How can I contact the South Korean post office?

February 17, 2011 2:22 PM

As an English-speaker in the US, how can I contact a South Korean post office to resolve a delivery problem?

I shipped a package by USPS Priority Mail International to a customer in Seoul back in January. It never arrived. Tracking the package through the Korea Post website indicated that they considered the address insufficient.

So I obtained a different romanization of the address from the customer and tried to use Korea Post's web form to inform them of it. Unfortunately, all I got was an error message in Korean, that as best I could figure out meant "this system only works for reporting problems with domestic packages".

I tried inquiring at my local USPS office and they said that once the package leaves the country, there's nothing they can do about it, and they don't know how to follow up. The customer in Korea is also an English-speaker who doesn't know any Korean, and is completely clueless about how to contact the post office on her side.

Anyone familiar with the South Korean postal system and know how to resolve this?

posted by brain to Grab Bag (1 answer total)

I would have your friend contact an "international center" or "global center" in Seoul and see if a staffer can help out. They usually have English-speaking staff who are very helpful and love to provide service in cases like this, either calling or visiting the post office.
posted by circular at 2:57 PM on February 17, 2011