Lose your phone in Korea and you lose your contacts, maps, translation, payments, and the verification texts you got on your home number all at once, along with your way of reporting it. The carrier customer center number 114 is a number you call from a phone on that carrier, so if you're calling from a companion's phone on a different carrier or from your accommodation's phone, you need a different number. Most foreign-language help lines also only answer on weekday daytimes.
That's why it's faster to move in the right order. Locate the phone and turn on lost mode from another device, then report the loss to your carrier and suspend the line at the same time, leave a lost-item report at a nearby police station or police substation or on Police Civil Service 24, and check the found-item search at the Handphone Finder Call Center. If you left it in a taxi, on the subway, or on a bus, each has its own number to call and its own holding period, so also see When you leave something in a taxi, subway, or bus.
Note: Most of the numbers, deadlines, and legal provisions below were checked as of October 21, 2026 against the official guidance of the three carriers, the Handphone Finder Call Center, Police Civil Service 24, Incheon International Airport Corporation, Apple, Samsung, and Google, and the original texts on the National Law Information Center. Numbers and hours change often, so please check again before you call.
What to Do From Another Device the Moment You Realize It's Gone
Once you realize your phone is missing, borrow a companion's phone or the PC at your accommodation's front desk first. You can do all four steps below without your own phone.
| Step | What to do | Where | Why it comes first |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Locate the phone and turn on lost mode | An app or browser on another device (addresses in the next section) | You can show a number to reach you on the lock screen, and on an iPhone your Apple Pay cards and passes are suspended |
| 2 | Report the loss to your carrier and suspend the line | Carrier customer center or website | If you only report the loss, monthly fees, add-on charges, and carrier-billed payments can keep going out |
| 3 | File a lost-item report | In person at a nearby police station or police substation, or online at Police Civil Service 24 | If you opt in to notifications, you'll get a text or email when a matching found item comes in |
| 4 | Search found items | Handphone Finder Call Center (handphone.or.kr) | It's where phones handed in at post offices and police stations eventually end up |
If you lost it somewhere with a manager, like a taxi, the subway, a bus, or an airport, contacting that operator comes before step 3. Article 10 of the Lost Property Act requires anything picked up inside a vehicle or building that has a manager to be handed over to the manager, so the phone goes to that company or station before it goes to the police. Seoul Metro (Lines 1–9) says the station registers the item on Police Civil Service 24 and the Lost and Found Center handles it within 7 days before passing it to a police station, but it also says items considered valuable by common social standards are sent straight to the police station regardless of type. If a phone counts as one of these, it may be moved to the police station sooner than 7 days.
If you're in Seoul and don't know which organization to call, you can ask the 120 Dasan Call Center (120 with no area code, 24 hours; foreign-language support weekdays 09:00–18:00) about lost-item registrations on public transit and the number of the organization in charge. You pay only the normal call rate, with no separate information fee.
Locating an iPhone, Galaxy, or Other Android Phone and Turning On Lost Mode
Find My on iPhone became available in Korea on April 1, 2025 (iOS 18.4 or later). Many blog and community posts written before then say you can't locate a phone in Korea, so check the post's date first.
| Device | Where to open it from another device | What you need to have turned on before losing it | Lock | Remote erase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone | The Find My app on another Apple device, or icloud.com/find | Find My | Lost mode via "Mark As Lost": passcode lock, Apple Pay suspended, and a contact number and message shown | Can't be undone, and if the phone is off it starts the next time it connects |
| Galaxy | samsungfind.samsung.com or smartthingsfind.samsung.com | A registered Samsung account and "Allow this phone to be found" | Lost mode (together with a lock) | Once erased, recovery and remote control are no longer possible |
| Android (Google Find Hub) | android.com/find | Signed in to a Google account with Find Hub turned on | "Mark as lost" locks it with a PIN, pattern, or password and shows a contact number and message | "Erase device" is a factory reset, and it can't be tracked afterward |
For an iPhone, go to icloud.com/find in a browser on someone else's phone or a PC. Apple says that even if you've lost your trusted device, you don't need a verification code to sign in at this address. If a screen asks you to enter a code, click the Find Devices button instead of entering one. From there you can choose Play Sound, Mark As Lost, or Erase This Device, and once you mark it as lost, the device is locked with its passcode and you can show a phone number and message to whoever finds it. For the number to reach you, enter one you can actually answer right now, like your companion's number or your accommodation's number. If you're on a device lots of people use, like a PC at your accommodation, go in through an incognito (private browsing) window, don't choose anything when it asks whether to stay signed in or trust this browser, and be sure to sign out when you're done. If you stay signed in, the next person can see the device's location on that screen and even hit Erase. The same goes for Samsung and Google accounts.
