Pets Are Family: 24-Hour Emergency Animal Hospitals in Korea
- Melissa Edwards-Whittington
- Feb 2
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 11
Need a list of 24-hour emergency Animal Hospitals? It always feels like our fur babies are sick when their veterinarian is closed. Therefore this list will come in handy if you need to find a veterinarian to see your pet in an emergency.
During an emergency with your fur baby, it can be critical to locate the closest 24-hour animal hospital quickly. We have compiled a list of locations for you to find the help you need. Additionally, we provide critical information you need in these times to get you the best care possible for your pet.
Types of ’24-Hour’ Emergency Animal Hospitals in Korea
In South Korea, the term ’24-hour’ as it relates to an animal hospital may have a few possible meanings:
The hospital remains fully open until 24:00 and then closes until the morning. (In other words, closes at midnight)
The hospital remains open through the night with doctors on call.
The hospital is staffed 24 hours with doctors (very rare and usually only in large cities)
Since 24-hour may mean different things in different locations, we recommend visiting your local 24-hour emergency animal hospital to fully understand how they operate. Don’t wait until there is an emergency. Let’s talk about emergency preparedness.
What To Do Before An Emergency Happens
Since it is crucial to be able to provide information to the doctor for your pet, planning is important. Once the emergency hits you may feel overwhelmed by 1) finding a hospital, 2) finding transportation, 3) navigating to a new place, 4) managing the language barrier, and 5) making decisions for your pet.
Therefore, we recommend:
A Typed Medical History and Medication List
Have a list of medications and dosages saved to your phone. Hence, we asked our regular veterinarian to write down the names of our fur babies’ medications in Korean (or what they are used to treat). This can be very helpful as some of the drug names are different.
Communication Plan
Have a Communication Plan and practice your plan for asking for help. Use 1330 or BBB Korea regularly so that you feel comfortable using these services to ask for help. You can’t rely on friends to wake up to help at 3 am.
Practice the Drive
Visit the 24-hour emergency vet nearest your home before an emergency happens. You need to learn the roads and parking situation in advance. Consider visiting the 24-emergency vet for a regular checkup just so that your information is already in their system.
Information Available to Copy and Paste on Your Phone
Have the 24-hour emergency hospital Korean address saved on your phone. It’s very hard to search any app or the internet in a crisis. Have the closest pet hospital to your house saved on your phone or in your phone contacts.
What to Do in an Emergency
Getting the right help for your pet as quickly as possible is essential in an emergency situation. This means that you need to prepare yourself before you experience an emergency.
Call Ahead
Call Ahead to let the 24-hour vet clinic know you are coming. This is an absolutely critical step. You need to contact the 24-hour animal hospital prior to arrival to let them know about the medical issue so they can prepare ahead. Leo Mendoza of Shindogs Air says this phone call can mean life or death for your pet:
“All 24-hour emergency animal hospitals usually only have ONE general attending vet on duty, and that vet may not be the specialist your pet requires. If the hospital gets advance notice, they will ensure the specialist comes in for your pet!”
Grab Medications
Take any medications with you to the hospital. Knowing crucial information about your pet’s medical conditions and history can help when making pet care decisions. So, keep a list of any medications and dosages your pet takes regularly on hand.
Remember the Translated Medical History on Your Phone
Since you prepared ahead of time, make sure you remember your pet’s medical history, which you have saved to the files on your phone.
Assistance Calling the Emergency Vet
In this stressful situation, you may also want to have assistance calling ahead. Having a language barrier will make this situation more hectic and frustrating. Therefore, if you need assistance calling the 24-hour emergency veterinarian, you can contact:
Call 1330
Simply enter 1330 into your smartphone and call them. They can help you contact the emergency vet and relay information. You can also download their app which will allow you to message them. This can be very helpful when communicating with the vet.
