Getting Your Deposit Back on a Seoul Subway Single Ticket
CONNECT ON Inc. · How we verify · sources read SEP 10, 2026
Highlights
The short answer
Yes — a Seoul subway single-journey ticket includes a refundable deposit on top of the printed fare, and you get it back by inserting the ticket into a deposit refund machine after you exit at your destination station. A traveller who skips this step simply loses the deposit, since it isn't returned automatically or credited back to a card, and this reflects the operator's own current ticketing process.
Getting Around · Subway · Bus · TaxiPhotograph: K Travel Way
A single-journey paper ticket on the Seoul subway costs more upfront than the printed fare suggests, because part of what you pay is a deposit rather than the trip itself.
How big is the deposit and how do I get it back?
₩500
The single-use ticket deposit of ₩500 is refunded by inserting the ticket into a deposit refund machine upon exit
What happens if I forget?
The machine only returns the deposit when the ticket itself is inserted, so if you keep the ticket as a souvenir or simply forget, the amount is not refunded another way — there's no separate window or online claim for it.
Questions people ask
How much is the deposit on a single-journey subway ticket?
It is 500 KRW, charged on top of the fare when the ticket is issued from the dispensing machine.
Where do I return the ticket to get the deposit back?
At a deposit refund machine near the exit of your destination station — the ticket itself has to be inserted there for the refund to be paid out.
Sources
Related pages
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