As a foreigner, one of the hardest things about traveling in Korea could be the language barrier. Although there are many translator apps available such as Google, they’re not very accurate and sometimes are hard to use. But there’s nothing to worry about. There is a place that provides multilingual interpretation services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Korea Tourism Organization has been operating the “1330 Korea Travel Hotline” since 1999. The hotline is very easy to use, just pick up the phone and dial 1330. It’s so convenient and useful you’ll wonder why you didn’t know it early.
- Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Available in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian/Indonesian
- Even if you’re not a tourist, if you need language help when in a taxi, hospital, store of anywhere else, call 1330.
- Services are free, only local phone charges will apply. You can also call absolutely free of charge if you download the 1330 Travel Hotline mobile app and connect via free Wi-Fi.
- The Hotline is also open for COVID19 related questions and inquiries. Although the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention operates a hotline (1339), it is only available in Korean. If you call the 1330 Korea Travel Hotline, it can arrange a 3-way conference call.
About 1330 Travel Hotline
*Launched in September, 1999
*Offered Services:
-Tourist information & interpretation, tourism complaint report, Tourist Police, 3-way conference call with public agencies (KCDC: 1339, police: 112, emergency rescue: 119, etc.)
*Translate Public Safety Alert text messages (English and Chinese)
-The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and the Ministry of Interior and Safety (MOIS) signed MOU on December, 2019.
-Public Safety Alert message translated by 1330 then sent out to users of KTO and MOIS mobile app.
*Operating Hours:
- Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese: Mon–Sun 24 hours
- Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay: Mon–Sun 08:00–19:00
Source: https://english.visitkorea.or
