Lost something in Korea? Most things come back — if you know which desk holds them. Subway items go to one of 5 lost & found centres, bus and taxi finds are listed by the city (40 items held right now), trains keep things at the final station, and after about a week everything moves to the police portal lost112.go.kr, which has an English menu. The steps for each case are below, with the phone numbers. Checked 2026-09-21.
The first 30 minutes
- Fix the where and when. Line/route/plate number, direction, the stop or station, the time. Screenshot your Kakao T or Naver Map history — it has all of it.
- Lock what can be locked. Phone (Find My), bank cards (app), WOWPASS (app).
- Ask the nearest desk — station office, bus stop’s next driver, hotel front desk — before the item travels further.
- Search two lists: our live list of items held by bus & taxi companies (40 items right now) and lost112.go.kr (police, English menu). Register your own report on lost112 so a match finds you.
- Call 1330 if you get stuck — they interpret on a three-way call with any Korean desk, 24 hours.
Where did you lose it?
Subway (Lines 1–8, Seoul Metro)
Items left on a train are taken off at the terminus and sent to the line’s lost & found centre, usually the same day.
- Note the line, direction, the time you got off and roughly where you sat (car number if you can) — the centre asks for these.
- Ask at the nearest station office first; if the train has already reached the end of the line, call the centre for your line (table below) — English is not guaranteed on the phone, so ask 1330 to interpret on a three-way call.
- Go to the centre with your passport. Centres are open 09:00–18:00; items are held there for about a week, then handed to the police (lost112.go.kr).
Line 9 has its own desk (Dongjak station, 02-2656-0009). AREX, Shinbundang, Gimpo Goldline and the Korail-run suburban lines each keep items at their own stations — ask at the station office where you got off.
City bus
Drivers hand items in at the depot; the bus company posts them to Seoul’s lost-property database within a day.
- Remember the route number, the direction and the stop where you got off. A photo of the bus number plate helps if you took one.
- Search our live list (link below) — it shows every item bus and taxi companies are holding, with the company name in Korean to show a driver or hotel desk.
- Collect at the company’s lost-and-found desk with ID. Unclaimed items go to the police after 7 days.
Bus companies’ desks are at their depots, often far from the centre — call first (1330 can interpret) and ask whether they can hold it at a downtown office.
Taxi
Most Seoul taxis are owner-driven, so the fastest way back is the driver — not a central office.
- Booked through Kakao T, k.ride or Uber? Open the ride in the app: the driver’s contact and plate number are there, and the app has a lost-item button.
- Paid by card? The receipt or your card statement shows the taxi company or the driver’s name and a phone number. Cash, no receipt? Note the time, pickup and drop-off points and the plate number if you remember any of it.
- Call 120 (Seoul Dasan Call Center, foreign-language service) with those details — they can trace a registered taxi. Company taxis post found items to the same database as buses (our live list).
After 7 days anything unclaimed moves to the police portal lost112.go.kr.
KTX, SRT and other trains
Train crews take items left on board to the train’s final station.
- Call the Korail information line 1544-7788 with the date, train number and where you got on and off; they tell you which station holds it. SRT: 1800-1472.
- Collect at that station’s office with ID, or ask them to forward it to a station near you (they usually can for a small fee).
Korail has no single lost & found centre — each station keeps its own items, so the train number matters.
Incheon Airport
Both terminals feed one Lost & Found office.
- Lost & Found: Passenger Terminal 1, B1 (west side) — 07:00–22:00 daily, +82-32-741-3110 / 3114. Terminal 2 items are registered in the same system.
- Left it on the plane? That is the airline’s lost property, not the airport’s — go to the airline desk or call the airline first.
- Phones, tablets and smartwatches are kept for one month, then passed to the national Mobile Phone Lost & Found Center (1566-4300). Other items are kept for the legal period and then transferred to the state.
The AREX train from the airport belongs to the railroad, not the airport — items left on it go to AREX stations.
Hotel, restaurant, shop, street
Go back or call first; if nothing turns up, the police hold whatever is handed in.
- Call the place — most keep found items at the front desk or counter for a few days.
- Anything handed to the police is listed on lost112.go.kr (English menu) within a day or two, searchable by item, date and area. Register your own lost report there too — matching is automatic.
- For anything valuable, get a police report at the nearest police station (경찰서) or police box (지구대): you need it for travel insurance and for a passport replacement.
Seoul Metro lost & found centres (5)
| Station | Lines | Where | Phone | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City Hall 시청 | Line 1 & Line 2 | B2 — (B2) gates beside, Exit 11 side | 02-6110-1122 | 09:00~18:00 |
| Wangsimni 왕십리 | Line 2 & Line 5 | B1 — (B1) concourse, Exit 4 side | 02-6311-6768 02-6311-6765 |
09:00~18:00 |
| Chungmuro 충무로 | Line 3 & Line 4 | B1 — (B1) concourse, Exit 3 side | 02-6110-3344 | 09:00~18:00 |
| Taereung 태릉입구 | Line 6 & Line 7 | B3 — (B3) Line 7 inside the ticket office, Exit 4 side | 02-6311-6766 02-6311-6767 |
09:00~18:00 |
| Dongjak 동작 · Line 9 (separate operator) | Line 9 | Station office | 02-2656-0009 | — |
Lines 1–8 items from all stations end up at these centres (one per pair of lines). Take your passport; centre staff speak limited English — 1330 can call ahead for you.
