[Seoul Info] Public Restrooms Notifications/Postings

I came across this informational post about public restrooms on the Seoul City Facebook page.

The information is not available in English, so I realized I should post it here.

Do you have any public restroom hints or your own? Any to avoid?

If you're traveling in Seoul and need to use the restroom, generally hotel lobbies and department stores are a good place to visit and are, in general, the cleanest. 

However, sometimes a department store is not available when you have to answer nature's call.

Seoul Metropolitan Government started a new campaign.

Now, if there's a public restroom available, you'll see this sign out front.

Korean phrase:

화장실 어디예요?

hwa-jang-sheel eo-dee-yay-yo?

Where's the restroom?

Public toilet tips:

If this is your first trip to Korea/Asia, you should note that you should NOT FLUSH your toilet paper in a public restroom. There will be toilet paper wastebaskets next to the toilets. The toilet water pressure is very weak here and will not get rid of the toilet paper, even in most new buildings. It's better safe than sorry.

Also, definitely do NOT flush wet wipes. Sometimes you can get away with flushing some toilet paper, but wet wipes are definitely not flushable, even if your package says flushable.

One of my favorite public restrooms is actually in the Seoul Global Center. It's really clean, has a bidet, heated seats, and also warm running water AND liquid soap.

It's located outside Jonggak Station (line 1). It's not that convenient to most tourist places, but just thought I'd mention it if you're traveling around Cheonggyecheon.

Also, if you find yourself in Sadang station, there are plenty of public restrooms in the station itself, but they can be semi-sketchy. I usually recommend my friends to go to the Bandi and Luni's bookstore in the Pastel City mall (near Exit 12...enter from the subway station). It also has warm running water and liquid soap.

You may think it's weird for me to keep mentioning warm water and liquid soap. But, in Korea, finding both is kind of a rarity, even now. The infrastructure is not great in many places, so a lot of restrooms, especially ones in the sangga (like a shopping area...like if you have to leave the establishment and go to a restroom in a hallway or staircase), have ice cold running water. And, finding liquid soap is really difficult, bar soap is the go-to here, if there's soap at all.

Another hint from me and my friends is go to Daiso and buy some of the "paper soap" and keep it in your purse or pocket, just in case there's no soap in the public restroom you visit. It's about 1,000 won.

I can't find the picture I took, so I'll try and go to Daiso later and update this post.

Follow me! Instagram | Facebook |
Affiliates: Trazy - Korean Travel Deals | Amazon | YesStyle - Asian Fashion and Beauty

*FTC Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through the links provided and make a purchase.*