Telephone numbers in South Korea

Telephone numbers in South Korea are organized and assigned using the following scheme

Overview

 * International call out: 00N (where N is the carrier code) followed by the distant country code and telephone number.
 * Calling into Korea: +82 XX XXXX YYYY. The leading "0" is dropped when dialling into South Korea from abroad.
 * Some 1566/1577/1588 telephone numbers cannot be dialed from abroad.
 * Domestic long-distance call: 0NN (where NN is the carrier code) followed by the 0XX area code and XXXX YYYY number. See Domestic long-distance service code and Area code.
 * Call to cellular : 01N XXXX YYYY (see Mobile phone number). When phone call is made between unified 010-number subscribers, leading 010 can be dropped (XXXX YYYY).
 * Special service call : 0N0 XXXX YYYY (see Special service)

For example;
 * Call 02-312-3456 within Seoul: 312-3456
 * Call 02-312-3456 from elsewhere: 02-312-3456
 * Call 051-212-3456 within Busan: 212-3456
 * Call 051-212-3456 from elsewhere: 051-212-3456
 * Call 02-312-3456 from abroad: +82-2-312-3456

South Korea uses an open dialing plan with a total length (including 0) of 9 to 11 digits and, within city, subscriber numbers 7 to 8 digits long. Dialing from mobile phones to any type of phone except 010 numbers, the area code must be included.

In 1998, telephone numbers in Seoul starting with 2 and 6 added more digit (02-2XX-YYYY to 02-22XX-YYYY, 02-6XX-YYYY to 02-26XX-YYYY). Before area codes were shortened from 4 digit to 2~3 digit in June 2000, there were 1 digit exchange number (usually "2") with some 2 digit exchange numbers so some phone numbers like 0347-61-XXXX, 0443-2-XXXX or 0525-40-XXXX existed. (now 031-761-XXXX, 043-652-XXXX and 055-340-XXXX)

International call carrier codes

 * 001 - KT international call
 * 002 - LG U+ international call
 * 003xx - International call over Internet Protocol or international special services
 * 00365 - Sejong Telecom international call over Internet Protocol
 * 005 - SK Broadband international call (Higher quality than the 5 digit prefix service from the same company)
 * 006 - SK Telink international call (Higher quality than the 5 digit prefix service from the same company)
 * 007xx - International call over Internet Protocol or international special services
 * 00700 - SK Telink international call over Internet Protocol
 * 00727 - KT international call over Internet Protocol
 * 00766 - SK Broadband international call over Internet Protocol
 * 00794 - Operator Service
 * 008 - Sejong Telecom international call (Higher quality than the 5 digit prefix service from the same company)

Mobile prefixes

 * 010 - Mobile (All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, from Jan 1, 2004)
 * 011 - Mobile (SK Telecom, until Dec 31, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, from Jan 1, 2004)
 * 012 - Machine to machine (Former Beeper)
 * 013xx - Mobile special net (wireless vessels etc.)
 * 014xx - Point-to-Point Protocol Access number
 * 015 - Mobile services: Paging services
 * 016 - Mobile (KT, until Jun 30, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, from Jul 1, 2004)
 * 017 - Mobile (SK Telecom, until Dec 31, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, from Jan 1, 2004)
 * 018 - Mobile (KT, until Jun 30, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, from Jul 1, 2004)
 * 019 - Mobile (LG U+, until Dec 31, 2004)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, from Jan 1, 2005)

Services

 * 030 - UMS
 * 050 - Personal number service
 * 050x - Anonymous virtual number service
 * 060 - Telephone based intelligent service (Premium-rate)
 * 070 - Internet phone (VoIP)
 * 080 - Toll-free call (some aren't free from mobiles)

Area codes
Before June 2000, South Korea used two- to four-digit area codes.
 * 02 - Seoul and parts of Gyeonggi-do (Gwacheon, Gwangmyeong and some neighborhoods of Goyang and Hanam)
 * 031 - Gyeonggi-do
 * 032 - Incheon and parts of Gyeonggi-do (Bucheon and some insular communities of Ansan)
 * 033 - Gangwon-do
 * 041 - Chungcheongnam-do
 * 042 - Daejeon and a part of Chungcheongnam-do (Gyeryong)
 * 043 - Chungcheongbuk-do
 * 044 - Sejong City
 * 049 - Kaesong Industrial Region
 * 051 - Busan
 * 052 - Ulsan
 * 053 - Daegu and a part of Gyeongsangbuk-do (Gyeongsan)
 * 054 - Gyeongsangbuk-do
 * 055 - Gyeongsangnam-do and a few neighborhoods of Ulsan
 * 061 - Jeollanam-do
 * 062 - Gwangju
 * 063 - Jeollabuk-do
 * 064 - Jeju-do

