Safety & help
Three numbers cover almost everything. Dial 119 for fire and medical, 112 for police, and say "English please" — an interpreter joins the line. For anything less urgent, call 1330 first: it is a hotline with live interpretation (07:00 to midnight, every day) that will triage and route you. The Emergency page puts all of it on one screen, including who else can interpret and where to report lost property. Most health problems never need a hospital at all. A neighbourhood 의원 is the right first stop for most of them, and without Korean insurance the 2026 first-visit fee alone is ₩18,840, while a pharmacy (약국) covers fourteen common complaints over the counter and a 24-hour convenience store sells a short list of basics. Check the strength on the box: it can differ from home. The other thing worth reading before you need it is the scam section: eighteen reported patterns, each with the red flag you can spot in five seconds and the evidence to photograph if you were already caught.