South Korea’s address system can seem tricky, especially when compared to Western formats. Whether you’re visiting or living in Korea, writing your address correctly can be a challenge. In this article, we’ll break down the structure of Korean addresses, explain how they differ from English address formats, and introduce a free AI- tool to help you with the translation process between the two.
AI Korean Address Guided Conversion Tool
To make converting Korean addresses easier, we at 10 Magazine developed a free AI Korean Address Conversion Tool that helps you translate between Korean and English address formats.
With just a simple message, you can convert your Korean address into the correct format in both English and Hangul:
Understanding The Structure Of A Korean Address
In 2011, South Korea switched from a traditional “land lot-based” (“Jibeon”) address system to one based on street names, making it more similar to Western address formats. However, Korean addresses still have their own unique structure.
A typical Korean address goes like this:
- Postal Code (우편번호): A five-digit number.
- City/Province (시/도): Cities like Seoul or provinces like Gyeonggi-do.
- District (구/시): Areas within the city (like Gangnam-gu).
- Street Name and Building Number: Roads often end with -ro or -gil.
- Apartment & Unit: Building names and apartment numbers.
Address example in Hangul:
대한민국 서울특별시 종로구 사직로3길 23, 102동 304호, 홍길동 귀하, 30174
Address example in English:
Hong Gildong 102-dong 304-ho, 23 Sajik-ro 3-gil Jongno-gu, Seoul 30174 Republic of Korea
Writing A Korean Address With Multistory Buildings
Apartments and officetels in Korea are a very common residential buildings. So if you live in a building like that, or simply need to send mail to someone, just writing the building number isn’t enough. In that case, you would need to include the floor number and the specific apartment or suite number.
Lets say a person lives on the 7th floor, in unit 25, of a building numbered 89, the correct Korean address would be:
서울특별시 마포구 양화로12길 89 7층 25호
#25, 7th Floor, 89, Yanghwa-ro 12-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Sometimes, you might see a Korean Address written like this:
서울특별시 마포구 양화로12길 89-7
89-7, Yanghwa-ro 12-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
In this case, the building is located on a smaller street that extends from a main road but isn’t long enough to have its own street name. Buildings on these small streets typically share the same primary building number (89, in this example), with an additional number after the hyphen (“-“) to differentiate them.
Korean Address VS English Address
Let’s take a look at how UK addresses are usually formatted:
- Recipient Name: Personal or organization name.
- Property Identifier: House/building number or flat (e.g., Flat 10, 16 Sutton Plaza).
- Street and Locality: Street name + optional locality details.
- Post Town: Uppercase (e.g., LONDON).
- Postcode: Alphanumeric (e.g., SW1A 1AA).
For example:
John Smith
5 Cherry Tree Avenue
Balerno
EH14 5AN
UNITED KINGDOM.
The are some differences when it comes to the format of a Korean Address compared to what we might know and use in Western cultures:
Order: Korean addresses start broad and get more specific, while UK addresses start with the recipient.
Street Naming: Korean postfixes (-gil, -ro) don’t have any direct English equivalents.
Postal Codes: Korea uses 5 digits, while UK uses alphanumeric codes for more detail.
Therefore, writing your Korean Address and converting between these systems requires more than just literal translation; it involves a structural reorganization and an understanding of cultural nuances.
All Korean characters (한글) must be Romanized.
The unit placement (Korean apartment complexes) such as “102-dong 304-ho” becomes “Unit 304, Building 102” in English.
Gu (구) and Dong (동) lack direct counterparts, and will often be translated as “district” and “neighborhood.”
Relevant Words Related to Korean Addresses
- 주소 (Juso) – Address
- 도로 (Doro) / 거리 (Geori) – Road/Street
-도로 is used in official names (Like “Gangnam-daero”).
-거리 is more general and means “street”. - 층 (Cheung) – Floor (Refers to building floors,”3층” = “3rd floor”)
- 호 (Ho) – Unit/Apartment Number (Used for room or apartment numbers,”302호” = “Room 302”)
- 구 (Gu) – District (Like “Mapo-gu” in Seoul)
- 시/도 (Si/Do) – City/Province
-시 (Si) = City “Seoul-si”)
-도 (Do) = Province (“Gyeonggi-do”) - 건물 번호 (Geonmul Beonho) – Building Number (Number assigned to buildings along a street)
In Korean addresses, the city (시, Si) refers to an urban area like Seoul, while the province (도, Do) represents a larger region that includes several cities and rural areas.
Now that you understand better the Korean Address Format, you can do it on your own, or come back and use our easy AI Korean Conversion Tool!
