Korean Convenience Stores: A Visitor's Guide to GS25, CU and More

Korea’s convenience stores (편의점, pyeonuijeom) are more than a place to grab a drink. For a visitor they’re a cheap canteen, a transit card shop, an ATM stop and a late-night pharmacy shelf, usually all within a few minutes’ walk. This guide covers what’s useful as of October 2026.

The big four chains

Chain	Hangul	Notes
GS25	지에스25	Has added foreign-currency exchange kiosks and lets you pay in foreign banknotes at some stores in tourist areas
CU	씨유	Takes several overseas mobile wallets
7-Eleven	세븐일레븐	Familiar logo, same basic services
emart24	이마트24	Run by the E-mart group

T-money lists all four as places to buy and top up its cards. Products and deals differ from chain to chain, but what you can do in them is much the same.

Opening hours: most stores are open 24 hours, but not all. Some, for example inside office buildings, close overnight or at weekends. If you need a store at 3 am, choose one on a main street.

Eating: dosirak, triangle kimbap and ramyeon

Convenience-store food is one of the cheapest ways to eat in Korea.

• Dosirak (도시락, “packed lunch”): boxed meals with rice, meat and side dishes. Heat them in the store’s microwave. Check the label for the heating time and take off any lid marked for removal first.
• Triangle kimbap (삼각김밥, samgak gimbap): rice triangles wrapped in seaweed, with fillings such as tuna-mayo or spicy pork. The wrapper keeps the seaweed crisp, so open it in order: pull tab 1 straight down the middle, then pull the two corners (2 and 3) off to each side. The seaweed stays wrapped around the rice.
• Cup ramyeon (컵라면, keom-ramyeon): instant noodles in a cup. Stores have a hot-water dispenser by the eat-in counter. Peel the lid halfway, add soup powder, fill to the line inside the cup and wait the time printed on the lid.
• Eat-in tables: many stores have a counter or a few tables, sometimes outside. Clear up after yourself (see below).

Drinks are cheap and varied: coffee, iced drinks, banana milk, sports drinks and tea. Soju and beer are sold too, see the age rule below.

T-money, ATMs, parcels and other services

T-money transit card. You can buy a T-money card at the counter for about ₩3,000–4,000 (special designs cost more) and top it up there.

• Top-ups are in cash (Korean won): hand over the card and the money and say the amount. You can add ₩1,000 to ₩90,000 at a time, in ₩1,000 steps. A card can hold up to ₩500,000.
• To compare T-money with the Climate Card and WOWPASS, read transit cards compared, or use T-money or Pass?.

ATMs. Many stores have one. They’re handy late at night, but they often charge higher fees than bank ATMs. Look for a “Global” sign, and choose to be charged in won. More in money in Korea.

Parcels. GS25 and CU both send parcels within Korea and abroad (GS25’s international service runs with DHL). The booking apps and forms are mostly in Korean, so it’s easiest with help from your hotel.

Everyday rescue items. Umbrellas when it starts raining, phone charging cables and power banks, socks, toiletries and basic cosmetics.

Paying

• Foreign Visa and Mastercard cards are accepted for normal purchases.
• Mobile wallets: GS25 says Alipay and WeChat Pay made up almost all of its foreign mobile-wallet payments in 2025. CU has accepted Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay for several years, plus some Alipay+ partner wallets. Acceptance can vary by store, so look for the logo at the counter.
• Cash: always accepted, and needed for T-money top-ups.

1+1 and 2+1 deals

Shelf tags marked 1+1 (원플러스원, “one plus one”) mean buy one, get one free. 2+1 means buy two, get a third free. They’re common on drinks, snacks and ice cream. Deals change every month and differ by chain; each chain lists its current deals on its own website. Take the free item to the counter with the paid ones.

Medicines and alcohol

Medicines. Stores licensed to sell household medicines must be open 24 hours, and you can buy only one pack of each product per purchase. The approved list has 13 products, but only 11 are actually on sale. They cover:

• fever and pain relievers, such as Tylenol 500 mg
• digestive aids
• cold medicine
• pain-relief patches

The government is discussing adding more items such as antidiarrheals, but nothing had changed as of October 2026. For anything else, you need a pharmacy: see seeing a doctor or pharmacist in Korea for late-night pharmacies and what to bring.

Alcohol and cigarettes: age 19. Under Korea’s Youth Protection Act you count by birth year: you can buy from 1 January of the year you turn 19. Staff may ask for ID, so carry your passport.

Trash and recycling

Korea sorts its rubbish strictly, and stores usually have labelled bins by the eat-in area.

• General waste (일반쓰레기, ilban sseuregi): wrappers and napkins.
• Recyclables: cans, plastic bottles and paper cups, often in separate slots.
• Leftover liquid: pour leftover ramyeon broth or drinks into the sink or bucket provided, not into the bins.

If you can’t find the right bin, ask staff or carry it out with you. Public bins on the street are rare.

Handy phrases

You want to say	Korean	Say it
Please heat this up	데워 주세요	dewo juseyo
A bag, please	봉투 주세요	bongtu juseyo
Please top up ₩10,000	만 원 충전해 주세요	man won chungjeon-hae juseyo
Receipt, please	영수증 주세요	yeongsujeung juseyo

Show them to the cashier with Say It in Korean.