What did you lose?
Passport
- Report the loss at a police station and get the report (분실신고 확인서) — bring a photocopy or photo of the passport page if you have one.
- Contact your embassy or consulate in Seoul for an emergency travel document; most need the police report, photos and your flight details. Allow 1–3 working days.
- If you had a visa or stay permit, the Korea Immigration Service (1345, foreign-language service) explains what to re-issue before you fly.
Phone
- Lock it remotely first (Find My / Find My Device) and set a contact message on the lock screen in English and Korean.
- Search lost112.go.kr and, if it was on a bus or taxi, our live list — phones are the most-found item category.
- The Mobile Phone Lost & Found Center (1566-4300, run with the telecoms) collects phones handed in nationwide and can check by IMEI.
Bank cards & WOWPASS
- Block the card in your bank app or call the issuer now — Korean taxis and shops take contactless without a PIN.
- WOWPASS: freeze the card in the app straight away, then contact WOWPASS support about the balance — it is tied to your account, not the plastic.
- T-money is anonymous — an unregistered card’s balance cannot be recovered, so keep only a day or two of fares on it.
Wallet, bag, keys
- Check the live list of items held by bus and taxi companies and lost112 for the police. Describe colour and contents — the finder’s note is usually a few words in Korean ("black wallet, cards").
- A hotel or rental key: call the property before anything else; keys are rarely handed to the police.
Numbers to save
| Number | Who |
|---|---|
| 112 | Police (English available) — theft, or a police report for insurance/passport |
| 1330 | Korea Travel Hotline — 24 h in Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese; Russian, Vietnamese, Thai, Malay-Indonesian 07:00–24:00. Interprets on a three-way call with a lost-property desk |
| 120 | Seoul Dasan Call Center — city services incl. taxi tracing; foreign-language line |
| 1566-4300 | Mobile Phone Lost & Found Center (phones, tablets, smartwatches) |
| 1544-7788 | Korail information — trains |
| 1800-1472 | SRT customer centre |
| +82-32-741-3110 | Incheon Airport Lost & Found (07:00–22:00) |
| 1345 | Korea Immigration contact centre (visa/stay documents) |
Items held right now
Live list of lost items held by Seoul bus and taxi companies — search by item, newest first, refreshed every 30 minutes.
Our Seoul travel guides
- Incheon airport to Seoul: AREX vs limousine bus, night buses
- Seoul subway guide: T-money tap-in, last trains, locker prices
- vegan PDRN vs salmon PDRN: what Lacto-PDRN is, what the 32-person study found, and how to pick
- How to pay for bus in Seoul: tap twice, T-money card, 2026 fares
- Can I Use Apple Pay in Korea Subway? Yes, With a T-money Card in Apple Wallet
- Seoul bus strike September 2026: will buses run, is the subway normal?
FAQ
How long are lost items kept before they go to the police?
Bus and taxi companies and Seoul Metro hold items for about 7 days, then hand them to the police under the Lost Articles Act; from then on they appear on lost112.go.kr. Incheon Airport keeps most items for the legal retention period and phones for one month before passing them to the Mobile Phone Lost & Found Center.
Can I search for my item online?
Yes, two places: lost112.go.kr (National Police Agency, English/Japanese/Chinese menus) lists everything handed to police stations and public lost-and-found desks nationwide; our live page shows what Seoul bus and taxi companies are holding right now, updated every 30 minutes.
I do not speak Korean — who calls the lost & found centre for me?
Dial 1330 (Korea Travel Hotline): they will call the centre, bus company or station with you on the line and interpret. English, Japanese and Chinese are available around the clock; Russian, Vietnamese, Thai and Malay-Indonesian from 07:00 to midnight.
What do I need to collect an item?
Photo ID (passport) and a description of the item and its contents. If someone collects it for you, they need your ID copy and a note from you. Some centres ask you to sign a receipt.
I left something on the KTX — where is it?
With the train crew, who drop it at the train’s final station. Call Korail 1544-7788 (or SRT 1800-1472) with the train number and date; they name the station. Ask whether they can forward it to a station near you.
My passport is gone — what first?
Police report first (any police station or police box, 112 can direct you), then your embassy for an emergency travel document; most embassies need the report, photos and flight details and take one to three working days. Keep a photo of your passport page in your phone from now on — it speeds everything up.
Where does this page get its data?
Seoul Metro’s facility data for the lost & found centres (data.go.kr), Seoul Open Data for the number of items currently held by bus and taxi companies, and the official notices of Incheon Airport, Korail, Seoul city (visitseoul.net) and the National Police Agency (lost112) for the procedures and numbers — hand-checked 2026-09-21.
Procedures and numbers hand-checked 2026-09-21 against Seoul Metro facility data (data.go.kr), visitseoul.net, airport.kr, letskorail.com and lost112.go.kr · page rebuilt 2026-09-21.