Phones : How to make calls to and from Korea

Phones found inside a subway station in Seoul
Phones found inside a subway station

Calling phones and cell phones in Korea is easy if you know the international prefix, Korea country code, and phone number. The Korea country code is +82.

Before making calls to Korea, you probably should be aware of the local time. The current time in Seoul and Korea can be viewed here.

How you can call Korea from your home country

When making calls from your home country to Korea, you must first use an international prefix code (varies by country), then the Korea country code (82), then the city code (2 for Seoul, 51 for Busan, 32 for Incheon), and finally the phone number.

The international prefix code for the United States is 011, 00 for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand, and 0011 from Australia. A list of all international prefix codes can be found at http://www.countrycode.org.

For example, if you were trying to call the Lotte Hotel Seoul from the United States or Canada, you would first dial 011 (international prefix), then 82 ( Korea country code), then 2 (city code for Seoul), then the phone number (759-7311). So you would dial 001-82-2-759-7311.

How you can make an international call from Korea to another country

To call abroad from Korea, you must first dial 001, 002, 008, 00345、00700、00388 (international call company numbers), then the country code (1 for United States or Canada, 44 for United Kingdom, 353 for Ireland, 71 for Australia, 64 for New Zealand, 27 for South Africa), then the normal area code and phone number.

For example, if you were trying to call the Library Hotel in New York City from Seoul, you would dial 001 (international call company number), 1 (country code for United States), 212 (area code), and 983-4500 (phone number). So you would have to dial 001-1-212-983-4500.

How to use pay phones

Though pay phones are less common than they use to be, you can still find them around Seoul including the airport and subway stations.

In Korea, you’ll find phones that accept both coins and cards, phones that only accept coins, and phones that only accept cards.

There are three types of pay phones found in Seoul : those that only accept coins, those that accept coins and prepaid cards (such as T-Money) and credit cards, and those that only accept prepaid cards and credit cards. Prepaid phone cards can generally be purchased from nearby shops and convenience stores in denominations of 3,000, 5,000, or 10,000 won.

Local calls cost 70 won for every 180 seconds. Calls to mobile phones cost 70 won for every 38 seconds.



Additional Resources

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Last Updated on Oct 21, 2023