Exit 6, car 4, door 3: how Seoul tells you exactly where to stand

Seoul gives directions in numbers. Nobody says meet me at the station; they say Exit 6, and both people know which corner of the intersection that is, which side of the traffic, and how long the stairs take. Learn the numbering and the city stops being a maze.

The exit number is the address

Every subway exit carries a number, set in white above the stairwell and repeated on the yellow layout board in the concourse. The numbering runs as one continuous loop around the station, so neighbouring numbers are usually neighbouring corners. At large interchanges the count runs past a dozen, and at Gangnam or Jamsil two exits of the same station can be separated by a six-lane road and ten minutes of walking.

Korean businesses write the number into their own addresses. A café listing reads 3번 출구 (sambeon chulgu, Exit 3), 200m, and that is the entire instruction. Choosing the right exit underground is worth more than any shortcut you improvise above it.

A landmark is an opinion. An exit number is a coordinate.

Car and door, written on the platform

The platform screen doors carry a second pair of digits, printed at eye level and on the floor: 4-3 means fourth car, third door. Korean map apps use this notation to tell you where to board so that you step off directly at your transfer corridor, your escalator, or your exit staircase.

The function is labelled 빠른 환승 (ppareun hwanseung, fast transfer), and it changes the arithmetic of a journey with a suitcase, or one where the last train is close. Two minutes of walking the platform is the difference between a clean transfer and waiting for the next train.

The map apps that actually route you

Google Maps cannot give walking or driving directions inside Korea; mapping data restrictions mean only the transit layer works, and it is thin. Naver Map (네이버 지도) and Kakao Map (카카오맵) both offer English interfaces, and both return the exit number, the car-and-door code, the fare, and the first and last train times for the platform you are standing on.

서울에서는 약속 장소를 랜드마크가 아니라 출구 번호로 정한다.