The one thing to do before you fly
Open your booking confirmation. Find the hotel. Find its address in Korean characters — not the romanised line the booking site shows you by default, the one that looks like 서울특별시 중구 을지로 30 (Seoul Special City, Jung-gu district, Euljiro road, building 30). Screenshot it. Put the screenshot in your favourites. Keep this offline copy so you can show the destination even without a mobile connection.
Keep both Korean and English address details
Since 2014 Korea's legal address format has been the road-name address (도로명주소), and Article 19(1) of the Road Name Address Act (도로명주소법) says it in one line: in public-law matters, the address is the road-name address. Article 3 gives the Act priority over every other law on how an address is written, and Article 19(2) lists where public bodies must use it: registers, permits, correspondence, signage and websites.
Korea’s official address portal provides English address searches as well as Korean addresses. English search support varies between map and navigation systems, so saving the Korean version is useful; it does not mean that English addresses are unofficial or unusable.
What a Korean address is made of
Article 2(7) defines it as exactly three parts:
| Part | Korean | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Road name | 도로명 | This is the name of the road. |
| Building number | 건물번호 | This identifies the building on that road. |
| Detail | 상세주소 | This specifies a building, floor or unit where needed. |
In front of those sit the administrative units, largest first. So a real one, Lotte Hotel Seoul (롯데호텔 서울): 서울특별시 중구 을지로 30 — Seoul, Jung-gu district, Euljiro (the road), building 30. The road name comes before the number, the reverse of British or American order, so copy it carefully.
What building numbers can tell you
Building numbers generally increase away from a road’s starting point, with odd and even numbers on opposite sides. They can help you confirm that you are on the correct road, but they are not a reliable substitute for a walking route. Roads can curve or branch, and the entrance may be around a corner.
Compare the number on the building plate with your saved address and entrance photograph. If you cannot find the door, call the property or ask the driver to help confirm the location.
The other address, which has not gone away
You will also meet a completely different-looking address for the same building: 중구 소공동 1. That is a lot-number address (지번주소), and it is not a street position at all — under the Spatial Data Act (공간정보의 구축 및 관리 등에 관한 법률) a 지번 is the number of a land parcel in the cadastral record, scoped to a neighbourhood rather than to a road. The two ran side by side until 31 December 2013; from 1 January 2014 the road-name form became the only one used. But lot numbers never left people's heads: older drivers think in them, some businesses still print them, and bus terminals publish them. If your booking shows both, save both — they are two descriptions of one building, and whichever the driver's system likes is the one that works.
The drill, in order
Before you fly, while you still have wifi:
- Screenshot the hotel's Korean address, large enough to read at arm's length.
- Screenshot the hotel's Korean name separately. The name can help confirm that the address is for the correct property.
- Save the phone number. A driver may be able to call the property to clarify the entrance.
- Screenshot the map pin at street level, and a photograph of the entrance if the listing has one. Korean addresses point at buildings, not doors.
- Note the nearest station and exit number. For example, you can save Myeongdong Station Exit 6 (명동역 6번 출구) if it is the correct exit for your route through this central Seoul shopping district.
An offline screenshot remains available even when your mobile data is not working.
At immigration: Korea's e-Arrival Card is filed online in the three days before you land, and its guide lists where you are staying among the things to have ready. Fill it in at home with the address in front of you, not at a desk in the arrivals hall with a queue behind you.
In a taxi, show the driver the saved name and address in text large enough to read. Keep the destination visible while the driver checks it, and adjust screen brightness if needed.
At the door: building-number plates are on the wall beside the entrance, and the number on yours is the number in your address. Use the plate to confirm the building, then follow the property’s entrance instructions.
Where to look one up
The official register is the government's address portal, juso.go.kr, run by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, with an English lookup. In practice a Korean map app is faster: search the hotel by name and the place page gives the road address in Korean with a copy button beside it, which is the version you want.
