How to Book Korea Express Buses as a Foreigner (2026)

Last checked: October 13, 2026 · Sources: Kobus, T-money intercity bus, the official apps’ store listings and VisitKorea, linked below.

Korea’s long-distance buses come in two kinds, each with its own booking site: express buses on Kobus (kobus.co.kr, in English) and intercity buses on T-money (txbus.t-money.co.kr, with an English version). You pick a bus and a seat, pay by card, and board with a mobile ticket or a ticket printed at the terminal. Online sales close 1 hour before departure on the Kobus website and, for one-way tickets on T-money’s Korean site, 10 minutes before, and cancelling 2 or more days ahead is free on both. Neither site says whether foreign cards are accepted, so keep a backup: the terminal ticket window, or paying on board an express bus if seats are free.

Express bus or intercity bus: which site do I use?

Express buses run on expressways without stopping in towns along the way. Intercity buses also use national roads and often stop in between, and they reach more small towns. The same city can be served by both, often from different terminals.

	Express bus (고속버스)	Intercity bus (시외버스)
Booking website	Kobus: Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese	T-money intercity bus (English version: intercitybuse.tmoney.co.kr), or Bustago
Official app	고속버스 티머니 (Express Bus T-money): English, Korean, Chinese	T-money GO: Korean only
Online sales close	1 hour before departure on the website; the app sells later	10 minutes before for one-way tickets on the Korean site; other T-money pages say 1 hour, so don’t count on the last hour
Tickets per booking	Up to 6	Up to 10
Bookings open	Kobus has no fixed window: next month’s buses are usually loaded around the 20th, varying by terminal	Usually about 1 month ahead, as each terminal loads them

In Seoul, the express sites list the big terminal by line. 서울경부 (Seoul Gyeongbu) is the Seoul Express Bus Terminal building, 서울호남(센트럴) is Central City next door, and 동서울 is Dong Seoul Terminal at Gangbyeon Station on Line 2. VisitKorea says Seoul Express Bus Terminal covers eastern and southeastern Korea (Busan, Daegu, most of Gangwon) and Central City covers the southwest (Gwangju, Jeonju, Yeosu). Seoul Nambu (Line 3) is intercity only.

Our view: search the city on both Kobus and T-money before you decide. The intercity bus is sometimes the only direct option to a smaller town, and it can leave from a different Seoul terminal. Our Seoul to Jirisan by bus or train guide shows a real example: the direct buses to trailheads such as Baekmu-dong are intercity buses from Dong Seoul and Seoul Nambu, booked on T-money.

How do I book online step by step?

Open Kobus (express) or T-money intercity (intercity) and switch to English in the language menu at the top.
Choose departure terminal, destination and date. On Kobus, choose a class or “All”.
Pick a departure and your seats. T-money warns that its seat map is a generic layout, so your actual seat side can differ on some buses.
Pay by card. Kobus asks for the card number, expiry date and card password; both sites say some check (debit) cards and corporate cards may be refused.
Choose how to get the ticket. On Kobus, pick “Mobile Ticket” at booking if you want to board with the app (it only appears in the app if you chose it), or print a Home Ticket. Otherwise pick up a paper ticket at the departure terminal window before departure, with the card you paid with.
Check that the booking went through in “Check/Change/Cancel”. Both sites say to do this if the page froze during payment.

Kobus lets you book without an account, but only one-way tickets; round trips need a member account. To find a non-member booking later, Kobus’s booking check page offers two ways: your mobile number with an SMS code (the box takes up to 11 digits, the length of a Korean mobile number), or the card number you paid with plus your date of birth and departure date. Without a Korean number, the card is your way back into the booking, so keep it with you. Whether the booking form itself accepts a non-Korean number isn’t stated: not officially confirmed — check before you go.

Will my foreign card work?

Neither Kobus nor T-money says whether cards issued abroad are accepted. The Korea Herald reported on July 1, 2026 that Kobus planned to accept foreign-issued cards without membership from August, with intercity buses to follow, but as of October 13, 2026 neither Kobus’s payment page nor its notice board mentions it: not officially confirmed — check before you go. Kobus’s FAQ says check cards and prepaid cards generally can’t be used for advance booking, though one that goes through is fine. Kobus also says that if you lose the card you booked with and don’t know its number, you can’t change or cancel the ticket. So take a photo of the card number, or pay with a card you’ll keep on you.

If your card is refused, you still have three ways to get a ticket:

Booking platforms listed by VisitKorea: Korea’s tourism office names Klook and Hanpass as online platforms for bus tickets. Their own fees and rules apply; we haven’t checked them.
The terminal ticket window or kiosk: VisitKorea says terminals take cash, credit cards and mobile pay. On busy weekends this only works if seats are left.
Pay on board an express bus: Kobus says you can board without a booking and tap a transport card, or a credit card with a transport function, if the bus has a free seat. A T-money card works for this (see our T-money vs WOWPASS vs Climate Card guide). Whether a foreign contactless card works on the reader is not officially confirmed.

VisitKorea also notes that kobus.co.kr may be blocked from some countries. If it won’t load before your trip, try again once you’re in Korea.

Our view: book a few days before you travel, not the night before. If the card is refused, you still have time to try a second card or a platform before seats run out.

Premium, Excellent or Economy: what’s the difference?

Express buses come in three classes. Kobus’s English site calls them Premium, Excellent and Economy (in Korean: 프리미엄, 우등, 고속/일반). VisitKorea says fares depend on the comfort level and the number of seats. Intercity buses come in standard and a luxury class with larger seats.

