Meet at the exit number: how Seoul's subway exits became an address system

In Seoul nobody says "meet me outside the station." They say a number. The exits are numbered, and that number is the address — it tells you which staircase, which corner, which side of a road too wide to cross on a whim.

Why the number, not the landmark

A large interchange like Gangnam (강남, Gangnam) has more than ten exits, each spilling onto a different block. Surface at the wrong one and you can be standing across eight lanes from where you meant to be, with the nearest crossing a full block away. The number removes the guesswork. When a friend, a guesthouse, or a restaurant tells you to come to Exit 6, they are handing you a precise point on the map, not a vague direction.

Reading it before you climb

The exits are numbered in sequence around the station, and the signage underground points you toward each one well before the stairs. Naver Map and Kakao Map both label the recommended exit for any destination — chulgu (출구) means exit — so you can decide below ground, where the air is cool and the signs are in English, rather than guessing at street level. Note the number while you are still on the platform and follow it like a thread.

The phrase worth carrying is myeot beon chulgu (몇 번 출구), "which exit number." Ask it of anyone and they will answer with a figure, because that is how the city thinks about its own surface. Give it when you set a meeting and you will be understood instantly.

서울에서 약속을 잡을 때는 장소보다 먼저 몇 번 출구인지를 말합니다.

The habit that saves the day

Treat the exit number as the last thing you confirm before you put your phone away. It costs nothing underground and spares you the slow, sweaty correction of crossing back over a boulevard you should never have crossed.