The road name address system, in which addresses now consist of the road name and building number, was introduced as Korea’s new address system in April 2007. Following a phase-in period in which both the land-lot address system and the road name address system were used, in 2014 the road name address system became the sole method for writing addresses in Korea. You can look up road name addresses at www.juso.go.kr.

One problem with the previous land-lot address system was that it was often difficult to find buildings or houses, because land-lots were out of order due to multiple parceling out and merging of adjacent areas.

The road name address, on the other hand, assigns buildings a number in chronological order based on the road within a set distance, making it easy to locate the address and explain the route. It also helps in the delivery of public and private crime prevention services, fire prevention services, emergency medical services and disaster response.