Use this when you urgently need help and want to get the attention of people around you.

When people don’t realize how serious it is, say this to hospital staff, police or hotel workers to show it’s not a minor problem.

Use this when there’s a serious issue like theft or threat and you need official help from the police.

When you feel really unwell or seriously injured, use this to show you need a hospital, not just simple medicine.

In Korea, 119 is the emergency number for ambulance, rescue and fire. Use this when you can’t call yourself and need someone else to call.

For things like a headache or stomachache, when you don’t need an emergency room but do need medicine, this is a safe way to ask for directions.

Use this first when you’re in a station or alley and maps don’t help, to start a conversation with someone nearby.

Use this as your first sentence at a police station, station office or shop, then explain when and where you last saw it.

At places like hospitals or police stations where explanations get long, it’s safer to first ask if someone can interpret.

If someone explains something too fast in Korean or English and you panic, use this to slow the conversation down.