We ran Kobus’s timetable for Seoul Gyeongbu → Busan on Wednesday, October 21, 2026:

Class	Seats per bus	Adult fare	Child fare	Buses that day
Premium	21	₩56,200	₩28,100	11
Excellent	28	₩43,300	₩21,700	13
Economy	45	₩29,100	₩14,600	3 (17:20, 18:20, 20:40)
Late-night Premium	21	₩67,400	₩33,700	2 (01:00, and 24:00 = midnight at the end of the day)
Late-night Excellent	28	₩51,900	₩26,000	3 (02:00, 22:00, 23:00)

Express and intercity fares went up 9% from the first bus on October 1, 2026, per Kobus’s notice of September 22, so these are the new fares. Tickets booked before the rise keep the old fare, but changing one after October 1 charges the new fare. Kobus gives the trip as about 4 hours (380.4 km). Its Korean page says late-night fares apply to buses leaving between 22:00 and 04:00, which matches what we saw. Child fares are for elementary-school children; middle and high school students get a discount on Economy buses with a student ID or Youth Card shown at the terminal.

Our view: on this route, Economy is only a fare option if you can travel in the early evening. 29 of the 32 buses that day were Premium or Excellent, so check the class column before you assume the cheapest fare exists.

What does it cost to cancel or change?

Both systems now use almost the same fee table. Kobus counts days by calendar date, not 24-hour periods.

When you cancel	Mon–Thu	Fri–Sun, public holidays	Seollal and Chuseok
2 days before or earlier	Free	Free	Free
1 day before to 3 hours before	5%	7.5%	10%
Under 3 hours before departure	10%	15%	20%

After departure, the two systems differ:

After departure	Express (Kobus)	Intercity (T-money)
Up to 1 hour after departure	60% until scheduled arrival	40%
1 to 4 hours after departure	60% until scheduled arrival	60%
After scheduled arrival / over 4 hours	100%	100%

The 60% rate applies from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027, and rises to 70% after that. The Seollal and Chuseok rate covers the two days before the holiday, the day itself and the day after.

Free cancellations right after buying:

Kobus: if you buy a ticket on the day of departure, you can cancel it free within 1 hour of buying, as long as the bus hasn’t left.
T-money: cancelling within 1 hour of booking is free, before departure.

Changing a booking:

Kobus: you can change the time, number of tickets or class once, free, up to 1 hour before departure. You can’t change the date: cancel and rebook. A Kobus website booking can only be changed or cancelled on the website or at the window, not in the app.
T-money: a time change cancels the old ticket and charges your card again, and a cancellation fee may apply. Discounted tickets can’t be changed.

Refunds go back to the card you paid with. T-money says card refunds take about 3–5 days. If you printed a paper ticket at the terminal for an intercity bus, cancel it at the departure terminal’s window; the website can’t.

What happens at the terminal and on board?

Arrive early enough to pick up a paper ticket if you need one. Neither system issues tickets after departure time.
Find your platform number on the departure screens in the waiting area.
Board 5–10 minutes before departure, as VisitKorea advises.
On express buses, scan the QR code on your ticket (paper, home ticket or mobile) at the E-PASS reader by the door. That’s your check-in.
On intercity buses, T-money says some routes still need a ticket from a kiosk or the window even if you booked in the app.

Korean long-distance buses have no toilets on board. Longer trips stop at a highway service area (휴게소, hyugeso). Pets must travel in a carrier.

Our view: if you’re travelling on a Friday evening or a holiday weekend, book the return as soon as you know your plans. Cancelling 2 or more days ahead is free on any day of the week, so holding a seat early costs you nothing if your plans change in time.

Is there a bus pass?

Kobus sells a Free Pass for express buses: ₩88,000 for 3 days (including Friday–Sunday), ₩81,000 for 4 days (Friday–Sunday excluded), ₩110,000 for 5 days and ₩132,000 for 7 days. It covers Excellent and Economy buses only (no Premium), on buses run by 8 participating companies (Kumho, Dongbu, Dongyang, Samhwa, Songnisan, Jungang, Chunil and Hanil); buses run by other companies aren’t covered. You can ride each route once in each direction. You buy it online by credit card with a Kobus account; terminals don’t sell it. It can’t be used during the Seollal and Chuseok travel periods. The 4-day pass can’t be used on public holidays either; the 3-, 5- and 7-day passes can.

Whether a foreigner can open the Kobus account the pass requires (it may need Korean phone verification) is not officially confirmed — check before you go.

If something goes wrong

Card declined online: try a second card, then Klook or Hanpass, or buy at the terminal.
Website sales closed (under 1 hour on Kobus): use the Express Bus T-money app, or buy at the window.
Sold out: check the other terminal and the other system (express vs intercity), and search again later: seats can reappear when other bookings are cancelled or left unfinished.
Lost the card you booked with: Kobus needs the card number to issue, change or cancel. On T-money, the card number or your date of birth and phone number also work at the booth.
Need help: Kobus customer centre 1644-9030; T-money intercity call centre 1644-3070 (weekdays 09:00–18:00 per its Korean site). Neither takes bookings by phone.

Going by train instead? See how to book KTX with a foreign card. For apps that need a Korean number, see Korea apps without a Korean phone number.

Read next

Landing at Incheon and heading for Busan? Our guide to Incheon Airport to Busan by bus, KTX or flight lists the direct airport buses to Haeundae and East Busan, with times and fares.