Any foreigner living in South Korea knows how intense it can be to fill out a postcard or just write your Korean address properly. When it comes to sending a postcard, the struggle can be real, so trust us, you want to be ready for that!
The goal of this lesson is to help you understand how to send a postcard, how and where to write the recipient’s name, address and even a few cultural insights. If you’re a K-Pop fan, you will be able to send a fan letter to your K-Pop bias so keep reading!
How to Win a Korean Postcard
Want to win a Korean postcard? After you learn how to fill out a Korean postcard… here’s your chance to win a personal postcard from Jae, our Korean host at KoreanClass101! All the way from South Korea… and addressed directly to you.
Rules: 5 lucky winners will be chosen to get the postcard.
Act fast! The contest ends on August 22nd, 2017!
How can you enter? First, log in to KoreanClass101. Then, simply fill out the submission form below and press that “submit” button.
Any foreigner living in South Korea knows how intense it can be to fill out a postcard or just write your Korean address properly. When it comes to sending a postcard, the struggle can be real, so trust us, you want to be ready for that!
The goal of this lesson is to help you understand how to send a postcard, how and where to write the recipient’s name, address and even a few cultural insights.
Since 2014, South Korean been using the street address system. All streets will have names which end in 대로 (daero, big road,) 길 (gil, road) or 로 (ro, road.) Due to the change, buildings were given new building numbers, so make sure to use the new building numbers when writing postcards to South Korea.
Let’s get down to business and give you what you came for — the secret to writing a Korean address on a postcard, or any kind of mail you would need to post.
When writing a Korean address, you need to start with your name and address in the top-left corner of the postcard. When writing the address in Korean, instead of writing the street name, city, and state, you start with the province or state, city or ward, and then the street name.
Afterward, write the name and address of the recipient on the bottom-right corner of the postcard. You will also notice five squares printed on the top-left and bottom-right corners of the postcard. These are for the postal code. So write the five-digit postal code in the five squares.
김남준 - Recipient’s name. In Korea, the last name precedes the first name and is often followed by an honorific word, like 귀하 (gwiha), meaning “dear.”
서울시 - Province, or city if the city doesn’t belong to a province
강남구 - City or ward
학동로30길 - Street name and street number
5 - Street level address, house number
06104 - Postal code, composed of five numbers
Now you know how to write an address the Korean way! But if you absolutely want to stick to the western style, it will still be delivered. Here is the same example as above, but in English:
Namjun Kim
5 hakdongro 30-gil, Gangnamgu
Seoul
06104
If you are an absolute beginner but you want to get started writing a postcard in Korean, you can learn how in the Hana Hana Hangul lessons and learn the Korean alphabet.
Ready to master the Korean writing system? Get your Free Lifetime Account to unlock access to all our resources for learning the basic Korean language with our Learn Korean in 3 Minutes Series - and start speaking Korean from the very first lesson!
You will have to find a post office to get it stamped. Korean post offices are easy to find in most towns and cities, and are marked with the symbol above.
Once you hand over the postcard or any other mail, they will weigh the letter and then tell you the price, the flat rate of one post card being 300 Korean won (around 30 cents) for surface mail and 400 Korean won (around 40 cents) for airmail all over the world. After paying, you’ll get the stamps and the choice for the post office to take the letter then or for you to post it later. It’s not complicated, except for the communication aspect. So for you Korean learners, here are 5 survival phrases to successfully post your card:
우체국이 어디예요? Uchegugi eodiyeyo?
Where is the post office?
우표 하나 주세요. Upyo hana juseyo.
Please give me a stamp.
항공편으로 할게요. Hanggongpyeoneuro halgeyo.
By air mail please.
이걸 영국으로 보내고 싶은데요. Igeol yeonggugeuro bonaego sipeundeyo.
I’d like to send this to the U.K.
언제 도착해요? Eonje dochakhaeyo?
When will it arrive?
Now you are ready to send a Korean postcard or a letter. Not only you can send postcards, but also business letters or packages, as they follows the same process. Just check your shipping options. You can choose the EMS package tracking (Express) or a cheaper and longer option…You will find all the information you need on the English page of the Korea Post official website.
Understanding Korean culture and customs will definitely help you on your way to reaching fluency!
Do you know how to say post office, address and stamp in Korean? Learn must-know Korean words you need in the post office with audio pronunciation! And make Korean sentences using the words you learn and leave a comment. We’ll correct your sentences! Good luck!
Want to learn Korean? Don’t know where to start? This is it. The Introduction to Korean Video series is perfect for those who know zero Korean but want to take that first step. In this 5-lesson series, you’ll learn all about the Korean language, as well as grammar, writing and phrases to get you started.
When living or traveling in Korea, you may want to send things to your home country. Not knowing what to say at a busy Korean post office might be a problem for you and other customers. So if you think you might run into a little frustration at the post office, be sure to tune in to this lesson!
This Korean Newbie lesson will teach you common Korean phrases to use in a Korean post office! You will undoubtedly want to send letters and packages back home while traveling and living in Korea. So, don’t miss out on this Korean lesson! Leave us a message while you are there!
