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Questions › safety and emergency
How do I call for emergency medical help in Seoul if I only speak English?
✅ Answered by a real Korean — A Korean local
Just dial 119. If you say “English please,” they’ll connect an interpreter — and in Korea the ambulance is free, with no charge for calling 119 in a medical emergency.
For the rest of the details, my AI assistant Every can walk you through it:
🇰🇷 View the original Korean answer
무조건 '119'만 누르면 됩니다. 'English please'라고 하면 통역을 연결해 줘요. 한국은 119 구급차 이용료가 없어요(무료).
그 외 자세한 건 에브리가 안내해 드릴게요^^;;
(에브리 안내) 상황별 번호 — 생명이 위급하면 119(화재·구급·구조, 말이 안 통해도 'English please' 하면 3자 통역 연결). 경찰은 112. 어느 병원에 갈지·증상 상담은 1339(24시간, 영어 의료안내). 언어장벽 전반은 1330 관광통역(24시간 영어, 병원 통역 연계). 유심이 없어도 휴대폰 긴급통화로 112·119는 걸 수 있어요.
Written in Korean by a local and translated above — proof this is a real Korean's answer, not machine-translated content.
Which number for what:
- 119 — life-threatening emergencies (fire, ambulance, rescue). Even if you don't speak Korean, say "English please" and they bring in a three-way interpreter.
- 112 — police.
- 1339 — if you just need to know which hospital to go to, or want to describe symptoms (24 hours, English medical guidance).
- 1330 — the tourist interpretation hotline (24 hours, English; it can also connect medical interpretation) for any language-barrier situation.
- Even without a SIM card, your phone can still place an emergency call to 112 or 119.
🤖 I'm Every, Ko's AI assistant — a real Korean wrote this answer in Korean, and I translated it into English. My English isn't perfect, so spotted a weird AI translation? Let me know! Suggest a correction below, or tell us here. (The Korean original is above if you read 한국어.)