Domestic long-distance carrier codes
It is not necessary to dial any carrier prefix before making a domestic long-distance call. These prefixes are needed only when you want to choose a different carrier other than your default long-distance carrier (usually the same company that provides your phoneline).


 * 081 - KT
 * 082 - LG U+
 * 083 - Sejong Telecom
 * 084 - SK Broadband
 * 085xx - [Domestic long-distance Value Added Service (VAS)]
 * 086 - SK Telink
 * 087 - (Currently not in use)
 * 088 - (Currently not in use)

Special numbers

 * 100 - KT customer center
 * 101 - LG U+ Home Service customer center
 * 102 - President's Office National Proposal
 * 106 - SK Broadband customer center
 * 107 - Video relay service
 * 109 - Suicide Crisis hotline
 * 110 - Government Civil Complaint Information Call Center
 * 111 - NIS
 * 112 - Police
 * 113 - Spy reporting
 * Area Code + 114 - Directory assistance (Korea Info Service)
 * 115 - KT Telegram
 * 116 - KT standard time service
 * 117 - School Violence Hotline (from 2012, previously: report sexual trafficking of women)
 * 118 - Cyber terrorism report
 * 119 - Fire brigade, ambulance
 * 120 - Lifestyle service
 * 121 - Water utility report
 * 122 - Coast guard emergency
 * 123 - KEPCO electric report
 * 125 - Smuggling report
 * 126 - National Tax Counseling Center
 * 128 - Pollution report
 * 129 - Coordination with social welfare service (after October 2005)
 * 1300 - Postal services
 * 1301 - Narcotics report
 * Area Code + 131 - Weather forecasting
 * 132 - Civil Action (Korea Legal Aid Corporation - for contract disputes)
 * 1330 - KNTO tourist information (bus·train schedule, hotel·inn information, free translation service)
 * 1331 - Human Rights Board
 * 1332 - Finance Board
 * 1333 - Transport information
 * 1335 - Information communication service center
 * 1336 - Infringement of personal information board
 * 1337 - Military Safety Board
 * 1338 - Communications service center and report
 * 1339 - Emergency medical treatment
 * 134 - Tourist information
 * 1345 - Immigration Contact Center (multilingual support)
 * 1350 - Labor Board
 * 1355 - National Pension Service
 * 1357 - Small and medium enterprise support
 * 1365 - Volunteering information
 * 1366 - Domestic abuse report
 * 1369 - Financial Information Inquiry
 * 1377 - Foodbank
 * 1379 - Unreasonable infringement of livelihood report
 * 1382 - Citizen Registry Confirmation
 * 1385 - Business discomfort report and board
 * 1388 - Minor mistreatment report
 * 1389 - Elderly abuse hotline and board
 * 1390 - Election information and infringement hotline
 * 1391 - Baby abuse hotline
 * 1398 - Child abuse hotline
 * 1399 - Unclean grocery report
 * 141 - Contact room (KT)
 * 182 - Missing child report hotline
 * 188 - National Board of Audit and Inspection

Collect call

 * 082-17,1677 - uplus (Dacom) Collect call
 * 1541 - KT Collect call
 * 1677 - Sejong Telecom Collect call
 * 1682 - SK Telink Collect call

Intelligent Network

 * 14XXXXXX
 * 15XXXXXX
 * 1544-XXXX - LG Dacom(LG U+) nationwide single number service
 * 1566-XXXX - SK Broadband nationwide single number service
 * 1577-XXXX - KT nationwide single number service
 * 1588-XXXX - KT nationwide single number service
 * 1599-XXXX - SK Telink nationwide single number service
 * 16XXXXXX
 * 1661-XXXX - LG U+ nationwide single number service
 * 1688-XXXX - Sejong Telecom nationwide single number service