Korean Convenience Stores: How GS25, CU, 7-Eleven and emart24 Work

Korean convenience stores (GS25, CU, 7-Eleven and emart24) work as a shop, a self-service kitchen and an errand counter. Pay at the till by credit card, which the Korea Tourism Organization says most places take even for small purchases, then use the hot-water dispenser and the microwave and eat at the counter or tables. Bring Korean won cash for one thing: loading a T-money card at the counter. You can buy alcohol or cigarettes from January 1 of the year you turn 19, so in 2026 anyone born in 2007 or earlier can, with proof of age; for most visitors that is a passport. Many branches stay open all night, but not all.

Are Korean convenience stores open 24 hours?

Many are, but not every branch. Korea.net describes the major brands as operating 24 hours, yet emart24’s franchise terms offer owners both a 24-hour and a non-24-hour contract, and CU’s store finder has a separate 24시간 (24 hours) filter. To find one open late, look the branch up in Naver Map or use CU’s finder, which also filters for 현금지급기 (ATM) and 택배 (parcels).

Can you pay with a foreign credit card?

Usually, yes. The Korea Tourism Organization tells visitors that a credit card is all they need to travel and shop in Korea: apart from a few small family-run businesses, most places accept credit cards, even for small purchases. Hand the card to the cashier or insert it in the terminal on the counter, and bring the physical card rather than counting on a phone wallet.

Alipay and WeChat Pay work at many branches, especially in tourist areas, though not every store takes them: CU, GS25 and 7-Eleven introduced them mainly at stores that many foreign visitors use, Chosun Biz reported in July 2026. CU also takes UnionPay, and added Alipay HK through Alipay+ in early 2022, according to its May 2022 announcement.

A T-money card with a balance also pays at the till. What a credit card cannot do is load T-money at the counter; that needs cash (next section).

How do you buy and top up T-money at a convenience store?

Hand the card and Korean won cash to the cashier: GS25, CU, 7-Eleven and emart24 sell T-money cards and load them at the counter, cash only, from ₩1,000 at a time, according to Tmoney’s foreigner guide. Card prices, refunds, the Climate Card and the iPhone Apple Pay route are in our T-money guide.

How do you make cup ramyeon at a convenience store?

Pay first, then cook. Korea.net notes that stores provide hot-water dispensers so cup noodles can be made and eaten on the spot, and that many have simple tables and chairs. Its companion page adds microwaves for heating food. The steps:

1. Pick a cup ramyeon and pay for it at the counter.
2. Peel the lid back, add the soup sachets, and fill with hot water from the dispenser to the line inside the cup.
3. Close the lid and wait the time printed on the cup.

Lunch boxes (dosirak) go in the microwave after you pay; the heating time is on the label. Korea.net lists kimchi fried rice, bulgogi, spicy stir-fried pork and curry boxes, all microwaveable.

How do you open a triangle kimbap and read the label?

Follow the numbers printed on the wrapper: pull tab 1 straight down the middle, then pull corners 2 and 3 off the sides. The front names the filling in Korean, and the back gives the use-by date (소비기한). Triangle kimbap (samgak gimbap) is rice and a filling wrapped in seaweed, the most popular convenience store food according to Korea.net, which lists tuna mayo, kimchi fried rice, bulgogi, Spam and cheese among dozens of fillings.

These words cover most of the shelf:

On CU’s product list, names start with a short prefix for the type: 삼) for triangle kimbap, 김) for kimbap rolls, 도) for lunch boxes, 샌) for sandwiches and 햄) for burgers. On November 2, 2026, it priced a plain tuna-mayo triangle (삼)참치마요삼각) at ₩1,200 and a spicy pork-cutlet triangle at ₩1,400.

The date to read is 소비기한. Since January 1, 2023, Korean food carries a use-by date, the last day the food is safe to eat if stored as the label says, in place of the older sell-by date; refrigerated milk keeps a sell-by date (유통기한) until 2031, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety explains.

How do 1+1 and 2+1 deals work?

