로명주소법), administered by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (행정안전부). The statute defines it as three parts:
| Part | Korean term | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Road name | 도로명 | The name given to a defined stretch of road |
| Building number | 건물번호 | The number assigned to a building on that road |
| Detail | 상세주소 | Building block, floor or unit — only if there is one |
So 서울특별시 중구 세종대로 110 reads as Sejong-daero, building 110, in Jung-gu, Seoul — Seoul City Hall. The road name comes before the number, the reverse of British or American order, and the administrative units run largest to smallest across the front. Talk To Me In Korean's explainer walks the whole shape in about five minutes and is worth the time before you fly.
The official register is the government's address portal, 주소정보누리집 at juso.go.kr, which has an English-language lookup. Article 3 of the Act makes this format take precedence over every other law on how an address is written — which is why hotel confirmations, delivery slips and contracts all carry it.
Never romanise a road-name address yourself. The building-number plates on Korean walls carry the Korean, the navigation unit takes the Korean, and an English spelling may be less useful in that particular navigation system. Road name signs like these in Gimhae are what the driver is reading off the street as they close in.
The other address that still exists
You will also meet the older lot-number address (지번주소) — a cadastral parcel number rather than a street position, e.g. 서초구 반포동 19-4, Banpo-dong in Seocho-gu. It was replaced as the legal format but never disappeared. Older drivers sometimes prefer it, some businesses still print it, and Korea's bus and rail operators publish it freely: the express-bus terminal directory lists Seoul Express Bus Terminal as 서초구 반포동 19-4 and Central City as 서초구 반포동 19-3, both lot numbers.
If you hold both, show both. They are not alternatives to check between; they are two descriptions of one place, and whichever one the driver's system likes is the one that works.
Keep another way to identify the destination
- The Korean name of the venue. A familiar venue name can help the driver identify the destination. "경복궁" (Gyeongbokgung Palace) gets you to the palace itself faster than its street position ever will.
- The phone number. The driver may be able to call the venue for directions. Save it beside the address.
- A pin dropped in a Korean map app. Naver Map and KakaoMap both let you share a location, and the link opens in the driver's own app. Check that your chosen app can provide the complete route.
- The nearest subway station and exit number. "삼성역 5번 출구" — Samseong Station, Exit 5 — can provide a recognisable meeting or drop-off point.
Getting out again
The end of the ride is the part nobody rehearses. 여기 세워 주세요 (yeogi sewo juseyo) — "please stop here" — asks the driver to stop nearby where it is safe and permitted. 얼마예요? (eolmayeyo) asks the fare. 카드 되나요? (kadeu doenayo) asks whether a card is accepted, which is worth asking before you sit down if you are carrying no cash.
And if you have luggage in the back: 트렁크 좀 열어 주세요 (teureongkeu jom yeoreo juseyo) — "please open the boot." Korean boots do not always pop from the driver's seat and you may be standing behind a closed one otherwise.
