New Address System in Effect

As of January 1, 2014, Korea has officially moved away from the old, very confusing addresses, which were based on things like land lots, and what order buildings were constructed in on a block, to a new, streamlined system based on street name and building number.

This is meant to help with general navigation, as the only people who understood the old system seemed to have been postal workers and pizza delivery guys. If you’re not sure what this means, check out the little blue plaque on the front of your building.

대로 (Dae-ro) means “Big Road” or boulevard.

로 (Ro) means “Road” or “Street”.

길 (Gil) is a side-street.

The basic naming system is as follows: Dae-ro and Ro have individual names, such as DaeHak Ro (대학로) or University Street, the main street through Mugeodong. The side streets have names based on the main road they feed off, numbered in order. This is still a bit random seeming, but how they decide the system isn’t really important. If your street is off Sinjeong-ro, then it’s likely a Sinjeong-ro #-gil, or beon-gil.

They explain it with pictures on this site, which is all in English, which is very kind of them to do. In fact the whole address change site is very helpful, if you need more detailed information. There’s supposed to be a map that can help you translate your old address to your new one, though it was having difficulty loading when I gave it a go.

Your postal code will remain the same.

Korea’s Tourism Site also has some basic information on the topic.