Ordering Baedal Minjok Delivery in Korea 2026: No Korean Phone Number Needed, and What It Actually Costs

Bottom line: You don't need a Korean phone number to order food delivery to your accommodation through Baedal Minjok (Baemin). You can verify with a foreign phone number and order as a guest without signing up, and pay with a foreign-issued credit card or Apple Pay (foreign-issued Visa, Mastercard, JCB or Amex all work).

If you didn't know: Dishes like samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) or jeongol (hot pot) that feel awkward to order solo at a sit-down restaurant are easy to order for one through delivery instead. Skip this and you're stuck restaurant-hopping, decoding menus, and risking getting turned away for a party of one. Consumer-group surveys suggest the minimum order amount set by individual restaurants on the app averages around 14,000 won — not knowing this and adding too little to your cart means getting stuck at checkout and having to start over.

Much of the app's interface and many menus are Korean-only, so the most reliable approach is running a translation app alongside it and translating screenshots directly. Picking restaurants with menu photos makes browsing easier even if you can't read the text. If your foreign card gets declined at checkout, it's often because your card issuer has blocked overseas transactions by default — turn on overseas payments in your card's app before you leave home. Jotting your accommodation's door code or building entry instructions in the request field keeps the delivery rider from getting lost.

Journey stage: During the trip · Verified 2026-10-15 · Source: Kyunghyang Shinmun, Digital Daily