Korean has half a dozen words for a place where you bathe or sweat, and signs use them loosely. The law uses one. Every bathhouse, sauna and jjimjilbang in Korea is licensed as the same kind of business, a 목욕장업 (mogyokjang-eop, "bathhouse business"). The differences that matter to a visitor are layout and marketing: whether there is a pool, whether there is a mixed-gender hall, whether you can sleep there.
This guide sorts the names into the kinds of place you will actually meet. It says what each has and lacks, gives price and hour ranges from dated sources, and ends with which to choose for a quick wash, a long rest, a night's sleep, an evening with friends, or a hot-spring trip.
One license, many signs
The Public Health Control Act (공중위생관리법) defines a bathhouse business as one that offers either (a) facilities for bathing in water or (b) facilities for sweating, using heat from elvan stone (맥반석), red clay (황토) or jade (옥), or far-infrared heaters. Some baths attached to hotels and other lodging are excluded from this definition. The facility rules then ask for three rooms: a bathing room with tubs and showers (목욕실), a changing room (탈의실) and a sweat room (발한실). A water-only business may skip the sweat room. A sweat-only business, which is what a jjimjilbang hall or a kiln sauna can legally be, may skip the bathing room. Changing and bathing rooms must be run separately for men and women. Sweat rooms and rest rooms must be visible from outside and may not be closed private rooms.
Hot springs come under a separate law, the Hot Spring Act (온천법): water counts as a hot spring if it comes out at 25°C or warmer. A 2019 report counted 574 hot-spring businesses and noted that about half of Korea's springs are low-temperature, 25–30°C.
So "24시 사우나" (24-hour sauna), "호텔 사우나" (hotel sauna) and "여성전용" (women only) are descriptions, not categories. The last count we found that split the trade by kind is from January 2020: about 1,300 jjimjilbang, 30 hot springs and spas, and 5,200 neighborhood baths among 6,740 businesses. The total has fallen since; the history guide has the figures.
Mogyoktang and jjimjilbang: the two you will meet most
Mogyoktang (목욕탕), the neighborhood bath
Also signed 대중탕 (daejungtang, public bath), or with a name ending in 사우나, like Junggok-dong Siloam Sauna in Seoul. Behind the door are a men's hall and a women's hall, each with seated showers, warm, hot and cold pools, a sauna and a scrub table. There is no mixed hall, no cotton outfit and no sleeping. The average adult fee at a general public bath in Seoul was ₩11,000 in July 2026. The neighborhood baths in our directory open between 05:00 and 07:00 and close at 22:00 or midnight, and some close one day a week or one day a month.
Jjimjilbang (찜질방), the bath plus a clothed hall
Everything above, plus a mixed-gender hall you enter in the cotton outfit the counter gives you. The hall has themed hot rooms (40–70°C, according to a 2004 magazine feature), an ice room, a warm floor to lie on, a snack counter and, at 24-hour places, a sleeping area. Jjimjilbang became popular in the 1990s. Several large ones in Seoul, such as Sparex Dongdaemun, are open 24 hours, with a cleaning pause at night. In 2026 listings, adult tickets at Seoul's large 24-hour jjimjilbang cost about ₩11,000–16,000. The night ticket starts at 20:00 or 21:00 and costs ₩1,000–3,000 more than the day ticket; Sparex listed ₩14,000 by day and ₩16,000 at night in October 2026. Some jjimjilbang have 사우나 in their name, so read the listing, not the sign.
Hanjeungmak, oncheon, haesutang
Hanjeungmak (한증막), the kiln
A dome-shaped stone kiln heated with pine wood. It is first recorded in the 15th century, in the reign of King Sejong, as a medical sweat house kept by Buddhist monks. Today it is usually one room inside a jjimjilbang rather than a business of its own. Bulgama (불가마) is the hotter variety. A 2004 magazine feature put kilns at 70–130°C, against 70–100°C for a dry sauna, and advised short sessions with rests between. A few kiln places in Seoul sell a cheaper bath ticket and a more expensive kiln ticket: Supsok Hanbang Land, with oak-charcoal kilns, charged ₩10,000 and ₩16,000 in 2025.
