Express and intercity buses in Korea are sold on different sites, so our suggested order is to decide which type your route is, pick your Seoul terminal, and only then choose where to buy.
Last checked: November 9, 2026
We read the Korea Tourism Organization’s bus page, KOBUS, Bustago, Tmoney’s intercity site, two App Store listings and some news reports. We have not bought a ticket, installed an app, created an account or ridden these buses.
Key takeaways
- The Korea Tourism Organization says express and intercity buses often use different terminals and different booking sites.
- KOBUS, Bustago and Tmoney’s intercity site each have an English option, but the Bustago and Tmoney GO App Store listings show Korean as the only language.
- We could not confirm on KOBUS’s own pages that foreign-issued cards work today, although a news report from July 1, 2026 said they would from August.
- A KOBUS notice dated September 22, 2026 says express and intercity fares would be 9% higher from October 1, so older price lists may be low.
In this guide
- Express or intercity: decide this first
- Which Seoul terminal
- Where to buy in English
- Foreign cards, accounts and phone numbers
- Buying at the terminal and when tickets go on sale
- Changing and cancelling
- After you buy
- Passes
- FAQ
- Sources and what we checked
Express or intercity: decide this first
The Korea Tourism Organization names KOBUS for express tickets and Bustago or Tmoney’s intercity site for intercity tickets, each in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. It adds that express and intercity buses for the same destination may leave from different terminals. Our suggestion is to look up your route on both kinds of site first, because the page says to check them to confirm which terminal serves a destination.
Which Seoul terminal
The Korea Tourism Organization lists four main long-distance bus terminals in Seoul. Its general guide points Busan and Gyeongju to Seoul Express Bus Terminal, and Jeonju to Central City Express Bus Terminal. For Gangneung, it says both Seoul Express Bus Terminal and Dong Seoul Terminal serve the region. It describes Seoul Nambu Terminal as an intercity terminal and Dong Seoul Terminal as one for both bus types. We did not check individual timetables.
Where to buy in English
KOBUS’s home page offers Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese, and Tmoney’s intercity booking site has an English option too. The Bustago App Store listing and the Tmoney GO listing both show Korean as their only language on the day we checked. So our suggestion is to start with the English websites, because the two app listings we checked show only Korean.
KOBUS’s English payment page lists bank transfer that needs ActiveX and does not mention the February 2026 change described below. So our suggestion is to read KOBUS notices in Korean with a translation tool, not only the English guide pages. The Korea Tourism Organization also says regional restrictions may affect access from certain countries, without naming them. It names Klook and Hanpass as affiliated booking platforms, and we did not open them.
Foreign cards, accounts and phone numbers
A KOBUS notice dated February 24, 2026 says non-members can no longer type in credit or debit card numbers on the KOBUS website. It says they can pay through Toss Pay or Naver Pay instead, and we did not check whether a visitor can set those up.
A Korea Herald report of July 1, 2026 said KOBUS would accept foreign card payments from August, without membership, citing Chosun Biz. The report said an intercity option was aimed at September, and that Tmoney Go would keep accepting only Korean-issued cards. We could not confirm this on KOBUS’s own pages, because none of the ten notice titles on the first page of its list, which runs from February 2025 to September 22, 2026, is about foreign cards. So our reading is that foreign-card payment on KOBUS is unconfirmed, and our suggestion is to treat it as something to test at checkout, not something to count on.
Bustago’s Korean FAQ lists a foreign card among its payment methods and says non-members can book, check, change and cancel in the same way. That FAQ page has no date, and we did not test checkout.
KOBUS’s FAQ says a non-member checks a booking with the phone number used and a four-digit password, and Bustago says a non-member looks up a booking with the card number, or a birth date and phone number. The pages we read do not say whether the phone number must be a Korean one, and we did not see the checkout screens. For card basics, see our foreign cards guide.
Buying at the terminal and when tickets go on sale
The Korea Tourism Organization says tickets can be bought at ticket offices or kiosks inside terminals, with cash, credit card or mobile pay. Bustago’s FAQ says routes marked with the Korean words for on-site purchase cannot be booked online. Our suggestion is to keep the terminal counter as your fallback.
