Driving in South Korea

South Korea is home to the automobile manufacturing companies Hyundai and Kia, both of which have a worldwide presence. While the majority of South Koreans own cars, South Koreans do not seem to use cars too much, unlike the United States.

Understand

Talk

Korean (especially the South variety) is the main language when travelling within South Korea by car. While bringing a Korean phrasebook or learning Korean is mandatory for contacting police or emergency services, road signage is bilingual (in Korean and English), and driving tests are also offered in foreign languages in addition to Korean.

Road network

Highways in South Korea are classified as freeways (expressways/motorways), national roads and various classifications below the national level. Almost all freeways are toll highways and most of the expressways are built, maintained and operated by Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC).

The freeway network serves most parts of South Korea. Tolls are collected using an electronic toll collection system. KEC also operates service amenities (dining and service facilities) en route.

There are also several privately financed toll roads. Nonsan-Cheonan Expressway, Daegu-Busan Expressway, Incheon International Airport Expressway, Seoul-Chuncheon Expressway and parts of the Seoul Ring Expressway are wholly privately funded and operated BOT concessions. Donghae Expressway was built in cooperation between KEC and the National Pension Service.

Total length of the South Korean road network was 86,989 km in 1998. Of this, 1,996 km (1,240 miles) was expressways and 12,447 km (7,734 miles) national roads. By 2009, combined length of the expressways had reached approximately 3,000 km (1,900 miles), it mostly equal to the whole area of South Korea.

Expressways

Expressways in South Korea (Korean: 대한민국의 고속도로; Hanja: 大韓民國의 高速道路; RR: Daehanmingukui gosokdoro), officially called as National expressways (Korean: 고속국도; Hanja: 高速國道; RR: Gosokgukdo), are controlled-access highways owned by the government. They are operated mostly by the Korea Expressway Corporation and to a less extent by the private sector. They were originally numbered in order of construction. Since August 24, 2001, they have been numbered in a scheme somewhat similar to that of the Interstate Highway System in the United States; the icons of the South Korean Expressways are notably similar to those in the United States because they are shaped like U.S. Highway shields and colored like Interstate shields with red, white, and blue, the colors of the flag of South Korea.

A GPS is highly recommended while navigating Seoul or Busan. Lanes end or turn into bus lanes with little to no warning, and it may not always be obvious where turns are allowed. A good rule of thumb is to stay in the middle lane as cars will often illegally park in the right lane while the left lane will become a turning lane with little warning. However, Google Maps and Apple Maps cannot be used for navigation in South Korea due to national security laws prohibiting the distribution of mapping data to other countries. You should use Naver Map or Kakao Map instead.

Road signs

Unlike the neighbouring Japan, North Korea or China, which are not Vienna Convention signatories, road signs in South Korea follow international conventions. Warning sign designs are most often similar to Greece or Poland.

Driving rules

South Korea drives on the right in left-hand-drive cars. South Korea also follows the American practice of allowing cars to turn right at red lights as long as they (in theory) yield to pedestrians. In contrast, left turns on green lights are illegal unless there is a blue sign pointing left saying 비보호 or green left arrow.

If you are traveling in the big cities, especially Seoul or Busan, driving is not recommended as the roads often experience heavy traffic jams, and parking is expensive and difficult to find. Many drivers tend to get reckless under such conditions, weaving in and out of traffic. Drivers often try to speed past traffic lights when they are about to turn red, and several cars (including fully-loaded public transit buses) will typically run through lights after they have turned red, whether pedestrians are in the crosswalk or not.

Koreans consider driving rules as guidelines only and don't expect to be punished for parking illegally or cutting through a red light. This means that if you want to drive, you will need to do so assertively by pushing yourself into an intersection and forcing other cars to yield.