An emergency number is easy to memorize. Speaking Korean into it while your hands shake is a different problem, and it is the one that actually stops people from calling.
There is a documented route around it. The Danuri Call Center on 1577-1366 runs a three-way interpretation service, and its published list of settings names the police and emergency services first. You call, ask for interpretation, and the counselor stays on the line and translates between you and the person you need to reach. It runs 365 days a year, around the clock, in fifteen languages.
This guide covers which number handles what, how a three-way call works, which lines have that service in writing, and what to do in the hours when one of them is closed.
Which number covers what
Numbers verified September 2026 · Danuri portal, run by the Korean Institute for Healthy Family
Korea splits its emergency numbers by the kind of trouble, not by who is calling. The Danuri portal lists them together on its local center pages, and that list is short.
| Number | What it covers |
|---|---|
| 112 | Reporting a crime (범죄신고) |
| 119 | Fire, a medical emergency, emergency treatment, hospital information (긴급구조) |
| 1577-1366 | Danuri Call Center. Interpretation, counseling, urgent support. 24 hours |
| 1345 | Immigration Contact Center. Visas, residence, registration |
| 129 | Health and Welfare Call Center |
Two of those five are staffed to work across languages as their main job. The other three are not language services — they are the police, the fire service and a ministry helpline. That difference is what the rest of this guide is about.
None of the five need an area code, and none of them charge for the service itself. You pay whatever your own phone plan charges for the call.
What a three-way interpretation call is
Three people on one call: you, the person you need to talk to, and an interpreter who stays on the line and translates in both directions.
It is not a translation app, and it is not a promise that the emergency number itself will find someone who speaks your language. It is a separate service you add to the call yourself, from a line whose job is interpretation.
In a life-threatening emergency, dial 119 or 112 first. Those are the numbers that dispatch an ambulance or a patrol car. The interpretation line adds language to a call; it does not send help by itself.
When nothing is on fire and nobody is hurt, the same center takes questions three other ways: a one-to-one counseling room on its portal, a counselor who comes to you at an agreed time, and an appointment at the center itself. Those routes suit a problem you can plan around, such as a form you cannot read or a meeting you have to attend next week.
Which lines have interpretation in writing
Two national services publish a three-way interpretation service. They differ in hours and in how many languages stay available at night.
| 1577-1366 | 1345 | |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | Korean Institute for Healthy Family | Ministry of Justice |
| Hours | 24 hours, 365 days | Weekdays 09:00 to 22:00. Closed at weekends |
| Languages | 15, all of them at any hour | 20 during the day. Korean, English and Chinese only after 18:00 |
| Three-way call with | Police, emergency services, hospitals, community service centers, schools, banks | Government bodies dealing with foreign residents |
| Set up for | Marriage immigrants and multicultural families | Foreign residents generally |
The last row matters as much as the first. The Danuri line was set up under the Multicultural Families Support Act to serve marriage immigrants and their families, so it is the stronger option for that group and the weaker one for everyone else. The immigration line has no such framing but keeps office hours.
Neither line replaces the other. One covers more of the week, the other covers more of the population, and the two together leave fewer hours uncovered than either does alone.
When one of those lines is closed
Read the two schedules together and a gap appears. The immigration line stops at 22:00, closes on Saturday and Sunday, and drops to three languages after 18:00 on the days it does open.
There is one condition on the 24-hour line. The center runs seven regional offices, and outside Seoul, calls placed after 18:00 route automatically to the main line rather than to the local office. The number you dial does not change.
Where else the same service works
The published list of settings for three-way interpretation goes well past emergencies, which makes 1577-1366 useful on an ordinary weekday too.
A community service center visit or a bank appointment is not an emergency, but it is often where a language gap costs the most time. The same number covers both.
Interpretation is also not the only thing that line does. Its published services include general living information — guidance on residence, nationality, law, labor and finding work — along with family and couple counseling, and legal consultation through the Korean Bar Association. So a call that starts with a translation problem can end with an answer to the question underneath it.
Knowing whether the line was built for your situation changes how you use it, so that guide is worth reading before you need the number.
If it is not an emergency
Three services cover the slower problems, and none of them need a crisis to justify the call.
| Where | For |
|---|---|
| 129 Health and Welfare Call Center |
Health and welfare services, including questions about health center paperwork |
| 1566-3232 Public health portal |
Online issue of health center certificates. Weekdays 09:00 to 18:00 |
| Family centers 가족센터 |
229 centers nationwide. Classes, childcare, translation help, in-person support |
Cities with large foreign populations often run their own helplines as well, and those take subjects the national lines will not, such as unpaid wages or a dispute at work.
Frequently asked questions
Official sources
Every figure here comes from the pages below. Services and hours change, so open the page before you rely on it.
