매진 vs 마감: Read “Sold Out” and “Closed” Before Changing Your Korean Travel Plan

At a Korean ticket desk, 매진 points to tickets being sold out; 마감 points to a process ending or its deadline. Both may mean you cannot make the purchase or application you planned, but they do not give the same explanation. Read the word beside them before deciding that an entire attraction has closed.

A useful reading habit

Find the subject, then the status, then the date or time: which ticket or process, what happened to it, and when? Keep the full short notice in your notebook instead of saving only one word.

Contents

1. 1. Separate the two basic meanings
2. 2. Read what is sold out or closed
3. 3. Ask one follow-up question
4. 4. Practise with short fictional notices
5. 5. Common learner questions

1. Separate the two basic meanings

The National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary lists 매진 (賣盡) for the situation in which products or tickets have all been sold. Its 마감 entry covers finishing or closing something and the end of an allotted time. These meanings give you a starting point for reading a notice; the operator’s complete wording gives the actual condition.

For a first practice card, write 매진 — sold out, and 마감 — closing or deadline. Listen to the official dictionary audio for pronunciation. Romanization alone is less useful than matching the Hangul to the sound you hear.

Practice notice	Starting reading	Detail still needed
오늘 표 매진	Today’s tickets are sold out	Which ticket or session?
신청 마감	Applications have closed	For which activity or date?
마감 시간	Closing or deadline time	What must be finished by that time?

The three notices above are original learning examples, not live information from a venue. A real page may add an early-closing condition, a session name or a separate ticket type.

2. Read what is sold out or closed

Imagine that a ticket page names the 2 p.m. session and then shows 매진. Keep the session name with the status. Do not expand that short message into “all tickets for the entire day are sold out” unless the notice actually says so.

Likewise, 신청 마감 concerns an application process. It does not by itself tell you that the building is closed, every activity has ended or your already-confirmed booking has been cancelled. Look for the object of the notice before choosing a new plan.

Copy the noun and the time together with the status. A compact note can be: “2 p.m. session — 매진 — checked this morning.” Add a question mark beside anything you have not confirmed, rather than silently filling in the gap.

3. Ask one follow-up question

Use a short question that matches the missing detail:

• 이 회차는 매진인가요? — Is this session sold out?
• 다른 회차도 매진인가요? — Are the other sessions sold out too?
• 신청은 언제 마감되나요? — When do applications close?
• 마감 시간이 몇 시예요? — What time is the deadline or closing time?

These are original practice questions. Point to the named activity or session if the context is unclear. Asking about another session is a request for information, not a promise that it is available.

For a conversation exercise, one learner can hold a fictional notice and another can ask for the missing detail. Practise changing only 회차 to the relevant item, then check whether the rest of the question still fits. The aim is to ask about the information you need, not to memorise a long speech.

Open the official 매진 dictionary entry and audio

4. Practise with short fictional notices

Card A: “10월 10일 오후 회차 매진.” Circle the date and session first. Your next question could be “다른 회차도 매진인가요?” You still need information about the other sessions.

Card B: “체험 신청 마감: 오후 5시.” Underline 신청 and the stated time. A suitable question is “신청은 언제 마감되나요?” You have identified a deadline for applying, not a guaranteed end time for the experience itself.

After practising, close the example and explain in English what it says and what it leaves unanswered. If your explanation contains details that were not on the card, mark them as questions. This is a useful check before using the same reading habit on a real Korean page.

5. Common learner questions

Does 매진 always concern tickets?
No. The dictionary’s sold-out meaning also covers products. It separately lists another 매진 (邁進) about putting wholehearted effort into an activity. Context matters; a sentence about studying can use a different word with the same spelling.

Can 마감 mean only “deadline”?
No. The dictionary also gives a finishing or closing sense. Read the process or activity being discussed, rather than forcing every occurrence into an application deadline.

Can I assume a sold-out session will reopen?
No. The word does not tell you about cancellations, waiting lists or later releases. Check the operator’s current policy separately.

Practise 입구 and 출구 for going in and out

Official meanings checked 7 October 2026: Basic Korean Dictionary, 매진 (賣盡); Basic Korean Dictionary, 마감. Questions, notices and exercises in this article are original learning examples.

The cover is an AI-generated language-learning illustration; its tickets and clock do not show a real venue’s availability or deadline.