A co-worker is having a problem with a Korean address. Here is the address as it was given to her (by a Korean national):
101 Dong 103 Huo, Sontagu Janshil, 7 Dong Seoul
The question, then, is given that information, how should it be formatted to Korean postal standards (given the fact that it will be written in English.
The page may help you: Korea Post Office You’ll probably want to click the “English” button in the top right.
Otherwise, write it as given:
Recipient’s Name
101 Dong 103 Huo
Sontagu Janshil
7 Dong Seoul
zip-code
Republic of Korea (South)
The country name is important, otherwise the U.S. post office is likely to return it (unless your local office is used to dealing with mail to Korea). Don’t worry about writing it in Korean; they’ll have no trouble interpreting our alphabet. (General advice: if you do decide to write the address in Korean, be sure that the country name is still in English.)
I tried looking up the proper zip code for your address, but I can’t find a “Sonta” gu. That doesn’t mean the address is wrong; I’ve had trouble with legitimate addresses before. The zip code isn’t necessary, but will speed delivery.
Once it reaches morning in Korea, I expect our Dopers there may be able to help more.
Double-check the spelling. The closest address I could find is:
[[name]]
101 Dong 103 Huo
Jamsil 7 dong
Songpa-gu Seoul
138-227
Republic of Korea (South)
I can’t verify the ‘street’ address “101 Dong 103 Huo”. I strongly suggest verifying the address.
That was the exact spelling. I don’t think it’s the most accurate, but that was as the person wrote it. I think the way you’ve formatted probably has the better spellings, though. I had also thought (not having any specific knowledge of Korean postal formats) that the postal code was 101-103, but it looks as though that was wrong. Thanks for the input.
Do not mix writing the address in Korean and English! The Korean postal service is used to delivering mail addressed in two ways: (1) Written in Korean and (2) written in English. If you decided to mix the systems, you stand a very good chance on it not going anywhere. The ordering of the elements of the address if written in English is opposite of that if written in Korean. Also, don’t append “South” in parentheses after the country name. Just leave it as “Republic of Korea.” For mail from overseas, only write the address in English.
For writing it in English:
Recipient's Name (written in English only)
101 Dong 103 Huo
Jamsil 7 dong
Songpa-gu Seoul
138-227
Republic of Korea