Brand Names Don’t Cross Borders, Ingredient Names Do! Buying Medicine in Korea—Finding the 약국, the 24/7 Convenience-Store List, and a Hangul Table to Point At
Say the painkiller you always buy and a Korean pharmacist draws a blank; say acetaminophen and you’re understood immediately. Here’s the thing, though: the same ingredient comes in different doses and combinations, so an ingredient name finds something close, not identical. The green-cross pharmacy, the 2 a.m. convenience-store stopgap, and a screenshot table that does the talking.
