Driver's license — with an International Driving Permit, you may drive for 1 year from your entry date
This page is machine translated from Ieumi's guide written in Korean. If the meaning is confusing, please look at the Korean original text. View original text (Korean)
With an International Driving Permit (or a license from a country whose licenses Korea mutually recognizes), you may drive for 1 year from your entry date. A license from any other country does not, on its own, let you drive. To keep driving after that, you must convert it to a Korean license.
Deadline
Article 96(1) of the Road Traffic Act sets it as "1 year from the date of entry into Korea." Since conversion takes time, start before the year is up.
📌 Key points
Driving beyond this 1-year period is driving without a license. Article 152(1) of the Road Traffic Act explicitly states this "includes cases where the validity period has expired," with a penalty of up to 1 year imprisonment or a fine of up to 3,000,000 won. If you pay the fine, the Enforcement Rule of the Nationality Act counts 5 years from that date, so your naturalization is delayed by that much. Also, even within that 1 year, you cannot drive commercial vehicles such as taxis, buses, or trucks — a rented car is fine.
📞 Contact
Driver's license test center. For inquiries, call the Korea Road Traffic Authority at 1577-1120.
You must go to the test center in person to apply for the exchange. What to bring varies slightly by test center, so ask 1577-1120 before you go.
⚠️ Things to watch out for
Changing to a Korean license is called a "license exchange." Article 84 of the Road Traffic Act exempts people with a foreign license from part of the test, but with conditions. The license must have been obtained while you stayed more than 90 days in the country that issued it, and it cannot be a temporary or learner's license. So they may ask for documents showing how long you were in that country. How much is exempted depends on whether that country is a "country whose license is recognized in Korea," and the country list changes, so it is not written here — the most accurate way is to call 1577-1120 before you go and tell them your home country. When you exchange, besides the original foreign license, original passport, and original Alien Registration Card, they may ask for an embassy confirmation of the license or an apostille (obtained within 1 year of the application date). If it cannot be confirmed that you stayed more than 90 days in that country, you cannot exchange, so ask the Korea Road Traffic Authority at 1577-1120 before you go what you need.
❗ What happens if you don't
If an accident occurs after the 1-year period, it counts as driving without a license. This doesn't end with a penalty — it also puts you at a major disadvantage in insurance processing. And even within that 1 year, if you fail to take the aptitude test or cause an accident, the Commissioner of the Provincial Police Agency may prohibit you from driving for a period of up to 1 year.
See also
Basis
- 도로교통법 제96조제1항·제2항 · 제84조제1항제3호·제2항 · 제97조제1항 · 제152조제1호 — 법제처 API 원문 대조 2026-09-11 (MST 281875, 시행 2026-07-01)
- 도로교통공단 안전운전 통합민원 https://www.safedriving.or.kr — 대표번호 1577-1120 실물 확인 2026-09-11
- 도로교통공단 「외국면허를 국내면허로 교환」 https://www.safedriving.or.kr/guide/larGuide031.do?menuCode=MN-PO-1213 (인정국 목록 2026-04-06 표시) — 외국면허증 · 여권 · 외국인등록증 원본 · 대사관 확인서 또는 아포스티유(신청일로부터 1년 안) · 「90일 이상 체류확인불가 시 … 교환발급 불가」 · 1577-1120 (조사원 확인 2026-10-12, D-713 B)
- 도로교통법 제96조제1항 — 「국제운전면허증」(제네바 · 비엔나 협약 등) 또는 「상호인정외국면허증」을 받은 사람만 입국한 날부터 1년 운전 — 법제처 API 원문 대조 2026-10-21 (MST 291133, 시행 2026-10-13)
This content was checked on 2026-10-21.