9 phrases for asking directions in Korean
Korean maps apps are excellent and Google Maps is not, so sooner or later you will ask a person. The good news is that Koreans give directions in a very fixed vocabulary: straight, left, right, how many minutes, and above all which subway exit. Learn to hear those five things and most answers become easy.
These nine are what you say and what you will hear back, all in polite 요 speech, which is how strangers address each other in the street.
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길 좀 물어볼게요.
gil jom mureobolgeyo.
Could I ask you the way?
Literally: (I'll) ask the road a bit.
The opener that stops a stranger without startling them. 저기요 (jeogiyo, excuse me) first, then this. Older people and shopkeepers are the most likely to walk you part of the way.
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지하철역이 어디예요?
jihacheollyeogi eodiyeyo?
Where is the subway station?
Swap in anything: 화장실 (toilet), 버스 정류장 (bus stop), 편의점 (convenience store). 어디예요 is the simplest 'where is', and pointing at the name on your phone covers your pronunciation.
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여기서 멀어요?
yeogiseo meoreoyo?
Is it far from here?
The answer is usually a number of minutes: 걸어서 십 분 (ten minutes on foot). Korean cities are denser than they look on a map, so 가까워요 (close) can still mean a flight of stairs and two underpasses.
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걸어서 갈 수 있어요?
georeoseo gal su isseoyo?
Can I walk there?
-(으)ㄹ 수 있어요 is 'can'. If the answer is 버스 타세요 (take the bus), the bus numbers that follow are worth writing down; stops are announced in Korean first and English second.
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쭉 가세요.
jjuk gaseyo.
Go straight.
The word you will hear most. 쭉 is 'straight on, keep going', often with a hand pushed forward; the sign version is 직진 (jikjin). 쭉 가다가 (go straight and then) introduces the turn.
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왼쪽으로 가세요.
oenjjogeuro gaseyo.
Go left.
오른쪽으로 (oreunjjogeuro) is right. The two are easy to mix up at speed, so repeat the one you heard back with a gesture; 왼쪽이요? (left?) gets you a nod or a correction.
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몇 번 출구예요?
myeot beon chulguyeyo?
Which exit is it?
Koreans give directions by subway exit number, and big stations have more than ten. 삼 번 출구 (exit 3) is a complete address in most conversations. This question is the one that saves you the most time.
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이 버스 명동 가요?
i beoseu myeongdong gayo?
Does this bus go to Myeongdong?
Ask the driver as you board, naming your stop. A 네 means get on; a shake of the head usually comes with the number of the bus you want instead.
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감사합니다. 수고하세요.
gamsahamnida. sugohaseyo.
Thank you. Take care.
Literally: Thank you. Keep up the effort.
How you leave someone who was working when you interrupted them: a shopkeeper, a guard, a delivery rider. To a passer-by 감사합니다 alone is enough.
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When you can, ask for a landmark rather than a street. Korean addresses were reorganised around road names only in 2014 and plenty of people still think in neighbourhoods, buildings and exits, so 스타벅스 옆에 (next to the Starbucks) will get you a clearer answer than a street name.