Staying Healthy While Travelling in Korea

Choose the next step

• 🚑Immediate danger: 119

  Use 119 for fire, rescue or an emergency medical response. Do not wait for a website result.

• 🌙Open care: E-Gen

  Use the official portal to look for hospitals, pharmacies and emergency rooms that are open now.

• 💊Medicine advice: a pharmacy

  Look for 약국. Convenience stores carry only a legally designated, limited set of products.

• ☎️Disease information: 1339

  The KDCA answers disease-information and infectious-disease questions 24 hours a day. It is not the ambulance number.

Do not use an article to diagnose symptoms. If the situation appears life-threatening, is getting worse quickly, or requires rescue or an ambulance, call 119. For a crime or an immediate threat to personal safety, call 112.

For a stable, non-emergency problem, the next useful question is what is open. A pharmacy can advise on non-prescription products; a clinic or hospital can assess symptoms; a major hospital's international health-care centre may help with language and appointment coordination. VISITKOREA maintains a list of such centres, but their hours and booking rules should be checked directly before visiting.

Keeping this page and the emergency-number page separate matters: this page helps you navigate routine care, while the other tells you whom to call when waiting is unsafe.

The E-Gen emergency medical portal is operated by the National Emergency Medical Center. Use its location search to check hospitals, pharmacies and emergency rooms that are listed as open.

The website is e-gen.or.kr. Search again at the time you need care rather than relying on a saved screenshot: opening hours can change on Sundays, public holidays and during the Lunar New Year or Chuseok breaks.

Treat the result as a starting point. Call the facility before travelling when possible, especially if you need a particular language, department or service. If the condition becomes urgent while you are searching, switch to 119.

Korea permits certain registered stores to sell a small group of designated safety medicines outside pharmacies. The Ministry of Health and Welfare currently lists 13 products in four categories: fever and pain relief, digestive aids, cold medicine and pain-relief patches.

The rules are more useful than memorising brand names:

• The seller must be registered with the local public-health authority and operate 24 hours, year-round.
• A transaction is limited to one package unit of a product.
• Sales to children under 12 are prohibited.

These conditions and the 13-item list appear on the ministry page, last updated in March 2026. Stock still varies by shop. If the product is not on the designated list, if you take other medicines, or if you are unsure which ingredient is appropriate, ask a pharmacist instead of guessing.

Look for 약국 to identify a pharmacy. Bring the generic ingredient names and doses of medicines you already take, plus a written list of allergies. This helps a pharmacist or clinician understand what you use; it does not guarantee that the same product can be supplied in Korea.

A neighbourhood clinic is for medical assessment rather than retail medicine. Hospitals provide broader testing and specialist care, while emergency rooms prioritise patients by urgency. Do not promise yourself a particular wait time, price or treatment based on a travel article—those depend on the facility and your condition.

Several large hospitals operate international health-care centres. VISITKOREA lists centres and contact details, but the page itself notes weekday operating hours for many of them. Confirm the current schedule and whether an appointment is required.

Store one note on your phone with:

• the generic names, doses and schedule of regular medicines;
• allergies and significant medical conditions;
• your accommodation address in Korean;
• your travel insurer's contact details and policy number;
• an emergency contact who can speak for you.

Bring enough regular medicine for the planned trip and check entry rules with the relevant Korean authority before departure if a medicine is controlled or restricted. The rules depend on the substance, so this guide does not provide a universal customs answer.

For disease information or a suspected infectious disease, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency operates 1339 around the clock. For emergency medical response, the number remains 119.

Frequently asked questions