Last updated: August 2026
This is general information, not legal advice. Licensing rules and fees change, and some conditions depend on the country that issued your licence. Confirm anything that affects your application with the official sources at the end.
Nobody plans for this one. You arrived with an international driving permit, used it a few times, and forgot about it. Then a friend asks you to drive to Gangwon in October and you check the date on the permit.
Here is the part most people get wrong: the clock is not on your permit. It is on you.
Korean law lets you drive on a foreign international permit for one year from the day you entered the country — not from the day the permit was issued. If you have been here fourteen months, the permit in your drawer stopped working two months ago, no matter what its expiry date says.
The good news is that swapping your home licence for a Korean one is an administrative errand, not an exam — if your paperwork lines up. That last condition is where this guide earns its keep.
TL;DR
- Two clocks, and the shorter one wins. A permit is valid one year from issue; you may drive on it in Korea one year from the date you entered. Whichever ends first, ends it.
- The written test is offered in English, along with Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese — one of the few Korean licensing processes where that is officially stated.
- If your country's licences are recognised, there is no written test — just a medical check.
- You must prove you actually lived where your licence came from: entry and exit stamps showing more than 90 days in the issuing country. No proof, no exchange.
- Fees are small: ₩10,000 for a standard card, ₩15,000 for the mobile IC version, medical check billed separately, as of August 2026.
- You get a Class 2 ordinary licence, whatever you held at home — with five countries as the exception.
- The application killer is your name. Different spellings across your licence, passport and residence card stop the counter cold.
1. Work Out How Much Time You Have
Two separate one-year limits, and people confuse them constantly.
| The clock | Starts | Ends |
|---|---|---|
| Your permit's own validity | The day it was issued at home | One year later |
| Your right to drive on it in Korea | The day you entered Korea | One year later |
Korean road traffic law puts it plainly: a person holding a permit under the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna conventions may drive "for one year from the date of entry into the country", and only the vehicle types written on the permit.
So count from your arrival stamp, not from the permit. Then work backwards: gathering an apostille from your home country is the slow step, and it is the one you cannot rush from Korea.
2. Two Questions That Decide Your Route
Is your licence from a country Korea recognises? Korea maintains an official list of recognised countries, and it is long — but it is a list, with per-country conditions, so check yours rather than assuming. If you are on it, you skip the written test entirely and only take the medical check.
Can you prove you lived there? This is the requirement that surprises people. You need entry and exit stamps in your passport showing more than 90 days spent in the country that issued the licence. If that cannot be confirmed, the exchange is refused outright. A licence collected during a short trip will not convert.
3. What to Bring
Korea Road Traffic Authority lists the documents:
- Your original foreign licence — a full licence with validity remaining. Learner, temporary and provisional permits do not count.
- Your original passport.
- Your original residence card (ARC) or overseas-Korean residence report card.
- Three passport photos, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, taken within the last six months.
- An embassy confirmation letter or apostille certificate for the licence.
- An entry-and-exit record covering your whole history — from your birth year to the present.
Two of these are slow. The apostille has to come from the authority that can authenticate your licence, and the embassy route means the issuing country's embassy in Korea or the Korean embassy there. The entry-and-exit record is a Korean government document; if you are not sure which portal issues what, our guide to Korea's government sites sorts them out.
4. The Thing That Actually Stops Applications
Your name.
A licence exchange puts three identity documents on one counter — foreign licence, passport, residence card — and the Korean system needs the romanised name to match across them. Middle names that appear on one document and not another, a space in a different place, a family name written first on one and last on another: any of these can stop the application while nothing is technically wrong with you.
This is the single most common wall foreign residents hit across all Korean paperwork, and we wrote a full guide to it: why your name won't verify. Our free Name Checker shows how your name will render in Korean systems before a counter refuses it. Check it before you pay for an apostille, not after — the certificate carries whatever spelling your home authority used.
