Landing into a country where you do not know the local language can make your initial days a bit difficult when you get stuck and you have no one to help. Koreans are no doubt very helpful to foreigners but sometimes you need proper words to describe your problem and sign language might not help that much. And sometimes you might just not find a Korean who can speak good English. Or may be sometimes you might find a Korean who can understand English but can not help you much with your problem.

Keeping in view the above difficulties faced by foreigners there are a few helplines available in Korea.

For Seoul, you can dial 120 or 02-120 (from your cellphone) and you ll reach the Seoul Global Village helpline. The help line has English-speaking operators ready to help you with all kinds of matters including directions, emergencies, or information on events happening in and around Seoul. This helpline provides services in 6 different languages. It’s available Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm.

For Busan, dial 1577-7716 for services in Korean, English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian from 10 am to 6 pm.

For travel related information, dial 1330. When you need English assistance or travel information, just dial 1330, and a bilingual operator will offer you detailed information on tourist sites, transportation, restaurants, traffic, accommodation, festivals, etc.