Emergency Numbers in Korea: 112, 119, 1330 and Who to Call

Korea's emergency numbers are short and easy to remember, but they are not the same as the ones you may know from home, and there is a separate set of lines for travelers who need help that is not an emergency. Knowing which number does what saves time when it matters. Everything below comes from the Korea Tourism Organization's (KTO) official travel pages.

1. The three-digit emergency numbers

KTO lists these numbers for emergencies:

The detail to remember is that fire and ambulance share 119, while police has its own number, 112. If you are used to a single number for everything, save both in your phone before you land.

KTO writes these as +82-112 and +82-119 because the page is aimed at international readers. On a phone that is already in Korea, you dial the short number directly.

2. When it is not an emergency: the 1330 helpline

For problems that are urgent to you but not life-threatening, KTO runs the 1330 Korea Travel Helpline. KTO describes it as a telephone and real-time chat service that gives travelers inside and outside Korea information about traveling in Korea. It covers three kinds of help:

• Tourist information: questions about attractions, getting around, and planning
• Tourist interpretation: help in multiple languages, for example when you need to explain something to a shop or a driver
• Tourist complaints: reporting a problem you had during your stay

How to reach it:

• By phone: 1330 inside Korea, or +82-2-1330 from overseas
• Online voice call: free over Wi-Fi, according to KTO
• Chat: through KTO's 1330 Messenger, which KTO says needs no download, or through KakaoTalk, Facebook, Line, and WhatsApp

KTO's emergency page lists the 1330 phone line in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, and Malay. Other KTO pages list a slightly different set, sometimes adding Indonesian, so if you need a less common language, ask for it at the start of the call.

3. Making a tourist complaint

If something went wrong, such as an overcharge or a service problem, KTO's complaint center accepts reports at touristcomplaint.or.kr or by calling 1330. KTO describes the process in four stages: you submit the complaint, it is registered, it is passed to the relevant department for investigation, and you receive a response once it is resolved. Keeping receipts, photos, and the business name makes a complaint much easier to act on.

4. Visa and immigration questions: 1345

Questions about visas, your permitted stay, or immigration rules go to the Immigration Contact Center. KTO lists it as 1345 within Korea, or +82-2-1345 from abroad. Unlike the emergency numbers, it is a weekday service:

• 09:00 to 18:00: help in 20 languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Spanish
• 18:00 to 22:00: Korean, English, and Chinese only

5. Hospitals with international health care centers

KTO's emergency page lists large hospitals that run international health care centers, which KTO says offer interpreters from booking through treatment and follow-up. A few of the Seoul entries:

• Seoul Asan Medical Center, Songpa-gu
• Severance Hospital, Seodaemun-gu
• Samsung Medical Center, Gangnam-gu
• Seoul National University Hospital, Jongno-gu

The list also covers hospitals in Incheon, Daegu, Busan, Suwon, and Iksan. One detail is easy to miss: KTO lists these international centers as weekday-daytime offices, closed on weekends and public holidays. That is the office for foreign patients, not the hospital's emergency room. For a medical emergency at night or on a weekend, call 119.

6. An app worth installing before you go

KTO recommends the Emergency Ready app, a multilingual guide made by the Korean government. According to KTO, it provides disaster alerts and information on civil defense shelters, emergency medical centers, police stations, fire stations, and embassies, plus basic guides to CPR, first aid, and using a fire extinguisher. KTO lists it in more than 20 languages for both Android and iOS.

For embassy contacts, KTO points to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, mofa.go.kr, which lists diplomatic missions in Korea.

7. A simple way to save these numbers

Before your flight, add four contacts to your phone:

1. 112 for police
2. 119 for fire and ambulance
3. 1330 for travel help, interpretation, and complaints
4. 1345 for visa and immigration questions

Then add your country's embassy number and your hotel's address in Korean. In a stressful moment, being able to show a written address is often faster than spelling it out.

8. Key takeaways

• Call 112 for police and 119 for both fire and ambulance; 1339 is listed for infectious disease emergencies.
• The 1330 Korea Travel Helpline handles non-emergency travel questions, interpretation, and complaints by phone or chat.
• The 1345 Immigration Contact Center answers visa questions on weekdays, 09:00 to 22:00.
• Hospital international health care centers keep weekday office hours; for after-hours emergencies, use 119.
• The government's Emergency Ready app adds disaster alerts and shelter locations in more than 20 languages.