KOBUS’s FAQ says there is no fixed booking period, and next month’s schedule data is entered around the 20th of the month before, varying by departure terminal. For same-day buses, KOBUS’s guide says its website closes one hour before departure, Tmoney’s intercity page says 10 minutes, and Bustago’s Korean FAQ says 20 minutes. Bustago’s English booking page says two hours, so its English and Korean pages do not match. Our suggestion is to treat the booking screen as the final word, not these notes.
Changing and cancelling
KOBUS’s guide has a cancellation table revised from May 1, 2025, with no fee two days before departure. From the day before departure until three hours before, the fee depends on the bus’s departure date: 5% for Monday to Thursday, 7.5% for Friday to Sunday and public holidays, and 10% for the Seollal and Chuseok period, which covers the two days before each holiday, the holiday itself and the day after. KOBUS also charges no fee if a ticket issued on the day of departure is cancelled within one hour of issue and before the bus leaves. For cancellations after departure but before the estimated arrival time, KOBUS lists a 60% fee from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027. Bustago’s English and Korean cancellation tables differ in their time windows and fare types as well as their rates, so our suggestion is to read the current Korean table for your ticket before cancelling.
KOBUS’s refund guide says a card ticket is refunded to the card used, and a ticket bought with someone else’s card cannot be refunded to the traveller. For fare examples, see our public transport cost guide.
After you buy
KOBUS’s guide says a counter ticket can be issued at the departure terminal before departure, and you should bring the credit card used for the booking. It says a Mobile Ticket works in the KOBUS app without a ticketing step, and a ticket cannot be issued after departure time. Bustago’s English guide also says to present the booking card, at the counter or an automatic ticketing machine. The Korea Tourism Organization says some online tickets must be printed at the departure terminal, and that boarding usually opens five to ten minutes before departure. Our suggestion is to keep the card you paid with and to check before you leave whether your ticket needs printing.
Passes
KOBUS sells a Free Pass for express buses, and on the day we checked its page listed a 4-day pass at 88,000 won that excludes Friday to Sunday, up to a 7-day pass at 144,000 won. The page says the passes cover standard and excellent express buses but not premium ones, cannot be used in the holiday travel periods, and allow public holidays only on the 3-, 5- and 7-day passes. It also says each route can be used once in each direction during the pass period, so our suggestion is to check the eligible routes and dates before buying. The page says you must sign up on the KOBUS website or app, pay by credit card only, and that it cannot be bought at a terminal counter. The sign-up has an identity verification step that we did not go through, so we cannot say whether a visitor can complete it. We found no official page for a pass called KOREA BUS PASS, so we are not describing one. A Kukmin Ilbo report of October 1, 2026 says a K-Tour Pass trial began that day in Busan, and that its one-day Pass 1 gives up to 40% off one-way KTX and express-bus fares to Busan. Our suggestion is to check the current terms first, since we found no official notice.
FAQ
Is there an English site for express buses in Korea?
KOBUS offers an English view, and the Korea Tourism Organization lists it for express tickets, but we could not confirm foreign-card payment on KOBUS’s own pages.
Where can I buy intercity bus tickets in English?
The Korea Tourism Organization lists Bustago and Tmoney’s intercity site, both with an English option. Bustago’s App Store listing shows Korean only, so our suggestion is to use the websites first.
Can I book a bus without a Korean account?
KOBUS and Bustago both say non-member booking is possible, and we did not see their checkout screens.
Sources and what we checked
We read the Korea Tourism Organization’s bus page and KOBUS’s home page, notice list, FAQ, booking guide, refund guide, Free Pass page and payment guide. For Bustago we read its English ticket guide, English and Korean cancellation pages and Korean FAQ, plus Tmoney’s intercity site. We also read the App Store listings for Bustago and Tmoney GO, and news reports from the Korea Herald and the Kukmin Ilbo. We read the KOBUS notice, FAQ and Free Pass pages in a fresh browser without logging in or entering anything, and the rest directly. Official wording, news reports, our advice and unresolved points are separated throughout.