On a Galaxy, sign in to Samsung Find or SmartThings Find with your Samsung account. According to Samsung Electronics Service, the location updates about every 15 minutes, and Ring plays at full volume for 1 minute even if the phone is on silent. There are also battery-saving and SIM card history features, so if someone swaps in a different SIM, the new phone number and the time of the change are recorded. That's a record you can show the police if you suspect theft.
Other Android phones are found at android.com/find (Google Find Hub, formerly "Find My Device"). Google says that to lock or reset a device, it has to be turned on, connected to mobile data or Wi-Fi, signed in to a Google account, have Find Hub turned on, and be visible on Google Play.
All three are hard to use if you didn't turn the feature on before you lost the phone. On an iPhone, if Find My wasn't on, the device won't appear in the list, so you can't mark it as lost or erase it remotely, and on a Galaxy, locating it and controlling it remotely may be limited if it's turned off or has no network.
Leave remote erase for last. Apple says erasing can't be undone, so use it only after you've tried everything else, and it tells you not to remove the device from Find My even after erasing it. That's because removing it turns off Activation Lock, which makes it easier for someone else to unlock and resell it. Galaxy and Google Find Hub also can't locate the phone after it's erased, and Google says that if you find the phone later, you'll need your Google account password to use it again.
Caution: Apple says it doesn't contact users first to tell them an iPhone has been found. If a text or email arrives right after you lose it saying your phone has been found and asks for your device passcode, account password, or verification code, don't give out any of them. The same goes for texts claiming to come from a carrier, the police, or the person who found it. Don't tap the link in the text; call the official numbers in this guide directly to check.
Treat carrier location services as a backup only. There are reports that SK Telecom's free "Lost Phone Finder" (분실폰 찾기) ended on February 28, 2025. KT's "Lost Phone Location Finder" (분실휴대폰 위치찾기) offers recent location lookups, texts sent to the lost phone, and automatic location alerts, but you can only sign up for it on kt.com from a PC. LG U+'s "Lost Phone Location Notice" (분실폰 위치 안내) is requested at 1644-5108 or a store after you've registered the loss, and for up to 7 days including the day you apply, it texts you the location at intervals like 1, 2, or 3 hours, up to 24 times a day. You can receive the texts on another carrier's number too, but if you apply by phone you have to verify your identity with the number that will receive the texts, and if you apply at a store, the subscriber and the person receiving the texts each have to bring their own ID. That means if you want the texts sent to your companion's number, you need to meet these conditions first.
Don't expect an exact location. LG U+ says the margin of error is up to 1 km based on cell towers, up to 500 m with Wi-Fi, and up to 100 m with GPS, and if the phone is off, you may get only the last location or nothing at all. Once you get a SIM reissued and start using a different phone, you can't use these texts, and they also stop if you cancel the loss report, use a rental phone, or switch devices.
Reporting the Loss and Suspending the Line With Your Carrier at the Same Time
If you have a line with a Korean carrier, suspending it comes right after locating the phone. SK Telecom says if you only report the loss, monthly fees, add-on charges, and carrier-billed payments can keep accruing, so it tells you to request a loss suspension at the same time, and LG U+ also says it's safer to report the loss and suspend the line together.
| Carrier | From a phone on that carrier | From another phone | Other channels | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK Telecom | 114 with no area code (free) | 1599-0011 (charged), 080-011-6000 from a landline (free) | T world > my T > 분실/정지/해제 (Lost/Suspend/Restore), stores | Loss support 24 hours, year-round |
| KT | 114 (free) | 1588-0010 (charged) | kt.com 마이 > 가입/이용/해지 > 가입정보 변경 > 분실신고/해제 (My > Subscription/Usage/Cancellation > Change subscription info > Report lost/Cancel report), stores | Chat support 24 hours; the hours for loss reports at 114 aren't stated separately in its loss guidance |
| LG U+ | 114 (free) | 080-019-7000 (free), 1544-0010 (charged) | Loss & Damage Center 1644-5108 (charged), stores | Customer center and the dedicated center 24 hours |
What they ask when you report is similar: the lost phone's number, the account holder's name, the date and place you lost it, and a number to reach you on when the phone is found. LG U+ accepts the report with just this information and no separate documents, and its Loss & Damage Center verifies your identity with your date of birth and billing payment details. If you go to a store, you need your own ID, and if someone goes on your behalf, they bring both the account holder's and their own ID.
Also know what happens after you suspend the line.
