It happened to a friend of mine about three months after she moved to Seoul. Her neighbor collapsed in the hallway. She grabbed her phone, stared at it for a full five seconds, and then realized she had absolutely no idea what number to call. Back home it would have been 911. Here? She didn't know. She ended up banging on another neighbor's door and having a Korean stranger make the call for her.

That story haunts me a little, because I know exactly how it feels. Most of us arrive in Korea having never thought to look this up. We're busy figuring out how to pay bills, which subway line to take, where to buy decent coffee. Emergency numbers feel like something you can deal with later. Until later arrives.

So here's what you actually need to know — and more importantly, the one number that almost nobody tells you about when you first arrive.

The number most expats don't have saved: +82-2-3210-0404

Before we get into 112 and 119, let me tell you about this one. It's the Emergency Call Center for International Callers, and it's an officially designated relay service. You call this number, you get an English-speaking interpreter, and that interpreter connects you to 112 or 119 on your behalf. They stay on the line and translate.

That's huge. Because here's the honest reality about 112 and 119: English support varies wildly. In Seoul, especially during daytime hours, you might get someone who speaks functional English. In a smaller city, in the middle of the night, in a rural area — the odds drop significantly. The operators aren't failing you; most emergency dispatch services in most countries are staffed for their primary language. It's just a fact.

Save +82-2-3210-0404 in your phone right now. Seriously. Before you keep reading. Name it something you'll actually find in a panic, like "Korea Emergency English" or just "EMERGENCY KR."

112 — Police

112 is for police. Crime in progress, traffic accidents, harassment, someone breaking into your home. Also useful if you've lost your passport and need to file a report — though for that specific situation there's actually an online portal (lostfound.police.go.kr) that lets you report lost items without making a call, which is genuinely helpful when you're stressed and your Korean vocabulary is limited.

If you're ever arrested or detained — a situation hopefully none of us encounter — you have the right under the Vienna Convention to contact your home country's embassy or consulate. Ask for that. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

119 — Fire and Ambulance

119 covers everything that isn't a police matter but is immediately life-threatening: fires, medical emergencies, car accidents with injuries, someone unconscious, suspected heart attacks. This is the number if someone stops breathing.

When the ambulance arrives, they're going to triage you using something called KTAS — Korea Triage and Acuity Scale, levels 1 through 5, with 1 being most critical. One thing the government worked on going into 2025 was fixing what people used to call "ER Ping-Pong," where ambulances would get turned away from full emergency rooms and have to drive to another hospital, then another. The 119 dispatch system now actively routes serious cases to appropriate hospitals rather than just the nearest one. It's a real improvement.

What to say in the first 30 seconds

Whether you're calling 112, 119, or going through the relay at +82-2-3210-0404, the information you need to communicate is the same. Your exact location — not just your neighborhood, but the building name, the floor, a nearby landmark if you're outside. The nature of the problem. Your name and phone number. Whether anyone is injured or unconscious.

The location part is the one where people freeze. Korean addresses can be confusing, and if you've only ever navigated by app, you might not know your street address off the top of your head. There's a trick a lot of long-term residents swear by: save your home address in Korean in your phone contacts. Just screenshot the Naver Maps address for your building or have a Korean coworker type it for you once. That way you can read it out loud when your brain is running on adrenaline.

If you can't communicate your location at all — say you're injured and can barely speak — KakaoTalk and Naver Maps both have location-sharing features. Get that location to a Korean-speaking friend who can call on your behalf.

120 — Dasan, for non-emergencies in Seoul

120 is not an emergency line. It's the Seoul city services hotline, run out of the Dasan Call Center. If you need to report a broken streetlight, ask about local services, or handle some administrative question about city life, this is the number. Some operators speak English. Don't call this when someone is having a medical emergency — it's for the slower, bureaucratic questions of city living.

1330 — Korea Tourism Hotline

1330 is worth knowing, especially if you're newer to Korea. It's the Korea Tourism Organization's hotline, staffed with multilingual operators. They can answer general questions about living in Korea, help you navigate a situation where you need translation, or point you toward the right service. It's not a replacement for 112 or 119 in a genuine crisis, but it's useful in that middle ground — the situations that aren't exactly emergencies but still feel overwhelming when you don't speak the language.

1366 — If domestic violence is ever a factor

1366 is the Domestic Violence Hotline. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it's toll-free. This one is worth knowing both for yourself and for people you might want to help.

A word on medical costs

This surprises a lot of people. The U.S. State Department is pretty blunt about it: you are responsible for paying for all medical treatment in South Korea. There's no automatic billing to your travel insurance from the hospital's side — you pay, then you claim.

If you've been in Korea for more than six months on most visa types, you're likely enrolled in the National Health Insurance System (NHIS). That covers roughly 70% of your costs, leaving you with about a 30% co-pay. If you're newer, or on a short stay, you're paying full price out of pocket, which is why the State Department specifically recommends medical evacuation insurance for people living in or traveling to Korea.

The good news on the hospital side: several major hospitals in Seoul are well-equipped to handle foreign patients in English. Severance Hospital (affiliated with Yonsei University), Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, and Samsung Medical Center all have international patient centers with English-speaking staff. If you're going to a hospital in a non-emergency situation, these are worth seeking out.

Before you need any of this

The best time to do all of this is right now, when nothing is wrong. Save that relay number. Screenshot your home address in Korean. Add a trusted Korean-speaking friend to your contacts as someone you can call in a crisis. These aren't dramatic preparations — they're just the kind of thing that makes you feel genuinely settled in a country rather than one bad day away from being completely lost.

Korea's emergency services are genuinely good. The ambulances are fast, the hospitals are competent, and the police are professional. The main thing working against foreign residents is the language gap, and that's solvable — mostly by knowing about +82-2-3210-0404 before you ever need to use it.

Put it in your phone. That's the whole point of this post.