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 overseas.
• Some 1566/1577/1588 telephone numbers cannot be dialed from overseas.
• 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 02-66XX-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 0443-2-XXXX or 0525-40-XXXX existed. (now 043-652-XXXX and 055-340-XXXX)

Full list

International call carrier codes

• 001 - KT international call
• 002 - LG U+ international call
• 003xx - International call over Internet Protocol or international special services
  • 00365 - Onse 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 - Onse 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, 2G, 3G and 4G from Jan 1, 2004)
• 011 - Mobile (SK Telecom, 2G until Dec 31, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, 2G 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, 2G until Jun 30, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, 2G from Jul 1, 2004)
• 017 - Mobile (SK Telecom, 2G until Dec 31, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, 2G from Jan 1, 2004)
• 018 - Mobile (KT, 2G until Jun 30, 2003)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, 2G from Jul 1, 2004)
• 019 - Mobile (LG U+, 2G until Dec 31, 2004)(All South Korea Mobile Phone Companies, 2G from Jan 1, 2005)

Services

• 030 - UMS
• 050 - Personal number service
• 060 - Telephone based intelligent service
• 070 - Internet phone (VoIP)
• 080 - Toll-free call

Area codes

Before June 2000, South Korea used 2 to 4 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 - Onse 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+ customer center
• 105 - Ship wireless service
• 106 - SK Broadband customer center
• 107 - LG U+ report
• 108 - SK Broadband business customer center
• 109 - KT report
• 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 telephone number
• 123 - KEPCO Electric report
• 125 - Smuggling report
• 127 - Narcotics report
• 128 - Pollution report
• 129 - Coordination with social welfare service (after October 2005)
• 1300 - Postal services
• 1301 - Prosecutor service
• 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 - Onse 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 - Onse Telecom nationwide single number service

See also

• Telephone numbering plan

References

• ITU allocations list