How to find a lost item on the Korean subway

Items left on the subway are usually found — carriages are checked at the end of the line, and each operator runs a Lost & Found center. The trick is contacting the right line's center with a few key details.

Step 1: Note your line, time, and car

Recovery is much faster if you can say which line you rode, roughly when, the direction/last station, and ideally the car number (printed inside each carriage). Staff use these to pull your item quickly.

Step 2: Contact that line's Lost & Found center

Each city — and in Seoul, each group of lines — has its own desk:

• Seoul Metro lost and found — Lines 1–8
• Busan subway (Humetro) lost and found

Every Korean metro's contacts are in the subway directory.

Step 3: If it's not at the center yet, check Lost112

Found items are typically held at the operator's center for a few days, then transferred to police, where they appear on Lost112 (lost112.go.kr). Search by date, area, and item type.

How long you have

Most operators hold items at the center for about a week before handing them to police, who keep them for months before they pass to the national treasury. Call within a day or two for the best chance.

Dealing with it in Korean?

Center staff largely operate in Korean. If that's a barrier — or you've left the country — we can trace and recover the item and ship it to you.