Last verified: 2026-08-27 06:31 KST
Under KoROAD’s international-permit guidance, a valid permit from a recognised Geneva or Vienna Convention issuer can be used in Korea within one year of entry. Check its expiry and vehicle category. Exchange is not automatically required of every visitor. Guidance checked 6 October 2026.
What follows is from the Korea Road Traffic Authority’s own published guidance: the documents, the fees, and the six conditions that stop applications.
Your foreign licence alone does not let you drive here
KoROAD states this plainly: a licence issued abroad does not by itself permit driving in Korea. Holders of a licence issued by a competent foreign authority can apply to exchange it for a Korean licence, and that exchange is the route.
The process runs in three stages: document review, then aptitude test (physical examination) and where required a written test, then issuance. Staff can require additional documents mid-review if something is missing.
The question that decides your day: is your country recognised?
Korea maintains a list of countries that exchange a Korean licence for their own without a test. Whether yours is on it decides whether you sit an exam.
- Licence from a recognised country → aptitude test only. Written test waived.
- Licence from a non-recognised country → aptitude test and a written test of 40 multiple-choice questions.
The written test can be taken in Korean, English, Chinese or Vietnamese.
Then the exception that catches Americans. Licences from Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Nevada require the written test even though the United States is a mutually recognised country. If you hold one of those four state licences, plan for the exam. Checked 2026-08-27.
The current recognition list is a National Police Agency notice dated 6 April 2026. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Guam and other territories with their own licensing systems are treated as countries for this purpose.
What it costs
| Item | Fee | Who pays it |
|---|---|---|
| Issuance — mobile IC licence (English and Korean) | 15,000 KRW | Everyone |
| Issuance — standard licence (English and Korean) | 10,000 KRW | Everyone |
| Written test | 10,000 KRW | Non-recognised country applicants |
| Physical examination — class 1 large or special | 8,000 KRW | Everyone, paid separately |
| Physical examination — other classes | 7,000 KRW | Everyone, paid separately |
The physical examination fee is separate and paid at the test centre. But six centres have no examination facility on site — Mungyeong, Gangneung, Taebaek, Gwangyang, Chungju and Chuncheon. If you are applying at one of those, get the examination at a nearby hospital first.
What to bring
For a foreign national holding a licence from a recognised country:
- Original foreign licence
- Original passport — one that shows your exits and entries across the relevant period
- Original residence card (or domestic residence report card for overseas Koreans)
- Three colour passport photos, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, taken within the last six months
- Embassy confirmation or Apostille certificate for the licence
- Certificate of entry and exit covering from your year of birth to the present
Applicants from non-recognised countries bring the same set and pay the written test fee.
For the exchange, KoROAD requires evidence of your stay in the issuing country; its caution states exchange is unavailable if at least 90 days cannot be established. Korean-national and overseas-resident documentation categories differ, so check the category that applies to you. Checked 6 October 2026.
US Forces Korea personnel on A-3 status have their own list: the original US licence, an Apostille for it, the entry-and-exit certificate, three photos, a Common Access Card, a service verification or employment certificate (form 700-19), and either a passport bearing the SOFA ROK-USA VERIFIED stamp or an A-3 residence card. Active-duty personnel can obtain an entry permit from an immigration office if they do not hold one.
Six things that stop applications
1. A licence that is not a full licence. KoROAD recognises only a valid full licence. Temporary licences, learner, provisional and probationary licences, and permits or certificates cannot be exchanged. This is the most common wasted trip.
2. An authentication older than a year. The embassy confirmation or Apostille must have been issued within one year of your application date, because its purpose is verifying that your foreign licence is genuine. It must be issued in Korean or English — either by the relevant embassy in Korea, by the Korean embassy in that country, or, for Apostille convention members, locally.
3. A name or date of birth mismatch. If the name or birth date on your foreign licence differs from your passport, you must bring an embassy confirmation or other document proving they are the same person. This is the same class of problem that breaks Korean identity verification generally — see our name verification guide.
4. Sending someone else. Proxy applications are not accepted. The single exception is holders of identification issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — diplomatic (D), consular (C, H) and special (I, A, B) identification.
5. Arriving too late in the day. KoROAD states the exchange takes considerable time and that applications must be received by 17:00, one hour before closing. If you need the written test, it recommends arriving before 16:00.
6. Assuming the embassy still issues confirmations. KoROAD advises contacting the embassy in advance, since confirmation services can be suspended without a general announcement.
You may not get your original licence back
Korea collects the original foreign licence on exchange for some countries and not for others. KoROAD publishes both lists.
This matters more than it sounds. If your licence is collected and you later return home, you are dealing with your own country’s replacement process from abroad. Check which list your country is on before you hand the document over — the answer is on the KoROAD page linked below, and it is a decision you cannot reverse at the counter.
Where to apply
At any driver’s licence examination office nationwide. KoROAD’s customer centre is 1577-1120, with sign-language support on 107 and foreign-language chat support through its KakaoTalk channel.
Note that the exchange is handled at licence examination offices rather than at a district office, and that the whole process is designed around a single visit — which is precisely why the document list rewards being pedantic the night before.
Before you decide you need this
Getting a licence is a real errand with real fees, and for many foreign residents in Seoul it is optional. Transit reaches most of what you would drive to, and the schemes that make it cheap are in our transit passes guide. For occasional trips, taxis handle door-to-door without any of this — see our taxi apps guide.
The case for exchanging is specific: you live outside a dense transit area, you need to reach places transit does not, or you want to rent a car. If none of those apply, the paperwork can wait — but note that the authentication’s one-year validity means starting early does not help either.
Verification note. On September 24, 2026 an AI-assisted check compared the 15,000 KRW mobile IC licence issuance fee and the 8,000 KRW class 1 large or special physical examination fee against KoROAD, and confirmed the official sources linked in this guide still resolve to the same pages. I publish this guide under my own name and am responsible for what it says. Rules and fees in Korea change often; if you spot something out of date, email hello@90dayskorea.com and it will be re-checked and corrected.
Sources
- KoROAD — Exchanging a foreign licence for a Korean licence: procedure, documents by category, fees, cautions (Korean)
- KoROAD — related licence guidance (Korean)
- KoROAD — licence examination guidance (Korean)
- KoROAD — Safe Driving integrated civil service portal
Last verified: 2026-08-27 06:31 KST. This is general information, not legal advice. Recognition lists, fees and document requirements change, and conditions depend on the country that issued your licence. The KoROAD pages linked above are the authority; confirm with them or on 1577-1120 before travelling to a test centre.