- With SK Telecom, if you suspend only outgoing calls you can still receive calls, but after 7 days incoming calls are blocked automatically too.
- KT allows loss suspensions up to 10 times a month, each suspending outgoing service for up to 7 days at a time, and after 7 days it switches to suspending both outgoing and incoming service without notice.
- If a KT line goes unused for 3 months after being suspended for loss, KT stops the service and terminates the line on its own authority. To keep your line, you need to restore it on a new phone or a new SIM before then.
- With KT, on a dual SIM, loss reports and cancellations apply to both numbers together, and after you request loss recovery you have to turn the phone off and on again for the recovery to finish.
- You can stop an eSIM too. SK Telecom says it can suspend eSIM use if you ask through 114.
- We couldn't confirm each carrier's charges during the suspension period for this guide. Ask when you report the loss.
There's a legal reason not to put off reporting, too. Article 60-2 of the Telecommunications Business Act has carriers share the unique identification numbers of devices reported lost or stolen so they can block their use. According to the Handphone Finder Call Center, until the subscriber cancels the report, no one else can swap the SIM in a device reported lost or activate it through a device change. Article 32-17, newly added on January 21, 2025, also bans exporting devices reported lost or stolen. Anyone who exports such a device, or changes its unique identification number in order to export it, faces up to 3 years in prison or a criminal fine of up to 150,000,000 KRW under Article 95, Item 4-2.
Suspending the line doesn't replace locking the device. The Handphone Finder Call Center notes that even after a loss report, a phone can still be used in limited ways over Wi-Fi if no lock was set. That's why you turn on lost mode separately, as described in the previous section.
There are separate foreign-language help lines, but most are only open on weekday daytimes.
| Line | Number | Languages | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| SK Telecom foreign-language support | 080-2525-011 | English, Chinese, Japanese | Not stated in the source |
| SK Telecom rentals for foreigners (T roaming INBOUND) | In Korea 1599-2011 or 02-6343-9000, from abroad +82-2-6343-9000 (option 5) | English, Chinese, Japanese | Not stated in the source |
| KT Global Service Center | 080-448-0100 | English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian | Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 |
| LG U+ U+ Global (foreign residents) | 080-851-1004 (free), from abroad +82-2-3416-7000 (charged) | We couldn't confirm this for this guide | Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 |
| LG U+ traveler products | 010-3998-1004 (free from a U+ phone), from abroad +82-10-3998-1004, messenger ID lgcscenter | We couldn't confirm this for this guide | Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00 (lunch 12:00–13:00) |
If you lose it at night or on a weekend, don't wait for the foreign-language lines to open; suspend the line first through the Korean-language 24-hour phone lines above. Website suspension is a menu you reach after signing in, so if signing in requires text verification, the code goes to the lost phone and it may be hard to use. It's more realistic to pick up foreign-language support on the next weekday. If a call in Korean is hard for you, you can try explaining your situation to the Korea Tourism Organization's 1330 (from abroad +82-2-1330). 1330 offers tourist interpretation and three-way interpretation for places like taxis and restaurants, but its hours are listed as both 24 hours and 07:00–24:00 depending on the source, so you may not get through in the early morning.
For a traveler SIM or eSIM, tell the customer center of wherever you bought it. For your home-country line, when you ask your home carrier to suspend it, ask right then whether you can get a new SIM or eSIM while you're abroad. It varies by country and carrier, so we couldn't cover it in this guide. We also couldn't confirm whether a loss report filed with your home carrier is reflected in Korean carriers' device blocking.
Where a Found Phone Goes and How to Search the Handphone Finder Call Center
When someone picks up a phone and hands it in, where it goes depends on where it was handed in.
| Where it was found | Where it's held first | Then |
|---|---|---|
| Subway, bus, taxi, station | That operator, for 7 days (or sent on right away) | The local police station or a lost-and-found center (Seoul, Busan) |
| Incheon International Airport | The airport Lost & Found, for one month | Handphone Finder Call Center |
| Picked up on the street and dropped in a mailbox or handed in at a post office or police station | The regional central post office or a police station, for 2–3 days | Handphone Finder Call Center (Yeoksam-dong, Seoul) |
The Handphone Finder Call Center is run by the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT). It notifies owners about phones handed in at post offices and police stations, and it collects phones whose holding period has ended to try again to find their owners. It reaches out by using the phone's model name and serial number to find the last subscriber who used that device, so it says it can find owners even for phones with dead batteries or with suspended or terminated lines. That said, it may be difficult for phones that have been suspended for a very long time, terminated ex officio after long overdue bills, or terminated normally 6 months or more ago.