If your residence card shows a different form of your name than your passport, fix that first. Everything downstream inherits it.
5. Fees, and the Test in English
As of August 2026, the Authority lists:
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Licence card, standard (English/Korean) | ₩10,000 |
| Licence card, mobile IC (English/Korean) | ₩15,000 |
| Medical check | Billed separately |
| Written test (non-recognised countries only) | ₩10,000 |
The written test can be taken in English, and also in Chinese or Vietnamese. That is stated in the Authority's own guidance, which matters — plenty of Korean administrative processes are Korean-only in practice, and this one is not.
The medical check is the routine eyesight-and-basics screening done for licence applications. Budget the fee separately; it is not included above. If you want context on how clinics work here generally, see seeing a doctor in Korea.
6. If Your Country Is Not Recognised
You take the written test — in one of the four languages above — and pay the ₩10,000 test fee. The medical check still applies.
There is one trap worth naming. Four US states — Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Nevada — sit under mutual recognition and still require the written test. If your licence is from one of those, do not assume the exemption applies to you.
7. What You Actually Receive
A Class 2 ordinary licence — the standard passenger-car licence — regardless of what you held at home. A motorcycle entitlement or a truck class from your own country does not carry across.
The exception is five countries with mutual recognition arrangements that allow an exchange into the corresponding class: Belgium, Poland, Spain, Italy and Ireland.
Once you have the card, you are in the Korean system: renewals, medical checks on the Korean schedule, and a licence that works with rental and insurance here without explanation. For the days you would rather not drive, taxi apps, the transit passes comparison and KORAIL PASS cover the alternatives, and a T-money card remains the simplest thing in your wallet.
Common Problems
"My permit expired but I still live here." Then you cannot drive on it. The one-year-from-entry limit is in the law, and driving past it is driving unlicensed. Apply for the exchange, and use public transport in the meantime.
"They would not accept my licence." Check that it is a full licence with time left on it. Learner and provisional permits are excluded.
"They could not confirm my 90 days." The proof is entry and exit stamps for the issuing country. If your passport was replaced, or you entered on a different passport, bring what you have and ask what will substitute — the requirement is the confirmation, not one specific stamp.
"The names do not match." Fix the source documents before reapplying. See our name guide.
"Do I get my original licence back?" You submit the original, and whether it is returned is a question for the test centre handling your case — ask before you hand it over if you need it for trips home.
FAQ
How long can I drive in Korea on my international permit? One year from the date you entered Korea, under Article 96 of the Road Traffic Act — and only the vehicle types listed on the permit. Your permit's own one-year validity runs separately, from its issue date.
Do I have to take a driving test? If your licence is from a recognised country, no written or practical test — only the medical check. If it is not recognised, you take the written test, available in English.
Can I do this without speaking Korean? The written test is officially offered in English, Chinese and Vietnamese. Bring a Korean-speaking friend for the counter if you can; that part is not documented as multilingual, so we are not going to promise it.
What if I got my licence on a short trip abroad? Then it probably cannot be exchanged. You need proof of more than 90 days in the issuing country.
What licence will I end up with? Class 2 ordinary, unless your licence is from Belgium, Poland, Spain, Italy or Ireland, where exchange into the corresponding class is possible.
Official Resources
- Exchanging a foreign licence for a Korean licence — Korea Road Traffic Authority: documents, fees, test exemptions, the 90-day rule
- International driving permits — validity, and the one-year-from-entry rule
- Medical check: where certificates are issued
- Road Traffic Act, Article 96 — Korea Law Information Centre, the statute itself
- Korea Road Traffic Authority — recognised-country list and test centre locations
Next in your first 90 days: our free settling-in checklist, and the full guide library.
Nothing here is legal advice. Fees, recognised-country lists and procedures change, and conditions vary by issuing country and by test centre. Figures are as of August 2026 — confirm with the Korea Road Traffic Authority before acting on anything that affects your application.