Korean addresses look more complicated than they need to when you first see them. The same place may appear with a road-name address, an older land-lot address, an English transliteration, and a Korean business name.

For travel, you do not need to learn the entire Korean address system.

For anywhere important, save three things:

1. The Korean place or business name
2. The road-name address
3. The Naver Map or Kakao Map pin

That combination is more useful than memorizing a long address.

Why the same place can show two Korean addresses

Korea’s official system uses road-name addresses, but maps and business listings may also show the older land-lot address.

So two different-looking addresses can still point to the same building.

The official Road Name Address Information System itself displays both Road Name Address and Land-Lot Numbers, so seeing two formats is not automatically a red flag.

For travel, use the road-name address + Korean place name + map pin as the main set.

How to read a Korean address

A Korean road-name address moves from the larger area to the specific building. Take Seoul City Hall:

The official English listing reverses that order: 110, Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul.

The core road-name address identifies the building. A hotel or office name helps confirm the destination, while a tower, wing, floor, unit, or entrance note supplies the final detail.

Useful clues:

• -daero / -ro = road
• -gil = smaller road branching from a larger road
• -gu = district

A building name is not a substitute for the address, and the map pin may point to the center of a large property rather than the door you need. Check both the name and the entrance before you go.

The Korean name is often more useful than the English address

Small cafés, pop-ups, clinics, salons, restaurants, and shops may have English names written several different ways online. Their Korean business name is usually more consistent.

If an English search gives bad results, copy the Korean name from:

• The venue’s Instagram profile
• Its Naver listing
• Kakao Map
• The official booking message
• A Korean screenshot sent by the venue

Then search that.

Same brand, wrong branch is a common mistake

Seoul has many chains with multiple branches only a few subway stops apart.

Do not stop after seeing the correct brand name.

Check at least one of these:

• District
• Nearest subway station
• Road name
• Branch name
• Building name

If you booked a clinic in Gangnam but the map result opens a Hongdae branch, the brand name being correct does not help you.

The address gets you to the building. The pin gets you to the correct side

For the final walk, Naver Map or Kakao Map is usually more useful than reading the address yourself.

Check:

• Nearest subway exit
• Which side of a major road the building is on
• Building entrance
• Basement or upper-floor location
• Mall wing or department-store floor
• Gate number for large complexes

Two entrances to the same complex can be several minutes apart.

This matters around COEX, department stores, hospitals, underground malls, markets, office towers, universities, and large apartment-style complexes.

In Korea, the hardest part is often not the address — it is the entrance

You can be standing at the correct road-name address and still not see the business.

Common reasons:

• The shop is on B1, 3F, 7F, etc.
• The entrance is around the back of the building
• The building has several towers or wings
• The business is inside a mall or department store
• The street-level sign uses only the Korean name
• The map pin is centered on the building, not the exact door

Before an appointment, check the floor and building name as well as the address.

If the venue’s Naver Map page includes entrance photos, those can be more useful than the address itself.

For taxis, show the screen instead of reading the address aloud

Do not struggle through a long English transliteration.

Show the driver:

1. Korean place name
2. Korean road-name address
3. Map pin

For a large complex, also show the building, gate, tower, floor, or store name.

If there are several branches, show the nearest station as a second check.

This is much less error-prone than reading a long road or building name aloud and hoping both sides heard the same thing.

Using a Korean hotel address for delivery

Start with the hotel’s own Korean-language address rather than translating it yourself. Copy it from the hotel’s official site or booking confirmation, then compare the hotel name and map pin with its Korean map listing.

Before ordering food or a parcel, ask the front desk whether outside delivery is accepted and where the handoff must take place.

1. Enter the official Korean road-name address.
2. Add the hotel or building name exactly as shown.
3. If the delivery entrance differs from the map pin, add an entrance or lobby note for the driver.
4. Use a room number only when the hotel says drivers may deliver upstairs. Otherwise, arrange to meet in the lobby or follow the front desk’s instructions.

Use the second message only after the hotel confirms that lobby drop-offs are allowed.

Korean buildings often need a second layer of location information

A detail tourists sometimes miss: the official street address may identify the building, while the actual destination is something like:

B1 / 3F / Room 502 / Building A / East Wing / Gate 2

Look for Korean location words in booking messages:

• 층 = floor
• 호 = unit/room
• 동 = building/block
• 관 = hall/building
• 게이트 = gate

You do not need to learn them all, but recognising a floor or building number can save you from circling the right address.

If a map search does not work, change the thing you search

Try these in order:

1. Korean business name
2. Building name
3. Road name + building number
4. Official venue map link
5. Road Name Address Information System

The official Road Name Address Information System can search by road name, building name, or land-lot information and shows the official road-name address.

Do not manually translate a photographed Korean address character by character unless you have no other option.

Google Maps is not always the best final navigation tool in Korea

For finding Korean businesses, entrances, subway exits, and walking routes, keep Naver Map or Kakao Map available. The site’s Korea travel apps guide covers other useful tools to install before your trip.

Even if you first discover a place through Google, cross-check an important destination in a Korean map app before leaving.

This is especially useful for:

• Small restaurants
• Clinics and salons
• Shops inside malls
• Pop-ups
• Recently opened businesses
• Places with several branches

Check important destinations the night before

For a restaurant reservation, beauty appointment, clinic, class, or ticket pickup, open the location once before the day of the booking.

Check:

• Correct branch
• Nearest subway exit
• Walking route
• Building name
• Floor
• Entrance or gate

That 30-second check helps prevent a common travel problem in Korea: correct address, correct building, wrong entrance.

Save this instead of memorizing the address

For important places, keep a screenshot with:

Korean name + road-name address + map pin + floor/entrance detail

This is the information most useful on the ground.

Official information

• Road Name Address — Official English Search
• Seoul Metropolitan Government — Seoul City Hall Address

Last verified: October 2, 2026