Same-day glasses in Seoul: what to bring and what to ask

서울에서 당일 안경: 무엇을 가져가고 무엇을 물을까

In Seoul you can often walk into an optical shop (안경원), choose a frame and leave with glasses the same day. A 2024 Korea Tourism Organization (VisitKorea) article on two Seoul optical shops says one of them can usually have glasses ready in as little as 15 minutes when the frame and lenses are in stock, and at most the same day unless special lenses must be made.

Reviewed 2026-10-02 · Written from the public sources listed below

Who makes your glasses

Under Korea's Act on Medical Technologists (의료기사 등에 관한 법률), only an optician (안경사), who must pass a national exam and hold a government licence (Article 4), may make up prescription glasses or open an optical shop, and each optician may open only one shop (Article 12).

Your prescription

If you have a recent glasses prescription, bring it, or bring the glasses you wear now. If not, the optician can measure your lens power in the shop with a refraction test that uses no eye drops, including an automatic refractor (Enforcement Decree, Annex 1). That test only sets the lens power. It is not a medical check of your eyes.

Glasses for a child aged 6 or under are different: the optician may make them only on a doctor's prescription (Enforcement Decree, Annex 1). For eye pain, redness or a sudden change in your sight, go to an eye clinic (안과), not an optical shop.

When it can take longer

Same day usually depends on the shop having your lenses in stock, and lenses it does not stock are usually made to order. Strong prescriptions, high-index (thinner) lenses and progressive lenses may take longer, so ask "When will they be ready?" before you pay.

What to ask

Ask whether the lenses you need are in stock today, the total price for frame and lenses before they start, and whether the shop offers a tax refund for visitors. If you also want contact lenses, see “Contact lenses in Korea: prescriptions and colored lenses”.

Prices

We don't quote a typical price. Shops often price frames and lenses separately, and we don't have a reliable price sample yet.

How we list opticians

Korean law bars anyone from steering customers to a particular optical shop for profit (Act on Medical Technologists, Article 14(2)). We list optical shops as information only, by distance, with no partnership, coupon or commission, and our list marks shops that say they make same-day glasses or offer a free refraction test, with the date we checked.