South Korea’s Country Codes
- Telephone: +82
- 2 Letter: KR
- 3 Letter: KOR
- ISO 3116-1 Numeric: 410
- Internet TLD: .kr
- ICAO Airport Code: RK
- Maritime Identification Digits: 440 & 441
- Emoji Flag: U+1F1F0 U+1F1F7
- Official Name: The Republic of Korea
How to call South Korea (international dialing)
- Do not include a leading ‘0’ in the international call sequence – it is only used in South Korea for domestic long distance calls and domestic calls to a mobile phone.
- A leading '+' in the phone number means 'dial your country's exit code'.
- Calling from a mobile phone: dial from on the country where you're currently located.
- Calling from a VoIP or satellite phone: dial from on the country where the phone is registered.
… to a mobile (cellular) phone or text (SMS)
Use the same call sequence.
Mobile phone numbers begin with ‘1’, (’01’ when dialed domestically but the leading ‘0’ is not included in an international call).
When calling a mobile phone user, dial to the country where the mobile phone is registered, regardless of where the person is roaming.
… to a VoIP phone
Use the same call sequence.
VoIP phone numbers begin with ’70’ (‘070’ when called domestically. Do not include the leading ‘0’ when calling from outside the country).
When calling a VoIP phone user, dial to the country where the VoIP phone is registered, regardless of where the person is roaming.
… to a satellite phone
South Korea does not have a country-specific satellite phone system.
Most satellite phones operate on their country code – calls to these satellite phones follow their own call sequence.
… sending a fax
Use the same call sequence.
How to call within South Korea (domestic dialing)
‘0’ is used as a trunk prefix used when calling to a different area code in South Korea.
As an alternative to ‘0’, ‘0xx’ (0 followed by the two-digit carrier code) can be dialed to select the long distance carrier. Dialing only ‘0’ will use the default phone carrier’s network.
Local calling (within the same area code)
Dial only the local phone number. Do not include the trunk prefix ‘0’ or the area code.
| seven to eight digits |
| local phone number |
Long distance calling (to a different area code)
Dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, followed by the area code, followed by the local phone number.
| 0 | one to two digits | seven to eight digits |
| trunk prefix | area code | local phone number |
Mobile calling (to or from a mobile phone)
Dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, followed by the area code, followed by the local phone number.
| 0 | one to two digits | seven to eight digits |
| trunk prefix | area code | local phone number |
Calls from a mobile phone number in carrier code ’10’ (or ‘010’) can be dialed to another mobile phone number in ’10’ (or ‘010’) without the trunk prefix ‘0’ and the area code.
South Korean phone numbers explained
Number details
South Korean phone numbers are eight to nine digits (not including a leading ‘0’ that is not included when calling from outside the country).
The first one to two digits is an area code that represents a geographic part of the country.
Mobile numbers being with digit ‘1’.
An example of a South Korean phone number
The National Museum of Korea lists its phone number in Seoul as 02-2077-9000.
Number explanation
| 82 | 2 | 2077 9000 |
| country code for South Korea | area (geographic) code for Seoul | local phone number in Seoul |
Local example – calling from another location in Seoul
Dial only the local phone number. Do not dial the trunk prefix ‘0’ or the area code.
| 2077 9000 |
| local phone number in Seoul |
Long distance example – calling from Busan, South Korea (on the other side of the country)
Dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the area code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | 2 | 2077 9000 |
| trunk prefix | area (geographic) code for Seoul | local phone number in Seoul |
Mobile example – calling from a mobile phone
Dial the trunk prefix ‘0’, then the area code, then the local phone number.
| 0 | 2 | 2077 9000 |
| trunk prefix | area (geographic) code for Seoul | local phone number in Seoul |
International example – calling from outside South Korea
To call from outside South Korea, dial the exit code of the country the call is dialed from, followed by South Korea’s country code of ’82’, followed by the local phone number.
Do not include a leading ‘0’ in the call when calling from outside South Korea.
| exit code | 82 | 2 | 2077 9000 |
| exit code of the country the call is dialed from | country code for South Korea | area (geographic) code for Seoul | local phone number in Seoul |
How to call from South Korea
‘001’ is used as an exit code when dialing an international phone call from South Korea.
Sources and more resources
- Korean Communications Commission – South Korea’s telephone systems regulator.
- ITU (International Telecommunications Union) – United Nations specialized agency for information and communications technologies.
- International Telecommunications Union – DIALLING PROCEDURES (INTERNATIONAL PREFIX, NATIONAL (TRUNK) PREFIX AND NATIONAL (SIGNIFICANT) NUMBER) (IN ACCORDANCE WITH ITU-T RECOMMENDATION E.164 (11/2010)) – A collection of dialing procedures for all countries and regions of the world. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
- International Telecommunications Union – South Korea (country code +82) Communication of 22.III.2012 – Details of South Korea’s telephone numbering plan as submitted to the ITU. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
- Wikipedia – Telephone numbers in South Korea – Wikipedia entry for telephone number data for South Korea. Includes specific number ranges for each city as well as detail on calling procedures.
- BT – The Phonebook – South Korea – Entry for South Korea in the British Telecom international directory.