International Driving Permit in South Korea

🗓 Facts checked against the best available secondary sources for South Korea; we could not independently verify the underlying road-traffic law. Research last updated: 29 July 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in South Korea: key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in South Korea?
• What side of the road does South Korea drive on?
• How long can you drive in South Korea with a foreign licence?
• Is South Korea a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in South Korea with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to South Korea? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in South Korea tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in South Korea
• Sources

Driving in South Korea: key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in South Korea?

Carry a genuine 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna Convention IDP together with the original national licence and your passport. South Korea is a party to the 1949 Geneva Convention and is not a party to the 1968 Vienna Convention, but Road Traffic Act Article 96 recognises both convention IDPs as a matter of domestic law, so Korean law is wider than the treaty Korea actually signed. A foreign national licence on its own is not a visitor route: Article 96 also mentions a 'mutually recognised foreign licence' (상호인정외국면허증) issued under a bilateral agreement, but no official list of designated countries could be retrieved, so no national-licence-only route should be assumed.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: carry your national licence together with the document named in the row for your country of issue, in the table below — for most non-exempt licences that is an IDP.
• Car renters: Automated enforcement is extensive and largely camera-based. Observe lane controls, bus-only lanes, school zones, parking restrictions and signposted camera limits even where surrounding traffic is moving faster; penalties reach the registered keeper, and a rental company will pass them on with an administration fee.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Official law publisher.

What side of the road does South Korea drive on?

South Korea drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Cars in South Korea are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in South Korea with a foreign licence?

A holder of a qualifying IDP (or of a designated mutually recognised foreign licence) may drive the endorsed vehicle categories for one year from the date of entry into South Korea, provided the IDP and the underlying national licence both remain valid. If the IDP expires sooner, the shorter period controls. (Road Traffic Act (도로교통법) Article 96(1))

Planning to move to South Korea? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is South Korea a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

South Korea is a Contracting Party to the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic, but not to the 1968 Vienna Convention.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: succession on 14 Jun 1971.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in South Korea with your country's licence?

This table is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to South Korea as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. Find your licence's country of issue below. South Korea does not let visitors drive on a foreign national licence alone. Road Traffic Act Article 96 authorises driving only on a 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna Convention IDP — Korea is a Geneva party and accepts Vienna IDPs by domestic law, so its own statute is wider than the treaty it signed — for one year from the date of entry, and only in the vehicle categories endorsed on the permit. Carry the IDP, the original national licence and your passport together. A driver from a state that issues neither convention IDP has no visitor route at all and must obtain a Korean licence. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: July 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

What the Status column means on this page:

• IDP required — the destination requires an IDP in addition to your national licence. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says which IDP to carry and what else to carry with it.
• Not recognised — the record shows no route to drive here as a visitor on this licence; ask the local authorities about conversion or a temporary permit. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what stands in the way.
• Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The row for your country of issue, in the table below, says what could not be confirmed.

Sources and notes for the table above

[1] Road Traffic Act (도로교통법) Article 96(1)

[2] UN Treaty Collection, Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General — status of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-1) and of the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (chapter XI-B-19) — XI-B-1, XI-B-19

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from South Korea? South Korea's official IDPs are issued by Korea Road Traffic Authority (KoRoad) — driver's licence examination offices — applications are accepted online. Official site.
• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to South Korea? Rules for new residents

A resident can apply to exchange a full foreign licence for a Korean licence rather than relying on the one-year visitor clock. The tests required depend on whether the issuing jurisdiction is one whose licences Korea recognises for exchange purposes. Official source.

Driving rules in South Korea tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: Seat belts are compulsory in every seat, front and rear, on all roads. Motorcycle helmets are compulsory for rider and passenger. Hand-held phone use while driving is prohibited. Confirm that a rental vehicle carries the legally required breakdown warning device (warning triangle, plus a light or flare-type signal for night-time expressway use).
• Drink-driving: The general maximum blood-alcohol concentration is 0.03%. Do not drink at all before driving. Sanctions escalate with the measured level and with repeat conduct, and refusing a breath test is itself a separate offence. Sanctions range across licence suspension, licence cancellation, fines and imprisonment depending on the measured level and prior record. No single figure applies to all alcohol offences.
• Speed limits: Follow the signs. Most main urban roads are 50 km/h and side streets 30 km/h under the nationwide 5030 policy; school zones are 30 km/h or lower. Expressways are typically 100–110 km/h with some 120 km/h sections.
• Carry the physical original national licence, the physical Convention IDP and your passport. Photographs, PDFs and app screenshots are not substitutes. A translation, a companion document or any other card is not an IDP, whatever it is titled: only an IDP issued under the Convention by an authorised body meets Article 96.
• Traffic drives on the right. Under the nationwide 'Safety Speed 5030' policy in force since 17 April 2021 most main urban roads are 50 km/h and residential and side streets 30 km/h; child-protection (school) zones are 30 km/h or lower and are enforced far more severely. Expressways are signed, typically 100–110 km/h with some 120 km/h sections.
• Automated enforcement is extensive and largely camera-based. Observe lane controls, bus-only lanes, school zones, parking restrictions and signposted camera limits even where surrounding traffic is moving faster; penalties reach the registered keeper, and a rental company will pass them on with an administration fee.

Read more about driving in South Korea

• How to rent a car in South Korea?
• 10 Interesting Facts About South Korea
• Best Places to Visit in South Korea
• Getting a Driver’s License in South Korea

Watch what driving in South Korea looks like

A few minutes of real POV footage is the fastest way to feel confident before your first drive in South Korea:

Open the video on YouTube if the player does not load.

Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Resident licence conversion rule
3. National Law Information Center — Road Traffic Act Article 96 (Korean consolidated text); host unreachable on the date checked
4. Ministry Q&A: 'Is an international driving permit different from an English-language driver's licence?' — relabelled; this is not an Article 96 commentary and was not the source of the previously quoted text
5. Supreme Court case law index entry, Road Traffic Act violation (unlicensed driving) — content not verified
6. Korea Road Traffic Authority licence eligibility guidance — host did not resolve during verification
7. Korea Road Traffic Authority notice on Geneva and Vienna IDPs — not reachable during verification
8. WHO 2023 Republic of Korea road-safety legislative profile — not reachable during verification
9. Contracting-party list confirming South Korea is not a 1968 Vienna Convention party (secondary)
10. Korea Road Traffic Authority (KoRoad) — driver's licence examination offices — authorized IDP issuer in South Korea
11. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
12. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic