🧰 Useful Official Tools for Traveling Korea
Beyond the guides on this site, a handful of official government and transit tools are worth bookmarking before your trip. None of these need an account set up in advance — just keep the links handy.
- Korea’s Official Interactive Map (Korea Tourism Organization) — search attractions, restaurants, accommodations, and transit points (airports, train stations, bus terminals, ferry terminals) by category, in English
- 1330 Korea Travel Helpline — call +82-2-1330 for free travel assistance in English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, and Indonesian. A free online call and text chat option are also available through the KTO site if you’d rather not use your own phone credit
- Naver Map or Kakao Map — not government tools, but essential regardless: Google Maps doesn’t provide turn-by-turn driving or transit directions in Korea, so one of these two is non-negotiable for navigation. See our Renting a Car guide for more on why this matters
- Korail / SRT — official train booking sites, covered in more detail in our KTX & SRT guide
- K-ETA (k-eta.go.kr) — the official electronic travel authorization site, if your nationality requires one for entry
Quick Tip
Screenshot or bookmark the 1330 helpline number before you land — it’s the single most useful number to have on hand if something goes wrong mid-trip, from a lost item to a language barrier you can’t work around on your own.
