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Postal rates in Korea are very competitive and the service is generally very reliable. Mail is usually delivered directly to your home/office address Monday through Saturday in most areas. Postal workers can figure out addresses written in English.

Addresses in Korea are the reverse of the Western order and read as follows:
CountryCity and Postal Code
Gu (district office)Dong (ward)StreetBuilding/Unit number
Name of Recipient
However, both systems work in Korea. A letter addressed to you in English and following the western format will almost certainly reach you.
Street Address Confusion in Seoul: for the past number of years, the city has been assigning new street addresses to buildings. Previously, buildings ina particular were numbered based on when they were built, which can be somewhat confusing in a large urban area in modern times. Around the year 2000, the city began re-numbering buildings so that they would be sequential and would have odd numbers on one side of a street and even numbers on the other. Streets that had none were given names and signs started to go up giving the name of the streets. However, the process has been a long one, and you'll see city number plaques on buildings (commercial and residential) but somewhere else, written by hand or or individual plques, there will be the 'old' number. These number may be 'old' but they are the ones still in use and although the postal service is, according the city government officials, expected to deliver mail to both options, generally using the new one can result in undelivered mail. The re-numbering process is expected to continue for about another four years (2012?).

Mailboxes are red and present everywhere. They are easily recognized by the universal mail symbol. You can mail a litter, a postcard or small package from the mailboxes as long as they have the correct/adequate postage.

Packaging services are available in many post offices. You can bring the things you want to mail directly to the post office and they will box and wrap them for you. If you prefer to box your mail yourself, the post office will provide boxes of different sizes. Some people who are not shipping their possessions via a container often post their belongings home because of the cost and convenience.
Maximun Box sizes: Longest length : <=1.05m / Longest length + circumference <= 2.0m

Postage is determined by weight. Korean stamps generally do not have glue on the back. You have to apply the glue before affixing the stamp to the envelope or package.

Zip/Postal Codes are used in Korea and are generally 6 digits (3 digits on each side of a hyphen). They are often referred to as zip codes and that's how you can find them on the post office website (which, by the way, has much of the information you will need in English). You can find the zip/postal code for any area in Korea, by clicking here. You'll just have to put it in the same of the Metropolitan Area (ie Seoul), the City (ie Gangnam) and the Ward/Dong (ie Chungdam). As long as you have the street address, you'll find the posta/zip code. (Note: if the link doesn't work, just click on http://www.koreapost.go.kr and then on English and the zip code finder box.


For more information on the Post Office, click here or call 1300.