Shopify Korean Address Field Format: Complete Guide for Buyers and Developers

Trying to check out on a Korean Shopify store — or building one? The biggest friction point is always the address form. Korean addresses run in the opposite direction from Western ones, and Shopify’s standard fields weren’t designed with Korean conventions in mind. Enter the wrong value in the wrong field and your package ends up at the wrong destination — or gets returned entirely.

This guide covers every Shopify address field as it applies to South Korea: what each field expects, how Korean address components map to them, all 17 official province codes, and what developers need to know about the API’s behaviour.

Key Takeaways

• Shopify’s province field stores the top-level Korean administrative region (e.g., Seoul, Gyeonggi).
• South Korea has 17 province/metropolitan city codes in Shopify, ranging from KR-11 (Seoul) to KR-50 (Sejong).
• Shopify’s Order API returns Korean province names in Latin characters (“Seoul”, not “서울특별시”); use provinceCode for reliable data processing.
• Korean 5-digit postal codes (introduced 2015) go in the zip field.
• Detailed street-level Korean address goes in address1; apartment/unit detail goes in address2.

How Korean Addresses Differ from Western Addresses

A standard Korean address is written from the largest administrative unit down to the smallest. The order is:

1. Province / Metropolitan City — e.g., 경기도 (Gyeonggi-do) or 서울특별시 (Seoul)
2. City / County (시/군/구) — e.g., 수원시, 강남구
3. District / Neighbourhood (읍/면/동) — e.g., 역삼동
4. Street name and building number (도로명주소) — e.g., 테헤란로 152
5. Unit / Floor detail — e.g., 201호
6. Postal code — 5 digits, e.g., 06236

Western addresses reverse this order (street first, country last). Shopify’s address form is built around the Western model, so every field needs deliberate mapping when dealing with Korean locations.

Shopify’s Address Fields — What Each One Means

Shopify exposes address data through the MailingAddress object in both the Storefront API and the Admin GraphQL API. The fields relevant to a Korean address are:

Shopify Field	Type	Official Description
address1	String	“The first line of the address. Typically the street address or PO Box number.”
address2	String	“The second line of the address. Typically the number of the apartment, suite, or unit.”
city	String	“The name of the city, district, village, or town.”
province	String	“The region of the address, such as the province, state, or district.”
provinceCode	String	“The alphanumeric code for the region” (ISO 3166-2 format, e.g., KR-11)
zip	String	“The zip or postal code of the address.”
country	String	“The name of the country.”
countryCodeV2	CountryCode	“The two-letter code for the country” (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, e.g., KR)

Source: Shopify Admin GraphQL API — MailingAddress

Mapping Korean Address Components to Shopify Fields

Here is how each part of a Korean address fits into Shopify’s checkout form:

Korean Address Component	Shopify Field	Example
Province / Metropolitan City (시·도)	province (dropdown)	Seoul / Gyeonggi
City / County / District (시·군·구)	city	Gangnam-gu
Street address + building number (도로명주소)	address1	Teheran-ro 152
Apartment, floor, unit (동·호)	address2	Apt 201
Postal code (우편번호, 5 digits)	zip	06236
Country	country	South Korea

Practical Example

Take a real street address in Seoul’s Gangnam district. In Korean order it reads:

서울특별시 강남구 테헤란로 152 강남파이낸스센터 201호 (06236)

Entered into Shopify’s checkout form:

• Province: Seoul (KR-11)
• City: Gangnam-gu
• Address 1: Teheran-ro 152 Gangnam Finance Center
• Address 2: Suite 201
• ZIP / Postal Code: 06236
• Country: South Korea

All 17 South Korea Province Codes in Shopify

Shopify stores South Korea’s administrative regions using ISO 3166-2:KR codes. The province dropdown in the checkout form uses these internally. When the Shopify Order API returns shipping or billing address data, it returns province names in Latin characters (e.g., “Seoul”) rather than in Korean script (“서울특별시”).

Shopify Province Code	English Name (Shopify)	Korean Name	Type
KR-11	Seoul	서울특별시	Special City
KR-26	Busan	부산광역시	Metropolitan City
KR-27	Daegu	대구광역시	Metropolitan City
KR-28	Incheon	인천광역시	Metropolitan City
KR-29	Gwangju	광주광역시	Metropolitan City
KR-30	Daejeon	대전광역시	Metropolitan City
KR-31	Ulsan	울산광역시	Metropolitan City
KR-41	Gyeonggi	경기도	Province
KR-42	Gangwon	강원특별자치도	Special Autonomous Province
KR-43	Chungbuk	충청북도	Province
KR-44	Chungnam	충청남도	Province
KR-45	Jeonbuk	전라북도	Province
KR-46	Jeonnam	전라남도	Province
KR-47	Gyeongbuk	경상북도	Province
KR-48	Gyeongnam	경상남도	Province
KR-49	Jeju	제주특별자치도	Special Autonomous Province
KR-50	Sejong	세종특별자치시	Special Autonomous City

Sources: Matrixify — Shopify Address Countries and Provinces; Highview Apps — South Korea Province Codes

Step-by-Step: Filling a Korean Address at Shopify Checkout

If you are an international customer placing an order from a Korean Shopify store and need to provide a Korean delivery address:

1. Select South Korea as the country. The province dropdown will populate with all 17 regions.
2. Select your province from the dropdown. Choose the top-level administrative region (e.g., Seoul, Gyeonggi, Busan).
3. Enter your city in the City field. This should be the 시/군/구 level — for example, Seocho-gu for Seoul’s Seocho district, or Suwon-si for Suwon city in Gyeonggi.
4. Enter your street address in Address Line 1. Use the road-name address (도로명주소) format: street name + building number. Example: Gangnam-daero 396.
5. Enter apartment or unit detail in Address Line 2. This is the 동/호 part of the address. Example: Building A, Floor 5, Unit 501.
6. Enter your 5-digit postal code in the ZIP field. Korean postal codes have been 5 digits since 2015. If you are unsure of your postal code, look it up at Korea Post (epost.go.kr).

