Dodori Korea TripHealth
Getting sick in Korea, and which number to call
Korean hospitals are quick, well equipped, and will treat you whether or not you are insured. The problems of getting sick in Korea are not clinical. They are that the wrong phone number costs you an hour, that pharmacies close, that an emergency room will want payment before you leave, and that nobody can tell you in advance what that payment will be. This page is the part you want to have read before you need it.
The numbers
Save these before you need them. All are free to call from any phone in Korea, including a phone with no local SIM.
| Number | What it is | When |
|---|---|---|
| 119 | Fire and medical emergency | Anything life-threatening. The ambulance is free |
| 112 | Police | Crime, accidents involving another party |
| 1339 | Disease control call centre, 24 hours | Illness questions, infectious disease concerns |
| 1330 | Korea Travel Hotline, interpretation | Any of the above, when you need a translator |
| 129 | Health and welfare call centre | Finding an emergency room or duty pharmacy on a holiday |
119 is the one to call when it is serious, and the threshold is lower than people assume: chest pain, stroke symptoms, difficulty breathing, heavy bleeding, a head injury, a seizure, or anyone who cannot be woken. The ambulance costs nothing and the crew chooses a hospital that can actually treat the problem, which a taxi driver cannot do.
For anything less than that, a taxi to an emergency room is often faster than waiting for an ambulance.
Getting understood
1330 is run by the Korea Tourism Organization and provides interpretation in eight languages. Its most useful feature is a three-way call: it will stay on the line and translate between you and a hospital, a pharmacist, or 119.
One caution. Published operating hours for 1330 do not agree between sources. The tourism organisation presents it as a round-the-clock service; a Korea Disease Control page lists it as 07:00 to 24:00. We could not settle which is current. At three in the morning, do not build your plan around it. Call 119, who deal with non-Korean speakers constantly.
1345, the Ministry of Justice foreigner information line, also provides interpretation, in more languages than 1330 but on office hours.
Finding somewhere open
Most Korean clinics keep ordinary business hours and close at weekends. Pharmacies close early, and on public holidays much of the country shuts.
Two official services exist for exactly this, and neither is well known to visitors.
E-Gen, the national emergency medical portal at e-gen.or.kr, run by the National Emergency Medical Center. It lists emergency rooms, clinics open at night and on holidays, and open pharmacies, by location.
Pharm114, run by the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, lists holiday duty pharmacies and pharmacies open year-round.
If you would rather talk to a person, 129 does the same job by phone.
Pharmacy or clinic
A Korean pharmacy, marked 약국, is where minor problems get solved, and pharmacists here are used to advising directly. For an upset stomach, a cold, a hangover, mild pain or an allergic reaction, the pharmacy is the right first stop and it is fast.
Some medicines you can buy without a pharmacist at all: convenience stores stock a small approved list, including basic painkillers and digestive medicine, which is what you want at two in the morning.
Anything needing a prescription, anything lasting more than a couple of days, and anything with a fever goes to a clinic instead. Larger hospitals run International Health Care Centers with interpreters who handle the whole process, and the major Seoul teaching hospitals all have one.
What it costs, honestly
Korea's national health insurance covers residents. As a short-term visitor you are almost certainly not covered, which means you pay the uninsured rate, and that is substantially more than the figure a Korean friend would quote you from their own experience.
We are not going to give you a number. Korean hospitals publish their own prices for non-covered treatment individually, there is no single national tariff for visitors, and the English-language figures circulating online do not trace back to any published source. A confident number here would be worth less than nothing: you would plan around it and then be wrong at the worst possible moment.
What we can tell you is the shape of it.
- Emergency rooms treat first and bill after, but generally want payment or a card pre-authorisation before you are discharged.
- Bring a card with real headroom on it. This is the practical reason to have one.
- Keep every receipt and every document. Travel insurance claims are decided on paperwork, and getting it later from abroad is much harder than asking at the desk.
If you take out travel insurance for one thing on a Korea trip, this is the thing. Not lost luggage, not cancellation. An emergency room visit you did not plan for is the only expense here that can be genuinely large.
Bring your prescriptions properly
Medication you take regularly should travel in its original labelled packaging, with a doctor's note if you can get one. Korean pharmacists recognise most international drug names, but a loose handful of tablets in a bag is a problem at customs and a problem at a pharmacy.
Some medicines that are ordinary at home are controlled here, including certain ADHD medications and strong painkillers. If you take something in that category, check with a Korean embassy before you fly rather than at the airport.
One thing to do now
Put 119 in your phone. Then write down, in Korean, the address of where you are staying, and keep it on your phone screen rather than in an app you would have to open. The single biggest delay in emergency calls involving visitors is not language. It is that nobody can say where they are.
Quick answers: getting sick in Korea
What number do I call for an ambulance in Korea?
- It covers fire and medical, dispatch is free, and the crew chooses a hospital that can actually treat the problem. Call it for chest pain, stroke symptoms, breathing difficulty, heavy bleeding, a head injury, a seizure or anyone who cannot be woken.
How do I find a pharmacy open at night or on a holiday in Korea?
The national emergency medical portal E-Gen (e-gen.or.kr) lists emergency rooms, night clinics and open pharmacies by location, and Pharm114 lists holiday duty pharmacies. By phone, 129 does the same job. Convenience stores also sell a small approved list of basic medicines around the clock.
How much does a doctor cost in Korea without insurance?
There is no single published visitor tariff; each hospital sets its own uninsured prices, and the English-language figures online do not trace to a source. Expect substantially more than a Korean resident pays, expect to settle before discharge, and treat travel insurance as the answer.
Can I bring my prescription medication to Korea?
Yes, in its original labelled packaging, ideally with a doctor's note. Some medicines that are ordinary at home - certain ADHD medications and strong painkillers - are controlled in Korea, so check with a Korean embassy before you fly.
This page is based on Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 1339 call centre, Korea Tourism Organization, emergency information for visitors, National Emergency Medical Center, E-Gen portal. Checked against the published source on the date below.
LAST VERIFIED 20 SEPTEMBER 2026