When something goes wrong at 3am: emergency numbers and which hospital to go to
ENEnglishYou will not read this carefully until you need it, so the important part is first.
119 Fire, ambulance, and all medical emergencies
112 Police
Both are free, answered 24 hours, and **you do not need to speak Korean.**
One correction, because a lot of older guides for foreigners still get this wrong:
1339 no longer exists. Emergency medical advice was merged into 119. If a page tells
you to call 1339, that page is out of date — call 119.
119 WILL FIND YOU A LANGUAGE
This is the part most people don't know, and it changes what you do in a crisis.
119 provides multilingual support. They can bring an interpreter onto the line in a
three-way call, and reporting is possible by text message and video call as well as
voice. So the plan is not "find someone who speaks Korean and then call" — the plan is
call, and say your language.
Do not hang up because your Korean failed. Stay on the line.
When you call, lead with the address. Everything else can be sorted out once help is
moving. Say what happened, whether the person is conscious, and whether they are
breathing.
Do this today, before you need it: save your home address in Korean in your phone's
notes, and in a message to yourself. When you are frightened, at night, in a language
you are still learning, you do not want to be spelling out a road name.
WHICH HOSPITAL — THE PART THAT COSTS MONEY
Korean hospitals come in tiers, and going to the biggest one is usually the wrong move.
의원 (clinic) Small, one speciality. For ordinary illness — start here
병원 (hospital) Larger, has beds
종합병원 (general) Multiple departments
상급종합병원 (tertiary) The big university hospitals
The top tier generally requires a referral (진료의뢰서) from a smaller hospital. Walking
into a university hospital with a cold means a long wait, a bigger bill, and often being
sent away. Start small, and let them refer you up if it is needed.
WHAT THE EMERGENCY ROOM COSTS
The ER charges an emergency management fee on top of treatment — roughly 30,000 to
60,000 KRW. If your condition is judged non-urgent, you carry more of that cost
yourself, and a non-emergency ER visit commonly lands around 80,000 to 90,000 KRW
before treatment is counted.
That is not a reason to avoid the ER in a real emergency. It is a reason not to use it
as a night clinic for a sore throat.
Amounts vary by hospital and change over time — treat these as rough scale, not a quote.
If you are not enrolled in National Health Insurance, you pay the full undiscounted
price for all of this. That is the single biggest reason the insurance guide on this
site matters.
NIGHTS, WEEKENDS, AND HOLIDAYS
Most clinics and pharmacies close in the evening and on Sundays, and Korean holidays
close almost everything at once.
E-Gen (National Emergency Medical Center): https://www.e-gen.or.kr
Use it to find emergency rooms, hospitals and pharmacies that are open right now, and
the nearest defibrillator. There is a mobile app as well. Install it before you need it.
If you have children: 달빛어린이병원 (Moonlight Children's Hospitals) are paediatric
clinics designated to stay open evenings and holidays, so a child with a fever at 9pm
does not automatically mean an emergency room. E-Gen lists them.
PHARMACIES
Most medicine here requires a prescription, and pharmacies keep shop hours. Two things
worth knowing:
- A limited set of basic medicines — fever and pain relief, cold medicine, digestive
aids, patches — is sold at 24-hour convenience stores. It is a short list by law,
but it covers the 2am headache.
- For anything else outside hours, use E-Gen to find an open pharmacy rather than
walking around hoping.
Take your prescription to any pharmacy; you are not tied to the one next to the clinic.
KEEP THESE WHERE SOMEONE ELSE CAN FIND THEM
If you are unconscious, the information has to be reachable without you.
- Your address in Korean
- Your ARC, or a photo of it
- Blood type, allergies, and any regular medication — including the Korean names if
you have them
- One emergency contact, ideally someone in Korea
- Your insurance status
An emergency contact card in your wallet costs nothing and is read by paramedics.
WHERE TO CHECK
Emergency medical information (open hospitals, pharmacies): https://www.e-gen.or.kr
Fire service, including foreign-language reporting: https://www.119.go.kr
Ministry of Health and Welfare: https://www.mohw.go.kr
National Health Insurance Service: https://www.nhis.or.kr
Written by the Go Korea team, accurate to the best of our knowledge as of August 2026.
Fees and services change — this is orientation, not medical or financial advice.
In a genuine emergency, call 119 first and read afterwards.
If you have been through a hospital visit here and something in this page didn't match
what you found, please reply. Getting this right matters more than most pages on this
site.