For Developers: province vs. provinceCode

When you process Korean orders through the Shopify Admin API or Storefront API, there are two address fields for the region:

• province — Returns the region name in Latin script. Shopify’s API returns values like “Seoul”, “Gyeonggi”, “Busan”. It does not return the Korean name (서울특별시, 경기도, etc.).
• provinceCode — Returns the ISO 3166-2 code (e.g., KR-11, KR-41). This is more reliable for programmatic processing because the province name string can have spelling variants.

If your app or integration needs to display Korean province names, you must maintain a lookup table mapping province codes to Korean script, as demonstrated by third-party apps. For example:

KR-11 → 서울특별시
KR-41 → 경기도
KR-49 → 제주특별자치도

Source: Highview Apps — Exporting South Korea Province Names in Korean

Korean Address Lookup Solutions for Shopify

Standard Shopify checkout does not have a built-in Korean address autocomplete (such as the Kakao or Korea Post address API). Shoppers must type their address manually in the standard fields.

For Shopify Plus merchants who need a native Korean address lookup at checkout, third-party Checkout UI Extension apps are available in the Shopify App Store — for example, Kpostcode Korea Address Lookup. These apps integrate the Kakao or Daum address API and require Shopify Plus due to Checkout Extensibility restrictions.

Standard (non-Plus) Shopify stores can add a Korean address picker on product or cart pages using a custom theme section that calls the Kakao Address API, then copies the parsed values into Shopify’s native checkout fields.

Common Mistakes When Entering Korean Addresses on Shopify

Mistake	Correct Approach
Entering the full Korean address as one long string in Address 1	Split into Province (dropdown), City, Address 1, Address 2
Putting the district (구/군) in the Province dropdown	Province dropdown = top-level 시·도 only (17 options)
Using the old 6-digit postal code	Use the current 5-digit code (in use since August 2015)
Skipping Address 2 for apartment units	Always fill Address 2 with dong/ho (동·호) for apartments
Writing the province name in Korean script (서울특별시) in the text field	Select from the province dropdown; the system stores the code internally

FAQ

What is the correct format for a Korean address on Shopify?

Select the province from the dropdown (e.g., Seoul), enter the city/district in the City field (e.g., Gangnam-gu), enter the road-name address in Address 1, enter the unit detail in Address 2, and enter the 5-digit postal code in the ZIP field.

How many provinces does South Korea have in Shopify?

Shopify recognises 17 administrative regions for South Korea: 1 special city (Seoul), 6 metropolitan cities (Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan), 1 special autonomous city (Sejong), 8 provinces, and 1 special autonomous province (Jeju).

What province code is Seoul in Shopify?

Seoul’s ISO 3166-2 code in Shopify is KR-11.

Why does the Shopify API return “Seoul” instead of “서울특별시”?

Shopify’s Order API returns province names in Latin characters. To display Korean script, use the provinceCode field (e.g., KR-11) and map it to the Korean name in your own lookup table.

What is the Korean postal code format for Shopify?

Korea uses a 5-digit postal code system since August 2015. Enter only the 5-digit number in Shopify’s ZIP field (e.g., 06236). Old 6-digit codes are no longer valid for delivery.

Does Shopify support Korean address autocomplete natively?

No. Standard Shopify checkout does not have a built-in Korean address autocomplete. Shopify Plus stores can add it via Checkout UI Extension apps that integrate the Kakao Address API.

Conclusion

Shopify’s address system is fully capable of handling Korean addresses — you just need to know which Korean address component maps to which Shopify field. Use the province dropdown for your 시·도, the City field for your 시·군·구, Address 1 for the road-name address, Address 2 for the unit detail, and a current 5-digit code in ZIP. Developers should rely on provinceCode (e.g., KR-11) over the province string for reliable order processing.

Need help converting a Korean address into the correct format for international forms? Try the free Korean address converter at jusome.com — enter your Korean address and get the properly formatted English version ready to paste into any Shopify (or other) checkout.

Sources / 참고 자료

• Shopify Admin GraphQL API — MailingAddress object — Official field definitions for address1, address2, city, province, provinceCode, zip, country
• Shopify Liquid — Address object — Liquid template address fields including province_code
• Matrixify — Shopify Address Countries and Provinces — Complete South Korea province code list (KR-11 through KR-50)
• Highview Apps — South Korea Province Codes in Korean — ISO 3166-2:KR codes mapped to Korean script
• Shopify Engineering Blog — Handling Addresses from All Around the World — Shopify’s country-specific address format database explained
• Shopify App Store — Kpostcode Korea Address Lookup — Third-party Korean address lookup extension for Shopify Plus

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