What it does

Papago is NAVER's translation app, built for Korean as a first-class source and target language. It handles text, voice, image, and live conversation translation across 15+ languages, with notably better Korean output than general-purpose translators that lean toward European languages. The app also recognizes Hangul in photos — a menu, a sign, a receipt — and rewrites it in your language in-place.

Why travelers need it

Korean menus, transit signs, and small-shop product labels often have no English. Hotel staff in Seoul speak English; the grandmother running the gimbap shop in Tongyeong usually doesn't. Papago closes that gap quickly enough that you can hold a real exchange — point a camera at a menu, hand the phone over for a quick voice reply, or read translated subway announcements on the fly.

Key features

Image translation that overlays the result directly on the photo, so menu items keep their visual position.
Two-screen conversation mode: each person taps their language and speaks; the screen flips between them.
Offline language packs you can download in advance for spotty connections in rural areas.
Built-in honorific awareness — outputs polite Korean by default, which matters for asking for help.
Handwriting input for Hangul characters you're trying to look up.

Pros & cons

Strengths

Best-in-class Korean accuracy, especially for slang, food terms, and place names.
Free with no ads on core translation flows.
Image translation is fast and works on tilted, low-light menus.

Caveats

The UI is mostly English but the help articles default to Korean.
Voice mode struggles with very heavy regional accents on the Korean side.
Limited support for less-common languages compared to Google Translate.

How to install

1Open the Apple App Store or Google Play and search 'Papago'.
2Install the app published by NAVER Corp.
3On first launch, choose your home language and confirm Korean as the secondary language.
4Optionally, download the offline pack: Settings → Offline translation → Korean / English.

Basic usage

Tap the camera icon to translate signs and menus in real time.
Tap the microphone icon for one-shot voice translation.
Tap the two-way conversation icon when speaking with someone — each side picks a language.
Long-press a translated phrase to save it to favorites for quick recall.

Tips for foreign travelers

When asking for help, switch the output to 'polite' tone (the default) — Korean shifts a lot between casual and polite forms, and politeness is socially expected from a stranger.
Save phrases like 'Where is the closest subway station?' and 'Is this spicy?' before your trip so you can use them offline.
For long restaurant menus, the camera mode is faster than typing; just hold the phone steady for two seconds.