A 1+1 sticker means buy one, get a second free; 2+1 means buy two, get a third free. Pick up every item, including the free one, and pay for them together; the free one comes off at the till. Deals are per chain: a 1+1 at CU doesn’t apply at the GS25 across the street. CU lists its current deals, from drinks and snacks to toothbrushes and shampoo, on its deal page, and warns that deal items can sell out early at a given store.

Can you eat and drink inside the store?

Yes, where there is a counter or table. Korea.net says eating alone at convenience store tables has become increasingly common. Our advice: keep the seats for food bought in the store, and clear your cup, chopsticks and wrappers when you leave.

Drinking alcohol bought in the store at its tables is generally not illegal. In a May 2025 reply to a public complaint, a local police station (Chungju), after checking with city and food-safety officials, said convenience stores need no food-business registration, and that drinking outside the small area some owners register as a rest-type eatery (휴게음식점) for simple cooking is not illegal. The owner still sets the house rules, so ask the staff before you open a can. Being loud can bring a ₩30,000 fine under the Minor Offenses Act, which matters at outdoor tables late at night.

How old do you have to be to buy alcohol or cigarettes?

You can buy them from January 1 of the year you turn 19. The Youth Protection Act defines a juvenile as someone under 19, except anyone who has reached January 1 of the year they turn 19, so in 2026 anyone born in 2007 or earlier can buy. Article 28 requires the seller to check the buyer’s age and identity, and Article 49-2 says a customer asked to show proof of age should cooperate. In practice, for most visitors that means a passport, and without proof of age, expect staff to refuse the sale.

Can you withdraw cash at a convenience store ATM?

Often, but not at every machine. Visit Seoul says ATMs that take international cards are marked with a “Global” sign or the logos of the card networks they accept, that most offer English, and that convenience store ATMs often charge higher fees than bank ones. CU’s store finder has a 현금지급기 (ATM) filter to find a branch that has one. Use bank ATMs for larger withdrawals.

Can you send a parcel from a convenience store?

Yes, at branches with a parcel kiosk. CU takes parcels 24 hours a day at branches with a POSTBOX kiosk (listed on CU’s parcel website), and GS25 takes prepaid DHL parcels abroad booked on the Korean-language GS Postbox site.

Within Korea, a CU parcel starts at ₩3,400. Dropped off by 6 p.m. on a weekday in Seoul, Gyeonggi or Incheon (noon on weekends and holidays), CU aims to deliver it the next day, islands and remote areas excluded, but each store’s pickup cut-off can be earlier. CU’s separate Next-Day Guaranteed Parcel (CU내일보장택배, from ₩3,300, Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon only) guarantees next-day delivery. CU’s Half-Price Parcel (CU반값택배), from ₩1,800, goes store to store and the receiver collects it at a CU.

For parcels abroad, GS25’s international service takes DHL parcels 24 hours a day, prepaid only and payable by credit card. The store weighs the parcel; DHL works out the final charge, including volume, at its centre and may charge more. Parcels are collected after the store’s cut-off, 5 p.m. at most branches (noon or 3 p.m. at some), and reach DHL the next day. CU also takes DHL parcels of up to 20 kg, booked in advance on CU’s parcel website, DHL Korea said when it launched the service in March 2024.

Can you get a tax refund at a convenience store?

At some CU branches, yes. CU’s immediate tax refund takes up to 7% off a purchase of ₩15,000 to ₩999,999 at the till for foreign tourists in Korea for less than six months, at branches with the Tax-Refund sticker. Show a physical or mobile passport before you pay. Alcohol, tobacco, untaxed goods such as plain milk, fruit and vegetables, ready-cooked food and services are excluded. The wider rules, including the totals that cap immediate refunds, are in our tax refund guide.

Steve OH edits Seoulpin. Steve runs Standardpin, a Seoul-based web studio that also builds websites for clinics; that work has no effect on whether or how any clinic appears here. Articles are drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed and reviewed by Steve before publishing. How we work