For foreigners, this setup can be a wall. A phone used only with a home-country SIM or a traveler data eSIM, with no Korean line, may never get a call. There's no official guidance on this; it's our inference from the fact that they contact the subscriber. The Handphone Finder Call Center also says that because handing in and processing take time, contact may come only after 2 weeks or more, or may not come at all. So rather than waiting, search for yourself.
The "Found Item Search" (습득물 조회) screen on the Handphone Finder Call Center website lets you search without signing in by receipt date, receiving institution, management number, product name, and model name/serial number. The default search period is the last week and the screen is in Korean, so it's much easier if you know the model name and serial number. If you have an iPhone, Apple says you can find the serial number even without the device, so check it before you report.
If you're told it's been found, a phone held at a post office or the Handphone Finder Call Center can be sent to you by cash-on-delivery courier. If you go to pick it up in person, bring identification, and if a family member goes for you, they need documents proving the relationship. Contact: 1566-4300 and 02-3471-1155; address: 3F, 156 Yeoksam-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul; email: kaitphone@kait.or.kr. If someone contacts you claiming to be the Handphone Finder Call Center or the police, don't tap the link in the text you received; call these contacts directly to check. After you get it back, you need to cancel the loss report with your carrier before you can use it again. KT says a SIM that's been reported lost can't be used again, so on a KT line you may need a new SIM even if you get the phone back.
Some pages of the Handphone Finder Call Center's guidance still show the address of the police's old lost-and-found portal. That portal was merged into Police Civil Service 24 (minwon24.police.go.kr) on January 26, 2026, so do police-side searches and reports on Police Civil Service 24.
If you lost it at the airport, ask the Incheon International Airport Lost & Found first. The Terminal 1 office is on the west side of B1 (032-741-3110/3114, lostnfound@biz.airport.kr) and the Terminal 2 office is on the east side of B1 (032-741-8988/8989, lostnfound2@biz.airport.kr), both open 07:00–21:30 year-round. Phones, tablet PCs, and smartwatches are held for one month and then sent to the Handphone Finder Call Center. If you lost it on the plane, or on an airport bus or the airport railroad, you need to ask that airline or operator, and items found in the duty-free area take longer because they go through customs before reaching the Lost & Found in the general area.
If someone else will pick it up for you at Incheon Airport, you have to give the Lost & Found that person's details in advance, along with a copy of the owner's ID, the proxy's own ID, and the receipt number. Cash-on-delivery courier starts at 7,000 KRW or more depending on size and weight, and the airport says valuables, cash, and fragile items can't be sent by courier. Ask first whether a phone can be sent by courier.
For other airports, Korea Airports Corporation's "Airport Lost & Found Search" (공항 유실물 조회) lists contacts for each airport. Gimpo Airport is 02-2660-4097, Gimhae Airport is 051-974-3776, and Jeju Airport is 064-797-2521. If you've already left the country, Gimpo Airport offers overseas shipping of lost items through a partnership with DHL Korea (DHL service desk 02-6915-0852~3; the final fee is set after measuring and packing).
Tip: If you note your current phone's model name and serial number, plus your carrier's customer center numbers, on a companion's phone or in an email, searching and reporting after a loss goes much faster.
When You Left It in a Taxi and the Driver Wants Something in Return
How you find the vehicle depends on how you paid the fare. If you paid by card, you look up the vehicle details with your card number and date of travel through the payment terminal company's ARS (T-money 1644-1188, Idong-ui Jeulgeoum (이동의즐거움) 1644-6001), and the order of buttons to press is in When you leave something in a taxi, subway, or bus. We couldn't confirm whether cards issued abroad can be looked up too, or whether the ARS has English guidance.
For foreigners, sometimes there's no trail left at all. On a Thai travelers' forum, someone posted (March 2026) that they paid for a taxi hailed on the street with an overseas prepaid card, so the vehicle number wasn't recorded anywhere. On a Japanese Q&A site, there's also a question (September 2024) from someone who had registered their taxi app account with their home-country number and only got three lost-item notifications without ever reaching the driver.
Money can come up after you find the car. On Reddit, someone wrote (August 2024) that a taxi driver demanded 200,000 KRW to return their phone, and after they gave the driver's number to the police station, another driver from the dispatch office brought it over for 70,000 KRW and that was the end of it. A traveler from Singapore wrote that they paid 86,800 KRW, a 50,000 KRW reward plus the 36,800 KRW meter fare (something that happened to them in April 2019). This guide doesn't judge who was right, but knowing the legal standard makes the conversation easier.
