JetSetAuthority

Route · Trans-Pacific

ORD Chicago ⇄ ICN Seoul

Chicago O'Hare International Airport (United States) and Incheon International Airport (South Korea): great-circle distance, estimated scheduled flight time each way, time difference and jet lag.

Distance10,519 km6,536 mi5,680 nautical miles
ORD → ICN13 h 30 minestimated block time
ICN → ORD12 h 35 minestimated block time
Clock change+14 hSeoul vs Chicago, today
Great-circle route from Chicago (ORD) to Seoul (ICN)ORDChicagoICNSeoul
The shortest path over the Earth’s surface (great circle), drawn on a Natural Earth projection. Real flight paths bend around weather, winds and closed airspace.

Flight time each way

ORD → ICN

13 h 30 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 333° (NNW).

Leave Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Seoul Sun 8 Nov, 14:30 local +1 day.

ICN → ORD

12 h 35 min

Estimated gate-to-gate scheduled time. Initial heading 25° (NNE).

Leave Seoul Sat 7 Nov, 10:00 local → arrive Chicago Sat 7 Nov, 07:35 local.

ICN-bound flights are the slower direction by about 55 minutes in our estimate: the route runs partly east–west through latitudes where the prevailing westerly winds at cruise height are strong, so heading east rides a tailwind and heading west fights a headwind. How we estimate it.

Distance

Great-circle distance10,519 km · 6,536 mi · 5,680 nmi
Initial heading333° (NNW) from ORD; 25° (NNE) from ICN
Farthest from the equator70.5°N — the path arcs north of both airports
Crossesthe 180th meridian (International Date Line area)
Share of the longest possible trip53% of the 20,015 km to the far side of the Earth

Time zones and jet lag

ORDAmerica/Chicago — UTC−5 now; UTC−6 standard time, UTC−5 during daylight saving time
ICNAsia/Seoul — UTC+9 now; UTC+9 all year (no daylight saving time)
DifferenceSeoul is 14 hours ahead of Chicago today; +15 h in January and +14 h in July because daylight saving time starts and ends on different dates (or not at all).

Jet lag, flying ORD → ICN. The clock change is 14 hours, but to your body that is a shift of 10 hours the other way. Your body clock has to move 10 hours later, like a westward trip. A common rule of thumb is that the body clock adjusts by roughly one time zone a day, so expect up to about 10 days to fully adjust. Shifting later (as here) is usually the easier direction; evening daylight at the destination helps. Flying the other way, the shift is reversed.

General information, not medical advice.

The two airports

ORD Chicago O'Hare International AirportChicago, United States · longest runway 13,000 ft3,962 m ICN Incheon International AirportSeoul, South Korea · longest runway 13,123 ft4,000 m

More routes from ORD and ICN

ORDMSP Chicago – Minneapolis 537 km334 mi · 1 h 45 min JFKORD New York – Chicago 1,188 km738 mi · 2 h 35 min IAHORD Houston – Chicago 1,491 km926 mi · 2 h 40 min ORDLAS Chicago – Las Vegas 2,432 km1,511 mi · 4 h 10 min ORDDUB Chicago – Dublin 5,895 km3,663 mi · 7 h 15 min ORDHND Chicago – Tokyo 10,124 km6,291 mi · 13 h 15 min ICNKIX Seoul – Osaka 860 km535 mi · 1 h 55 min ICNHKG Seoul – Hong Kong 2,069 km1,286 mi · 3 h 30 min YVRICN Vancouver – Seoul 8,200 km5,095 mi · 11 h FRAICN Frankfurt – Seoul 8,544 km5,309 mi · 10 h 15 min LAXICN Los Angeles – Seoul 9,625 km5,981 mi · 13 h ATLICN Atlanta – Seoul 11,487 km7,138 mi · 14 h 40 min

Routes of a similar length

AMSSIN Amsterdam – Singapore 10,514 km6,533 mi · 12 h 20 min SFOAKL San Francisco – Auckland 10,510 km6,530 mi · 13 h 25 min LAXAKL Los Angeles – Auckland 10,487 km6,516 mi · 13 h 20 min SYDDEL Sydney – Delhi 10,435 km6,484 mi · 13 h 20 min

Need a different pair? The flight-time calculator works for any two of 3,245 airports. Not covered: which airlines fly this route, schedules, fares and live status — that data is proprietary and we don’t guess it.

Photos on airport pages are credited there. Estimates are rounded to 5 minutes; typical error about 13 minutes (validation).