Korea replaced its old lot-based address system with road names, and both formats still circulate. Entering an address incorrectly is one of the few mistakes that can strand a package entirely, so the five minutes spent understanding the structure is worthwhile.
The road name system
A modern Korean address runs from largest to smallest: province or metropolitan city, then district, then road name and building number, then the unit. Written in English the order is often reversed. The building number follows the road name directly, so a road name plus a number is the core of the address and the postal code is five digits. English-language versions of Korean addresses reverse the order entirely, starting with the unit and ending with the country, which is correct for postal purposes.
The old lot number system
The legacy system used district, neighborhood and a lot number. Many Korean sites still accept and display both, and older sellers still write in it. Both resolve to the same location, but you should enter whichever format the site's postal code lookup returns rather than mixing them. Older sellers occasionally ask for the lot address specifically because their delivery software predates the road system, which is worth accommodating rather than arguing about.
Why you must use the lookup
Korean checkout forms validate the address against a national database through a search popup. Free-typed addresses are rejected or silently mangled. Search by road name or building, pick the exact match, then type only the floor and unit number in the detail field. Postal codes changed from six digits to five when the road system launched, so any six-digit code you find in an old post is out of date.
Warehouse addresses and identifiers
A forwarding warehouse address includes a customer identifier that must go in the detail field alongside the unit number. Omitting it is the most common cause of a package arriving at the warehouse and not being matched to your account, which turns a routine delivery into a manual search. Some warehouses issue a code that must be prefixed rather than appended, and following their exact format matters more than any general rule.
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Start a buy-for-me order →Frequently asked
Should I write the address in Korean or English?
Korean, using the site's own lookup result. English transliteration is accepted by couriers but is more likely to be misrouted.
What is the detail field for?
Floor, unit or suite number, plus any customer identifier a warehouse requires. Everything else comes from the lookup.
Do Korean addresses need a phone number?
Yes, always, and it must be a valid Korean mobile format. Couriers call before delivery as standard practice.