Call BBB Korea 1588-5644
BBB Korea is a phone number (1588-5644) and app where you can get volunteer interpreters to help you with communication. You need to download this now. When an emergency happens it will be too stressful. If you are currently having an emergency you can call BBB for translation help at 1588-5644
24-Hour Emergency Animal Hospitals in Korea
This list of 24-hour emergency animal hospitals in Korea has not been vetted nor are they supported officially by United on the RoK, nor is it an all-exclusive list. However, our goal is to provide you with locations that can assist you to get the help you need as quickly as possible when your pet is unwell. Many of the locations listed below have English-speaking staff, but we cannot guarantee that they will have them available 24 hours a day. This list includes locations in the following areas: Pyeongtaek, Dongtan/Hwaseong, Suwon, Seoul, and Daegu.
Pyeongtaek
A 3-story animal hospital for both cats and dogs. It also has cat and dog hotel services. This is a 24-hour veterinary clinic.
617-5 Segyo-dong Pyeongtaek-si Gyeonggi-do
24-hour vet with surgical, dental, and ophthalmology services.
Check their NAVER account for scheduling information.
1103-1 Bijeon-dong Pyeongtaek-si Gyeonggi-do
24-hour vet with in-hospital blood tests, x-rays, ultrasounds, and medicine onsite.
If thinking of establishing routine care, consider looking at their NAVER account for special event pricing and other specials.
1975-1 Godeok-dong Pyeongtaek-si Gyeonggi-do
Dongtan/Hwaseong
24-hour vet. Check their NAVER account to read about the ground-breaking care in hip treatments for dogs.
727-4 Sancheok-dong Hwaseong-si Gyeonggi-do
Suwon
24-hour Emergency and Specialty Vet clinic located in Suwon. MRI/CT available. English-speaking staff.
675-2 Jowon-dong Jangan-gu, Suwon-si Gyeonggi-do
24-hour vet with a newly remodeled clinic.
979-4 Yeongtong-dong Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si Gyeonggi-do
Seoul
24-hour vet and University Veterinary Hospital
san56-1 Sillim-dong Gwanak-gu Seoul
24-hour vet serving cats and dogs.
57-3 Munjeong-dong Songpa-gu Seoul
24-hour vet serving cats and dogs that also specialized in geriatric animals.
272-5 Seohyeon-dong Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si Gyeonggi-do
Daegu
24-hour vet serving cats and dogs.
1051 Jisan-dong Suseong-gu Daegu
Finding Additional 24-Hour Vets
If you are traveling and need to find 24-hour emergency animal hospitals, you can enter the phrase “동물병원 24시간” or “24시간 동물병원” into Naver and it should help you find the closest location to you. However, you can also contact 1330 to assist you with finding the closest 24-hour animal hospital as well.
Useful Phrases for Pet Owners
During an emergency, it is always useful to have a few useful phrases on hand. Therefore, we have compiled this list to empower pet owners to do their best for their fur babies in stressful situations. Always remember, if you don’t feel comfortable speaking, you can simply show your phone and point to the useful phrases for pet owners that you need. You can also save these images to your phone for emergencies.
Although ideally, we recommend visiting a vet with strong English skills, we also understand that this is often impossible. You also must remember that even when a vet speaks English or an expat speaks Korean, misunderstandings still occur. South of Seoul has compiled this list to empower pet owners to do their best for their fur babies in a stressful situation. These are just a few of the phrases, for a more complete list, visit “Useful Phrases for Pet Owners” on the South of Seoul Blog. There are about 20 translated phrases that will benefit all pet owners.
Veterinary Services Vary Between Countries
Different cultures and countries care for animals in different ways. For example, Korean veterinarians may not prescribe medications the same way that American veterinarians do. Our family has found this to be the case as we have dogs on medications for arthritis and anxiety. At a recent emergency vet appointment, we learned that the Korean veterinarian we saw was unfamiliar with treating regularly for either of those conditions.
Join the Everything Paws Korea Facebook Group
Looking for a place where pet owners living in Korea can ask questions and share ideas? Everything Paws Korea has information on training, recipes, health tips, and DIY. In addition, there are post links to articles and such relating to our pets. However, please keep in mind, information in this group should never replace the advice of a qualified veterinarian.
Thank you for sharing such important information!