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Korean Bicycle Signs

Quick tips for reading and speaking Korean.

You’ll find English subtitled on countless signs throughout Korea. However, far out in rural bits, Hangul-only signs prevail.

Most of the country’s signage includes intuitive illustrations that need no decoding. Others require a touch of translation to grasp their meaning.

So let’s put our new Hangul reading skills to the test and translate some common traffic and bike info signs in Korea.

A traffic sign on a park pathway that lets people know that the path is shared by bicyclists and pedestrian walkers.
Some bike signs in South Korea need no translation. A sign with bike and pedestrian icons let folks know that cyclists and walkers should share the path.

Bicycle Traffic Signs

Common sense can decode most instructional signs in Korea. They’re blue with pics that transcend the shackles of language.

Bike Road Sign

A bicycle only road sign in Korea.
This round blue sign reads: “자전거 전용.” What does that mean? Bike road only.

The prime sign for bikers in Korea. 자전거 전용 (/ja-jeon-geo jeon-yōng/; 🔈).

First, let’s learn an honest Korean word: 자전거 (/ja-jeon-geo/; 🔈), or bicycle. If you’re riding around Korea, tattoo it on your palm.

전용 (/jeon-yōng/; 🔈) translates to, “exclusive.”

Put two-and-two together. This round blue fixture declares the path for bicycles only.

Bike Road Sign

A bicycle only road sign in Korea.
This round blue sign reads: “자전거 전용.” What does that mean? Bike road only.

The prime sign for bikers in Korea. 자전거 전용 (/ja-jeon-geo jeon-yōng/; 🔈).

First, let’s learn an honest Korean word: 자전거 (/ja-jeon-geo/; 🔈), or bicycle. If you’re riding around Korea, tattoo it on your palm.

전용 (/jeon-yōng/; 🔈) translates to, “exclusive.”

Put two-and-two together. This round blue fixture declares the path for bicycles only.

Crosswalks

A Korean traffic sign that says
Most Korean crosswalks don’t permit bikers to ride across. This traffic sign, however, reads “자전거횡단,” or Bicycle Crosswalk.

Let’s learn another phrase.

  • 횡단 (/hwāng-dan/; 🔈) — “crossing”
  • 보도 (/bō-dō/; 🔈) — “sidewalk”

Hmm. A sidewalk crossing. Oh. A “crosswalk” (횡단보도 /hwāng-dan bō-dō/; 🔈).

If you brush up on Korea’s bicycle laws, you’ll learn that common crosswalks (횡단보도; /hwā-dan bō-dō/; 🔈) don’t allow cyclists to ride across. They need to dismount and walk it. (Enforcement is rare.)

However, some intersections sport a blue pentagonal gem that reads: 자전거횡단 (/ja-jeon-geo hwā-dan/; 🔈).

Let’s decipher it with what we learned.

  • 자전거 (/ja-jeon-geo/; 🔈) — “bicycle”
  • 횡단 (/hwāng-dan/; 🔈) — “crossing”

Saddle up and fly across these intersections.

Crosswalks

A Korean traffic sign that says
Most Korean crosswalks don’t permit bikers to ride across. This traffic sign, however, reads “자전거횡단,” or Bicycle Crosswalk.

Let’s learn another phrase.

  • 횡단 (/hwāng-dan/; 🔈) — “crossing”
  • 보도 (/bō-dō/; 🔈) — “sidewalk”

Hmm. A sidewalk crossing. Oh. A “crosswalk” (횡단보도 /hwāng-dan bō-dō/; 🔈).

If you brush up on Korea’s bicycle laws, you’ll learn that common crosswalks (횡단보도; /hwā-dan bō-dō/; 🔈) don’t allow cyclists to ride across. They need to dismount and walk it. (Enforcement is rare.)

However, some intersections sport a blue pentagonal gem that reads: 자전거횡단 (/ja-jeon-geo hwā-dan/; 🔈).

Let’s break that down with what we already know.

  • 자전거 (/ja-jeon-geo/; 🔈) — “bicycle”
  • 횡단 (/hwāng-dan/; 🔈) — “crossing”

Saddle up and fly across these intersections.

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