Home › Living in Korea

Driving in Korea with a foreign licence: International Driving Permit or exchange

Numbers checked against the official source on 2026-10-19

A foreign licence alone does not let you drive in Korea. You have two legal routes: drive on a valid International Driving Permit (IDP) for up to 1 year from the day you enter, or exchange your foreign licence for a Korean one at a driver's licence test site. For the exchange, if your licence comes from one of the 133 recognised countries you take only a physical check-up and skip the written test; otherwise you must also pass a 40-question multiple-choice written test. The exchange fee is KRW 10,000 for a standard card or KRW 15,000 for a mobile IC licence.

Which route are you on?

Driving on an International Driving Permit

• Korea is a Geneva-convention country, so a valid IDP issued by another Geneva-convention country lets you drive in Korea for 1 year from the date you entered. Since 1 January 2002 Korea also accepts IDPs issued by Vienna-convention countries, for the same 1 year.
• Only a genuine "International Driving Permit" from an official issuer counts. KOROAD warns that look-alike documents from non-official issuers (it names the US "IAA"; the cover of such documents reads "INTERNATIONAL DRIVING LICENSE") are not usable in Korea.
• The IDP is not valid for driving in Korea while you are disqualified from holding a Korean licence.

Exchanging a foreign licence — step by step

1. Check your licence is exchangeable. It must be a valid full licence. Under the Korean-language page, exchanges are for the Korean Class 2 regular licence only, except licences from Belgium, Poland, Spain, Italy and Ireland, where a treaty lets the licence class be matched.
2. Get the authenticity paper. An embassy certificate or Apostille certificate for the licence, issued within one year before you apply. The certificate must be in Korean or English: from your country's embassy in Korea or Korea's embassy in your country, or from the competent authority of an Apostille-convention country. Damaged papers, or signs of staple removal, may mean extra documents or rejection.
3. Get the entry/exit record. A certificate of entry and exit from your year of birth to now, and a passport showing entry and exit history from the country of licence issue to your arrival in Korea. If your licence country is not your nationality, you must prove a stay of 90 days or more in the licence country (accepted proofs include enrolment or employment certificates, a tax invoice, a permanent resident card, a citizenship certificate, or a long-term visa valid over one year). If 90 days cannot be confirmed, the licence cannot be exchanged.
4. Bring the rest. Original foreign licence, original alien registration card (or overseas-Korean resident card, or resident registration card), and three colour photos taken in the last six months, 3.5 cm × 4.5 cm.
5. Go in person to a driver's licence test site anywhere in Korea. Proxy applications are not allowed, except for holders of ID cards issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Arrive before 17:00 (applications close one hour before the office does); if a written test is needed, come before 16:00.
6. Take the tests and pay. Physical check-up at the site (not available at Mungyeong, Gangneung, Taebaek, Gwangyang, Chungju and Chuncheon, where you use a nearby hospital). Pay the issuance fee, and the KRW 10,000 written-test fee if you need that test.

Fees

Where KOROAD's English and Korean pages differ

Recognised countries (police agency notice, 6 April 2026)

The Korean page counts 133 countries. Hong Kong, Taiwan and other places with their own licence system are counted as countries. Its heading text gives regional counts of 26, 28, 35, 12 and 38, but the table below the heading holds 25, 22, 36, 12 and 38 entries; the two sets disagree, and only the table's 133 total matches its entries. A country removed after a notice change is dropped from the list once the agency is told. Names are translated from the Korean list.

For the U.S. and Canada, only the states and provinces named count; California and New York are not named in the list. For New Zealand licences: restricted-licence holders must pass the written test, and full-licence holders must pass it if less than two years have passed since issue (the English page says the test is waived if you hold an "exempt visa" under a separate note).

The English and Korean exchange pages print no revision date; they were read on 2026-10-19. KOROAD customer service: 1577-1120 (weekdays 9:00–18:00). Rules differ by licence and country, so confirm with the test site before you travel to it. This is not legal advice.

Official sources

• KOROAD English — Exchange of Foreign Driver's License for a Korean Driver's License — English steps, documents, fees, written-test rule; cites the Nov 22, 2023 police notice; no revision date printed (read on 2026-10-19) (checked 2026-10-19)
• KOROAD (Korean) — 외국운전면허증 교환발급 — Korean page with the 2026-04-06 police notice, newer physical-check fee, written-test fee and Class 2 limit (checked 2026-10-19)
• KOROAD (Korean) — 국내면허 인정국가 (133 countries) — the list of recognised countries, notice date 26.04.06 (the pop-up fragment behind the "view recognised countries" button) (checked 2026-10-19)
• KOROAD (Korean) — 국제운전면허증 — how IDPs are treated in Korea: Geneva and Vienna conventions, 1 year from entry, look-alike warning (checked 2026-10-19)

Prices change. If an official page shows a different number from this page, the official page wins — and please tell us so we can fix it.

Related

All pages in this section, compared →