Oncheon (온천), the hot spring
Inside, an oncheon bath looks like a mogyoktang, sometimes with an outdoor pool. The difference is the water. The 2019 report gives Bugok in Gyeongnam 78°C, the hottest in Korea, Dongnae in Busan 61°C and Suanbo 53°C. At Deokgu on the east coast, water at about 42.4°C flows to the baths without pumping or heating. Onyang drew the most visitors in the 2017 count. Prices are moderate: Hurshimchung in Dongnae charged ₩15,000 on weekdays and ₩18,000 at weekends in 2026, and Deokgu's main bath ₩11,000 in September 2026. The regions guide covers each town.
Haesutang (해수탕), the seawater bath
A haesutang fills its pools with seawater pumped from deep underground. Busan has several: Aqua Palace on Gwangalli Beach draws seawater from 816 m and is open 24 hours, and Gwangan Haesu World draws it from below 1,127 m. Inside, the layout is the same as at other baths.
Spas, hotel floors and private saunas
Three other formats sit at the edges. Destination spas inside department stores and resorts add natural spring water and many themed rooms. Spa Land Centum City, inside a Busan department store, sells a four-hour ticket (₩25,000 in September 2026), is open 09:00–22:00 with last entry at 21:00, and has no overnight stays. Hotel saunas vary: check whether non-guests may enter. Seoul also has a few private Finnish-style saunas booked by the session, for example 90 minutes. Two opened in 2026, and they offer privacy rather than a shared bath.
Side by side
| Type | What it has | Typical adult price (date) |
|---|---|---|
| Mogyoktang | Men's and women's bath halls, sauna, scrub table | ₩11,000 Seoul average (Jul 2026) |
| Jjimjilbang, 24-hour sauna | Bath halls plus clothed mixed hall, hot rooms, snack bar, sleeping floor | ₩11,000–16,000 in Seoul; night ₩1,000–3,000 more than day (2026) |
| Hanjeungmak, charcoal kiln | Wood-fired kilns, rest rooms, often food | ₩16,000 kiln ticket, Supsok Hanbang Land (2025) |
| Oncheon | Natural spring water, sometimes an outdoor pool | ₩11,000 Deokgu; ₩15,000–18,000 Hurshimchung (2026) |
| Haesutang | Seawater pools, sometimes 24-hour | ₩10,000–12,000 sauna-only in Busan (2026) |
| Destination spa | Themed pools and rooms, time limit, no overnight | ₩25,000 Spa Land (Sep 2026) |
| Private sauna | A room for one or a few people, by the session | Not published |
Reading the sign and the listing
On the street, look for the words above and for 남탕 (men's bath) and 여탕 (women's bath) on the doors. The symbol ♨ does not guarantee spring water. It was used on bathhouse and inn signs for about a century. Since 2008 only licensed hot springs may use the new official logo, but older ♨ signs did not have to come down.
On Naver Map, search in Korean. In April 2025 Naver said that much of its English data for place names was not yet complete, and that translating details such as opening hours was still being assessed. So learn these words used on Korean listings: 24시간 영업 (open 24 hours), 대인 (adult fare), 주간/야간 (day/night fare), 수면가능 (sleeping possible), 여성전용/남성전용 (women only/men only), 찜질복+수건 포함 (outfit and towel included). The tattoo guide explains how to check a place's tattoo stance.
It's my first time here.
Which one for what
- A quick wash, about an hour, around ₩11,000: a mogyoktang near your hotel.
- A long rest with food: a jjimjilbang, where most of the time is spent in the hall.
- A night's sleep: a 24-hour jjimjilbang with a sleeping area; destination spas close at night. See the overnight guide.
- With friends or a partner: a jjimjilbang, because the hall is mixed and clothed; the baths themselves are always separated by sex.
- Hot water from the ground: a hot-spring town, or one of Busan's seawater baths. See the regions guide.
- Privacy: a private sauna or a one-person scrub shop; the seshin guide covers the shops.
Whatever you pick, the order inside is the same; the first-visit guide walks it step by step.