Foreigners Guide to Finding Lost or Stolen Items in Korea and How Wonderful Can Help
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Foreigners Guide to Finding Lost or Stolen Items in Korea and How Wonderful Can Help


Lost wallet on the street in South Korea

Loosing something in a country when you do not speak the language can be a scary and panic-inducing experience. Luckily, we have experience in dealing with all kinds of requests for “lost” or “stolen” items, so if you are not sure what steps to take in such a situation, feel free to message us and our assistants will do their best to help retrieve the item(s) back. Below are some helpful tips and guidelines:


Taxis

item lost in taxi in busy Seoul Street

If you left something in a taxi but paid with your card, you have a pretty good chance of getting it back, even if you do not remember the taxi plate number. The Korean T-Money center has an automatic taxi info search line (1644-1188 - extension number 3) that can help trace the taxi. In order to obtain the taxi details, we would need the following information:


  1. Bank name and card number you paid with or T-Money card number

  2. Date and time when you left the taxi


Once we enter the details, the system will give the contact information of all taxis that match the input information and we can then call them to inquire about the item.


If you left something in a taxi but paid with cash and do not remember the plate number, we can still assist with checking with the Taxi Association in your city in case the driver left the item at their offices. We would need to know the route you took in as much detail as possible (departure, arrival, date and time etc.)


Airports

Lost and found center at Incheon airport, South Korea

Airports in Korea have lost and found centers that you can visit or call if you lose an item.


Incheon airport

Terminal 1 : 032-741-3114 (press 1) English available

Terminal 2 : 032-741-8988 (press 1) English available


Gimpo International Airport

02-2660-4097 Korean only


In you need help with calling the centers to check on an item feel free to contact our agents.


Subway


Lost and found offices are located only at certain subway stations. Items discovered by staff are normally taken to the nearest office.


Lines 1 and 2 City Hall Station (02-6110-1122)

Lines 3 and 4 Chungmuro Station (02-6110-3344)

Lines 5 and 8 Wangsimni Station (02-6311-6765,6768)

Lines 6 and 7 Taeneung Station (02-6311-6766,7)


Lost and Found offices can only store items for several days after which they are directed to the “national” lost and found center. Therefore, it’s best to contact one of the offices as soon as possible. If you let us know your travel route, we would be happy to assist you with contacting the center.


Train Lost and Found Offices:

Lost and found contact points in Korea

LOST112

Lost and found website in South Korea

182 (link to lost112 page) is the biggest lost and found center in the country. That’s where most items are taken to if not claimed within several days from public transportation and other public places. The website has an English version, but the item search function is only available in Korean. That said, the English page does provide step by step instructions on how to search on the Korean page. If you have difficulties navigating through the website our Wonderful assistants would be happy to look on your behalf or directly contact 182 on your behalf.


Stolen Items


someone stealing a wallet in South Korea, Seoul

If you discover that your bag/wallet has likely been stolen while you were shopping at a mart, eating at a restaurant etc., the first thing you would need to do is to look for the manager. If it just happened a few minutes ago, our assistants can call the manager on your behalf and ask for permission to review the CCTV. Please note that sometimes the manager might request that you first file a police report to review any footage. That is typically the standard procedure for a manager to be able to disclose the CCTV footage to an external party. In those situations we can talk to the manager to request for them to call the police, as we are unable to call 112 on your behalf (police only accept calls from people currently present at the crime scene).


Once the police arrive, we can assist with translation on the phone. The police will most likely take notes and then escort you to the nearest police station to file an official report. Please note that filing a report does not mean that the police would immediately start working on your case. Your case would be assigned to an investigator who would handle it from there. More serious crimes like homicide are given a higher priority, so even after an investigator has been assigned it might take some time for him/her to start working on your case. You might have to wait two or several months. If the police manage to retrieve your item you will receive a call/message.



To make your request with Wonderful about a lost or stolen item, you may contact us on the following channels: Facebook, Kakao Talk or Email.


Regarding our pricing, we charge for the time taken working on your request by the minute, for as low as 1250 KRW per minute, depending on your preferred pricing package. There are NO processing fees when you pay us via bank wire transfer. (You will pay only the cost of the item(s)). When we charge your bank card, there is an 8.5% processing fee that goes to the payment processor for their services. We do NOT benefit from this fee. For more information regarding our pricing, please follow this link.



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