The Addresses Are Changing in Korea… Again
You may remember that last year the addresses changed in Korea. Streets were renamed and buildings were given numbers in order to establish some semblance of order. Anyone in Korea, foreigner and Korean, will tell you that though an address will get you in the general area, they are not all that helpful, well they weren’t, if you wanted to find a location. Buildings that were built well after the one next door and the one down the street were given the next number on the list even though that meant it would be 200 and between 35 and 36-2. And so, the system was overhauled.
However, and that should really be a big HOWEVER, people are stubborn and while everything that comes from the government to our house is now addressed with the new addresses, some businesses and companies and people just stick to their old ways.
Even when addressed with the new address, you may notice that someone, probably your friendly postman, has scrawled the old version somewhere on the envelope so that he can remember where he’s headed. In the end, all of the mail gets to you. 
After more than a year since the last change, which has yet to actually take full affect because… people, the zip codes are now being overhauled. Instead of the three digit dash three digit, 111-111, zip codes, Korea is headed for the “simpler” five digit version. Here is the info to get you through the change:
When is this happening?
The five digit zip codes will take affect as of August 1, 2015.
Why is this happening?
According to the nifty all Korean flyers being passed out at your local post office this is all apart of that change that took place last year which should make it “faster” for deliveries. It might make it faster for the next generation of postpeople, but I’d have to say that it adds time to my postman’s day who now has to sit down writing old addresses on all of the mail so that he can find the houses in our neighborhood. Just saying.
Where can I find my new zip code?
Unfortunately, the English post website doesn’t seem to have the nifty finder just yet, BUT the Korean post site does. Click on this link: To get your new zip code. You will have to put your address in in Korean, or get a friend or coworker to help you. You can actually put the new version or the old version of the Korean addresses into the system and both will give you your new zip code. Goes to show you stubborn people still have a stronghold on the old addresses. Hopefully this page will soon be updated so that English speakers can check out their zip codes too. Until then though, use the Korean site if you can. ^^
7 Comments
Sean
The Juso site was never registering my address, but I found it here:
http://www.epost.go.kr/roadAreaCdEng.retrieveRdEngAreaCdList.comm
Hallie
Good to know. Thanks for the comment.
Daily Matt
This page is also useful: http://www.juso.go.kr/openEngPage.do
Hallie
Thanks. ^^
Ddalgi Nana Beauty (@NanaDeNoir)
Thank you! Good to know. ^^
koreanlearner
Until I heard about their address system I always wondered why characters in movies and dramas would walk around with a bit of paper with an address, squinting at all the houses while saying something along the lines of “it’s supposed to be here… somewhere”. Then I realised it was due to houses being numbered in the spirit of organised chaos 🙂
Hallie
Haha, yeah. I never thought of that but it’s true. Telling my family back home about being lost looking for something is the same way. They don’t understand why my GPS doesn’t work. I’m always telling them it works to some extent and then at the end, if it’s in an old neighborhood, you’re just on your own.