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| Lost Property Act, Article 1(1) | The finder must promptly return the item to its owner or hand it in to a police station (including police substations and police boxes) |
| Article 3 | Storage costs, public notice costs, and other necessary expenses are paid by the person getting the item back |
| Article 4 | The person getting the item back must give the finder a reward of at least 5% and no more than 20% of the item's value. The state, local governments, and public institutions set by Presidential Decree can't claim a reward |
| Article 6 | Expenses and rewards can't be claimed once 1 month has passed since the item was returned |
| Article 10 | Items found inside a vehicle are handed to the manager, the party in possession of the vehicle (its operator, not a passenger) is treated as the finder, and the reward is split equally between that party and the person who actually picked it up |
The reward is set as a range of 5–20% of the item's value, so it depends on what the phone is worth, and there's no fixed amount written into the law. A delivery fee or travel fare for the taxi bringing it to you is a separate amount you agree on with each other, apart from this reward. If you can't agree on the amount, don't settle it on the spot; keep a record in messages. Don't agree to requests to send a reward or courier fee before you get the phone. If meeting in person to get it doesn't work out, or they ask for money first, you can ask them to hand it in at a nearby police station.

Report a Loss on Police Civil Service 24 and a Theft to 112
Where you report to the police depends on whether you lost it or someone took it.
| Situation | Where to report | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Left it somewhere or dropped it (loss) | A nearby police station or police substation, or "Lost Property Report" (분실물 신고) on Police Civil Service 24 | Excludes theft; processed immediately (within 3 hours during business hours) |
| Pickpocketed or stolen (theft) | 112 (24 hours) | English and Chinese use a three-way call among the police officer, an interpreter, and the caller |
| The finder keeps it instead of returning it | 112 or a police station | May count as embezzlement of lost property under Article 360(1) of the Criminal Act |
The "Lost Property Report" on Police Civil Service 24 can be filed online or in person, by you or by a representative. Filing online goes through member sign-up and identity verification, and we couldn't confirm whether foreigners can get through with a passport. If you get stuck, take your passport to a nearby police station or police substation and file in person. There are no required documents or fees, and you can download the loss report form in Korean and English (HWP). The website lets you choose from multilingual screens, including English, Japanese, and Thai. Its guidance describes this as a report you file with a nearby police office when you've lost your own belongings or assets (excluding theft).
If you check "SMS/Email 수신 허용" (allow SMS/email notifications) when you file, you'll be notified by text or email when a found item matching your details comes in. Since you've lost your phone, make sure you can receive it by email. Reports filed online can't be edited, to prevent false reports, so if something's wrong, cancel it and file again. If you filed in person, cancel or edit it using the "관리번호" (management number) on your receipt. The police civil service call center is 182 (charged), or +82-182 from abroad. Its hours are listed as weekdays 09:00–18:00 on the Police Civil Service 24 screen but as 24 hours, 365 days on the Korean National Police Agency's cybercrime reporting system screen, so if you plan to call at night, check that it connects first.
Found items whose owners don't turn up are held by each organization for 7 days (or sent on right away) and then passed to the local police station or a lost-and-found center (Seoul, Busan). If the owner hasn't appeared by the end of the 6-month holding period and the finder hasn't given up their rights, ownership goes to the finder. So get your report and search done within the first week.
On the Thai community site Pantip, a traveler who left an iPhone at a street stall in Myeongdong wrote that the police station told them, "We can't help because you lost it yourself." It's more accurate to read that as meaning a loss isn't investigated as a criminal case; lost-item reports are taken separately. The same community also has a post from someone who couldn't get a confirmation for an insurance claim because the police station's working hours had ended. We couldn't confirm whether a lost-item report receipt counts as the "police report" that overseas travel insurers or embassies ask for, so ask your insurer first which documents they need and go to a police office during working hours.
Caution: On Taiwanese Threads, there's advice going around that you have to say it was stolen to get the police to act. Reporting a lost item as stolen may count as a false report under Article 3(3)(2) of the Minor Offenses Punishment Act, punishable by a criminal fine of up to 600,000 KRW, detention, or a minor criminal fine. Report a loss as a lost item, and call 112 only when someone actually took it.
112 runs 24 hours, and on March 18, 2024 the Korean National Police Agency expanded foreign-language interpretation for 112 reports to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It works as a call among the police officer, an interpreter, and the caller, and when it was expanded, the supported languages were English and Chinese. Other languages depend on the situation. The full set of emergency numbers is in 112 and 119, and the numbers that don't answer at night.
On Reddit, there's a post (May 2026) from someone whose phone disappeared after they drank a drink they were given at a club in Seoul, and the location screen showed the phone moving to another area. This is closer to theft or a crime than a loss, so report it to 112, and don't clear the location screen; show it to the police.
