Addresses in South Korea

Addresses in South Korea are used to identify specific locations within the country. South Korea has replaced its land lot-based address system with one based on street names. The switching of the address system is to make it easier for foreigners as well as Koreans to find their destinations. The current official system, the Road Name Address system rolled out on July 29, 2011, uses street names and building numbers, and is similar to the systems used by the United States, Canada, and Europe. The previous system was the Land-lot based address, which is also used in Japan and North Korea (but not within the Chinese-speaking world), but although still commonly used, is no longer officially recognized since December 31, 2013.

The current system used in South Korea is similar to that used by most countries around the world.

Korean streets have names, typically ending in -daero (대로, 大路, Blvd), -ro (로, 路, St) or -gil (길, 街, Rd) and they are distinguished by width; -daero(over 8 lanes), -ro(2~7 lanes), -gil(others).

Some of streets, mainly -daero and -ro, may be named after a feature in the area such as Daehak-ro(대학로, University Street) near a university, or after the neighborhood (dong) in which they lie such as Hyehwa-ro(혜화로, Hyehwa Street) which lies in Hyehwa-dong. Street names may be unique, or, in a convention which may seem confusing to foreigners, the same name can be re-used for several streets in the same area, with each street having a unique number.

Other streets, mainly -gil, may be named after the street name it diverging from with a systematic number. There are three different types of numbering rules: basic numbering, serial numbering and other numbering. The purpose of numbering streets is to make street names easier to predict position of it so address users find their destination streets or buildings easily on the maps or the streets.

First, by basic numbering, which is used in most of Gyeonggi Province, a number is assigned to -gil diverging from -daero or -ro based on the basic number of the position diverging from -daero or -ro. Since the basic number increases by 2 every 20 meters, the basic number multiplied by 10 meters comes to the distance from the start point of the street to the current position. For example, Nongol-ro 10beon-gil(논골로10번길) indicates that the street diverges from Nongol-ro(논골로) and the diverging position is about 100 meters away from the start point of Nongol-ro. Since 10 is even number, the street towards right side of Nongol-ro. Note that basic numbered street names have beon-gil (번길) after their numbers, which indicates basic number.

Second, by serial numbering, which is used in Seoul, a serial number is assigned to -gil diverging from -daero or -ro, based on -daero or -ro number order. For example, if a street is the first one among streets diverging from Daehak-ro, it becomes Daehak-ro 1-gil(대학로1길). If a street is 4th among streets diverging from Daehak-ro, it becomes Daehak-ro 4-gil(대학로4길). Since 4 is even number, the street towards right side of Daehak-ro. Note that basic numbered street names do not have beon after their numbers, which indicates serial number.

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Wikipedia