KOREA POST

Korea Post Announcement No. 2014-63

Please find the following announcement on new postal code reform based on the State Basic District System, as prescribed by Articles 5 and 9-2.15 of the Enforcement Decree of Postal Service Act.

December 1, 2014
President of Korea Post

Postal Code Reform into the State Basic District System

1. Purpose of Reform
  o The State Basic District Number given to each State Basic District is to be used as

      the new postal code, according to Article 19(3) of the Road Name Address Act.

《 Applicable Law 》

[Article 19(3) of the Road Name Address Act] District numbers publicly notified pursuant to Article 18(3) shall constitute basic units of various districts publicized for the general public under other Acts, such as statistical districts, postal districts, and jurisdictions, unless particular reasons exist to the contrary.

  o The State Basic District is used as the basic unit of various districts controlled by public authorities for the purposes including statistics, firefighting, public order, mail service and so on.  It is anticipated that such State services will be provided more efficiently by sharing the information related to the State Basic District.

2. How It is Reformed
  o The 5-digit district number assigned based on the geographic features (roads, rivers, railroads, etc.) and assigned to each State Basic District will replace the existing 6-digit postal code created based on the administrative units (Eup, Myeon and Dong) and the districts assigned to each postman.

    - The first 3 digits out of 5 represent Special (Metropolitan) City / Province and Si (city) / Gun / Jachigu (“Autonomous Gu”)

    - The last 2 digits are composed of serial numbers given to the districts inside the corresponding Si, Gun and Autonomous Gu, from the northwest corner of the district to the southeast.

 < How the New Postal Code is Composed >

In the case of Gwanghwamun Post Office at 6, Jong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea

 o Number of new postal codes: 34,349

  - Number of road name addresses to which new postal codes are given : 6,030,394 (as of October 27, 2014)

※ Please refer to the official website of Korea Post (www.koreapost.go.kr) for further details per region.

- Contrary to the current 6-digit postal code, the new postal code does not assign any new postal code to mass-delivery address or post office box.
※ The mass-delivery addresses or post office boxes are given the District Number of State Basic District (i.e. the new postal code) in which the applicable building or facility is located.

3. Use, Change, etc. of New Postal Code
  o The new postal code is changed according to the assignment, modification or disuse of State Basic District and State Basic District Number (Article 18(3) of Road Name Address Act).

  o The assignment of addresses to a new postal code may be changed according to the changes in the applicable data contained in the table provided by the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs that matches the road name address with the lot number address.

  o Since the existing 6-digit postal code and the new 5-digit postal code have different numbering systems and designated areas, they will not be used together.

4. Effective Date : August 1, 2015

5. Further Information
  o For further information on the State Basic District and addresses (road name address and lot number address), please refer to the road name address information system (www.juso.go.kr) provided by the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs.

Supplementary Provision

This Announcement will take effect on August 1, 2015, and the 6-digit postal code will be abolished commencing on the effective date.