If the finder keeps it instead of returning it, it may count as embezzlement of lost property under Article 360(1) of the Criminal Act (up to 1 year in prison, a criminal fine of up to 3,000,000 KRW, or a minor criminal fine), and taking a phone the owner still has with them, like one in a bag or set down right beside them, may count as theft under Article 329 (up to 6 years in prison or a criminal fine of up to 10,000,000 KRW). Both are criminal penalties, unlike administrative fines or summary fines, and these cases are reported to 112 or a police station.
Sorting Out Verification, Messengers, and Payment Methods Tied to Your Home Number
There's one more thing that disappears with your phone: the text verification you got on your home number. If your home line disappears along with the phone, you lose the way to receive two-step verification codes for your bank, email, and messengers.
Start with what the carriers recommend doing right after a loss.
- Report the credit cards, transit card (T-money), and joint certificate (공동인증서) stored on the phone or SIM to each issuer separately.
- Change the passwords for websites and apps you were automatically signed in to.
- Set up call forwarding so you can take calls on another number.
- Check real-time charges, carrier-billed payments (small payments), and your call history to see if anyone else has used it.
Each account has a different way in without your phone.
| Service | Ways in without your phone | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Google account | Another phone that's signed in, another number you added for 2-Step Verification, backup codes you saved in advance, a security key, or a passkey on another device | Backup codes come in sets of 10, and each can be used only once. If you sign in in a way that's different from usual, such as from a different location, text codes may not arrive |
| Kakao (KakaoTalk) | Verify with the emergency contact email you set up in advance (the verify-by-email option at the bottom of the verification screen) | After signing in, change your two-step verification details to a number or KakaoTalk account you can use now |
| Ask your carrier to block the SIM, then register the same number again on a new device | Registering the same number again requires receiving a verification text or call on that number, so it may be hard until you get your home SIM or eSIM back. If you deactivated your account, it may be deleted if you don't register again within a certain period, so check the period in WhatsApp's official help before going ahead | |
| Home-country bank OTP and home carrier | Varies by bank and carrier | Ask their customer centers first whether you can re-register or get a SIM reissued from abroad |
Google says you can sign out of your account on the lost phone and ask your carrier to move your number to a new phone or a new SIM. Google notes that if you sign in in a way that's different from usual, such as your sign-in location, you may not get text codes, so try methods that don't rely on texts first, like backup codes or another device.
How to link an email to your Kakao account is in How to sign up for KakaoTalk without a Korean number. Backup codes and an emergency email only work for people who set them up in advance, so if your phone is in your hand right now, set them up this time.
Getting a New Phone or Line, and What to Do If You Lost Your Passport Too
If you're a resident using a Korean line, after reporting the loss you can request a rental phone on the website or at 114. SK Telecom puts the T Loss Care Center (T분실케어센터, 1599-1140 with no area code) at the top of its loss guidance page and says it'll tell you what to do for your situation. We couldn't confirm its hours or foreign-language support. SK Telecom's English guidance describes regular store business as mainly on weekdays, but it mixes in outdated wording, so if you plan to visit a store on the weekend or use a Saturday rental, ask the customer center first.
If you have phone loss insurance, contact the claims center before you replace the device. Here's the order the Handphone Finder Call Center lays out.
- Report the theft or loss to your carrier (114 or the website) and suspend the line.
- Contact the claims center and check the compensation amount and your deductible.
- Submit the insurance claim form and a copy of your ID (documents may differ by carrier).
- Wait for the claim review (about 7 days).
- Go to a store that handles insurance replacements or get the phone by courier, pay your share, and you're done.
Some carriers say the insurance may not pay out if you change devices without using a rental phone, so be sure to ask the claims center before buying a new phone.
Here are the confirmed standards for getting a SIM or eSIM again.
| Case | Confirmed standard | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| SK Telecom eSIM | eSIM download fee of 2,750 KRW (VAT included), and 2,750 KRW again if you delete the profile and download it again | Foreigners can't self-activate or self-replace an eSIM, so go to a T World store |
| KT eSIM/SIM | Direct eSIM issuance fee of 2,750 KRW; it says a new one is issued every time you change devices and each issuance costs a fee (no separate amount for getting it again at a store after a loss); KT-only NFC SIM 7,700 KRW; KT universal NFC SIM at convenience stores 8,800 KRW | A SIM reported lost can't be used again, so you need a new SIM. We couldn't confirm whether foreigners can switch to a convenience-store SIM themselves, so ask 114 or a store first |
| LG U+ resident line | We couldn't confirm this for this guide | Ask 114 or a store |
| Traveler eSIM (per LG U+'s traveler site) | Once installed on a device, it can't be reinstalled or reissued | Buy a new product for your new phone. Up to 3 SIMs per passport |
If you had a traveler eSIM installed on the lost phone, it's safest to assume the same line is hard to move to a new phone. KT says its traveler eSIM can be installed only once, the first time, and SK Telecom says its traveler eSIM can't be used on any device other than the one that scanned the QR. We couldn't confirm whether traveler SIMs can be reissued or whether you can keep your number when one is lost, so ask where you bought it. According to LG U+'s traveler product guidance, products with voice are used after your passport is checked at the airport counter; voice-and-text products work for text verification when signing up for restaurant and taxi booking apps but not for bank or government identity verification; and data-only products can't do text verification. Check with wherever you bought yours whether other carriers' products work the same way. Airport counter locations and how to buy are in How to buy a SIM or eSIM at the airport.
If you don't have a device to use right now, you can also rent one. For example, LG U+'s traveler guidance says you can rent a pocket Wi-Fi or a phone on the spot at its customer centers at Incheon, Gimpo, and Gimhae Airports, and that you need your passport and a credit card in the passport holder's name (it says that with a debit card, a deposit is charged up front and automatically refunded when you return the device normally, but it doesn't give the amount, so check the deposit and whether you can rent with a debit card on site first). You can return it at any of the three airports. SK Telecom also has a rental service for foreigners (T roaming INBOUND, at the numbers in the foreign-language help line table above), so ask each line where to rent and return and how much it costs.
There are also sign-up limits you may run into when opening a new line after a loss. To prevent mass activations through identity theft, carriers (including budget MVNOs) add up the number of lines opened within 180 days (per M-Safer (엠세이퍼) guidance, in effect since July 1, 2024), but the limit for foreigners differs from source to source. M-Safer puts the limit for lines in a foreigner's name at 2, prepaid and postpaid combined, while KT's terms of service (October 2026 edition) put it at 1 line if you sign up with a passport. There are also news reports of a government plan to make one line per person the rule for foreigners, and KT Direct's guidance still shows a 30-day standard that took effect on September 23, 2022. Check the limit currently applied at the store where you activate. How to check lines opened in your name is in How to check phones opened in your name, and the steps for opening a new line with your residence card are in Phone activation and plan guide for foreigners.
If you lost your passport too, getting your phone service back gets pushed behind your passport. KT's guidance for foreigners lists the sign-up documents for ordinary foreigners as a residence card, permanent residence card, or passport, and says that with only a passport you can sign up only for prepaid plans, which are valid for 90 days after activation. Traveler voice products and airport rentals also check your passport. One traveler on Reddit who lost their passport and phone together was also told it's hard to buy a new SIM without a passport. Incheon International Airport holds found foreign passports for one month from the date they're found and then sends them to each country's embassy, so if you lost it at the airport, ask both the Lost & Found and your country's mission.
The police, mission, and immigration steps are in The three steps when you've lost your passport, mission locations are in How to find your country's embassy, and if you lost your residence card too, see Reissuing a lost residence card.
Once you have a new phone in hand, there's still the travel between the police station, the carrier store, the airport Lost & Found, and the embassy. LACHA, a transit and payment app for foreigners that you can use right away without identity verification, lets you sign up with just a name, email, and password based on its app screens as of August 2026, with a phone number optional, so you can sign up even if your new phone doesn't have a Korean number yet. You can call taxis and book KTX, express buses, and the airport railroad in one app, and the KTX booking screen asks for the booker's contact number along with a country code, so enter a number you can actually receive calls on right now. For taxis called through LACHA, the dispatch screen shows the vehicle number, car model, driver's name, and message and call buttons, so if you screenshot that screen and send it to a companion, you'll have a clue about which car it was if you ever leave something behind. We couldn't confirm whether that information stays in your order history after you get out, and LACHA doesn't find lost items for you or separately give out drivers' contact details.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1. What should I do first if I lose my phone in Korea? A. Locate it and turn on lost mode first, using someone else's phone or a PC. Next, report the loss to your carrier and suspend the line at the same time, file a lost-item report at a nearby police station or police substation or on Police Civil Service 24, and then check the found-item search at the Handphone Finder Call Center (handphone.or.kr). For an iPhone go to icloud.com/find, for a Galaxy samsungfind.samsung.com, and for other Android phones android.com/find, and if you left it in a taxi, on the subway or a bus, or at an airport, contact that operator first.
Q2. I left my phone in a taxi but don't know the vehicle number. Can I find it? A. If you paid by card, there's a way. Look up the vehicle details with your card number and date of travel through the payment terminal company's ARS (T-money 1644-1188, Idong-ui Jeulgeoum 1644-6001); the order of buttons to press is in When you leave something in a taxi, subway, or bus. We couldn't confirm whether cards issued abroad can be looked up. If you can't find the vehicle details, move on to a lost-item report on Police Civil Service 24 and a found-item search at the Handphone Finder Call Center.
Q3. I lost a phone that had a traveler eSIM. Can I reinstall it on a new phone? A. There's a good chance you can't. LG U+'s traveler site says that once an eSIM is installed on a device, it can't be reinstalled or reissued, so you'll need to buy a new product for the new phone. There's also a limit of up to 3 SIMs per passport. KT's traveler eSIM can be installed only once, the first time, and SK Telecom says its traveler eSIM can't be used on any device other than the one that scanned the QR. Ask where you bought it whether you can keep the same number. For a Korean-line eSIM, getting it again costs 2,750 KRW at SK Telecom, and foreigners have it handled at a store.
Q4. Is there a number where I can report a lost phone and suspend it in English? A. There are numbers that offer support in foreign languages, but most only answer on weekday daytimes, and the carriers' guidance doesn't say whether those lines can process a loss suspension on the spot. They are SK Telecom 080-2525-011 (English, Chinese, Japanese), KT 080-448-0100 (English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian; Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00), and LG U+'s line for foreign residents 080-851-1004 (Mon–Fri 09:00–18:00). At night and on weekends, suspend the line first through Korean-language 24-hour phone lines like SK Telecom 1599-0011 or LG U+ 080-019-7000, and pick up foreign-language support on the next weekday. KT has 24-hour chat support. Suspending on a carrier's website is a menu you reach after signing in, so it may be hard to use if the sign-in text verification goes to the lost phone.
Q5. The taxi driver who found my phone is asking for a reward. How much should I give? A. There's no fixed amount set by law. Article 4 of the Lost Property Act says the person getting the item back pays a reward within a range of 5–20% of the item's value, and for items found inside a vehicle, that reward is split equally between the party in possession of the vehicle (its operator, not a passenger) and the person who actually picked it up (Article 10). A delivery fee or travel fare for bringing it to you is agreed on separately from the reward, and necessary expenses like storage costs are paid by the person getting the item back (Article 3). Rewards and expenses can't be claimed once 1 month has passed since the item was returned (Article 6).
Note: This article is for general information. Most of the numbers, hours, deadlines, fees, and legal provisions were checked as of October 21, 2026 against SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+'s official customer support, guidance for foreigners and travelers, and terms of service; the Korea Association for ICT Promotion's Handphone Finder Call Center; the identity theft prevention service M-Safer; Police Civil Service 24; Korean National Police Agency announcements; Seoul Metro; the Seoul Metropolitan Government; T-money and Idong-ui Jeulgeoum; Incheon International Airport Corporation and Korea Airports Corporation; the Korea Tourism Organization; Apple, Samsung Electronics Service, Google, and Kakao customer centers; the original texts of the Lost Property Act, Telecommunications Business Act, Minor Offenses Punishment Act, and Criminal Act on the National Law Information Center; and news reports. Community cases are personal experiences posted on Reddit, TripAdvisor, Pantip, Threads, Yahoo!知恵袋, and similar sites. We couldn't confirm the following, so we don't state them as fact: each carrier's charges during a loss suspension; where to report a loss for budget MVNO lines and prepaid lines opened with a passport; whether traveler SIMs can be reissued and whether traveler products keep their numbers; the fee for getting an eSIM again at a KT store after a loss and the eSIM fee for LG U+ resident lines; whether foreigners can switch to a convenience-store SIM themselves; the limit on lines for foreigners currently applied at stores; whether foreigners can pass identity verification for online reports on Police Civil Service 24 with a passport; whether the Handphone Finder Call Center contacts owners of foreign phones with no Korean line history; whether a report filed with your home carrier is reflected in Korea's device blocking; whether the taxi payment ARS can look up overseas cards and has English guidance; whether a police lost-item report receipt counts as a "police report" for insurance or embassies; whether the foreign-language help lines can process loss suspensions, and the current hours and languages of those lines, 1330, and 112 interpretation; and the original text of WhatsApp's official help (the period before an account is deleted). Numbers and procedures change often, so check again on each organization's official channels before you go anywhere or file a report. Rewards and criminal liability can vary case by case, and this article is not legal advice. LACHA is not a service that holds or finds lost items for you.






