Korea’s expressway network is dense and the distances are short. Even Seoul to Busan, the capital to the southeastern port city, is under 400 km between toll gates. Planning a road trip here is less about mileage and more about tolls, fuel and a few local rules.
This guide puts five routes side by side with their distance, a sample drive time and the toll for an ordinary car. The figures come from the Korea Expressway Corporation’s own route and toll tools, and the calculator below adds fuel to give a one-way cost.
The short answer
- Distances: Seoul to Gangneung on the east coast is about 200 km, and Seoul to Busan about 360 km, toll gate to toll gate.
- Tolls: an ordinary car pays KRW 10,700 to Gangneung and KRW 18,600 to Busan on a weekday, and about 5% more on weekend daytimes.
- Fuel: at 12 km/L, gasoline costs more than the toll on all five routes. Seoul to Busan comes to roughly KRW 55,000 at the national average price on the day we checked (our calculation).
- Speed: 100 km/h on expressways with two or more lanes each way, 80 km/h on single-lane ones, and up to 120 km/h only on designated sections.
Drive times and tolls on five routes
We ran each route through ROAD PLUS, the traffic site of the Korea Expressway Corporation (한국도로공사, KEC), for distance and drive time. Tolls come from KEC’s toll lookup for a class 1 vehicle, the class that covers passenger cars.
| Route (toll gate to toll gate) | Distance (miles: our conversion) | Drive time we got | Toll, weekday | Toll, weekend daytime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul – Busan | 358 km (222 mi) | 4 h 6 min | KRW 18,600 | KRW 19,500 |
| Seoul – Gangneung | 204 km (127 mi) | 2 h 11 min | KRW 10,700 | KRW 11,200 |
| Seoul – Gyeongju | 299 km (186 mi) | 3 h 11 min | KRW 17,000 | KRW 17,800 |
| Seoul – Andong (Seoandong exit) | 203 km (126 mi) | 2 h 15 min | KRW 10,700 | KRW 11,200 |
| Busan – Gyeongju | 64 km (40 mi) | 39 min | KRW 4,500 | KRW 4,700 |
A few notes on the table:
- “Seoul” means Seoul toll gate (서울TG), which ROAD PLUS lists in Seongnam, just south of the city. Getting there from central Seoul adds city traffic before the expressway starts.
- Drive times are a snapshot. ROAD PLUS bases them on live traffic, and ours were taken on a Saturday late morning in November. Holiday or Friday-evening traffic can stretch them a lot.
- Distance and toll come from two separate KEC tools. The start of each route matched in both, but each tool picks its own path, so treat the pairing as a close guide rather than a quote.
- Light cars pay about half. A light car (경차) has an engine under 1,000 cc and fits within 3.6 m long, 1.6 m wide and 2.0 m high. KEC’s lookup lists KRW 9,300 for one from Seoul to Busan on a weekday.
The toll lookup covers toll gates that KEC itself runs. A route that uses a privately run expressway can cost more than the lookup shows, so we kept to routes it covers.
Road trip cost estimator
Pick a route from the table, or choose “My own route” and enter the distance and toll yourself. The tool adds the expressway toll to an estimate of fuel for one way.
Distances: ROAD PLUS route search (Korea Expressway Corporation), checked November 7, 2026. Tolls: KEC toll lookup for KEC-run toll gates, checked the same day; the light-car figures are KEC’s own listed amounts. Fuel prices start at Opinet’s nationwide averages for November 7, 2026: gasoline 1,855.33 and diesel 1,841.37 won per liter. The 12 km/L starting value is only an example, so enter your own car’s figure. Miles and mpg conversions are ours. Results are estimates, not quotes.
Before you set off
You need a license that Korea accepts, which for most visitors means an International Driving Permit. Our guide to the IDP and other license options explains which permits count.
Rental companies set their own age, license and insurance terms. Our guide to renting a car in Korea as a foreigner walks through what to check on the contract.
Ask at the counter whether the car has a working Hi-Pass unit for electronic tolls. Without one, use the regular lanes and keep the ticket you take at the entrance. Our guide to Korean highway tolls explains both lane types and what happens if a toll goes unpaid.
Speed limits and bad weather
Under Article 19 of the Enforcement Rule of the Road Traffic Act, cars may drive at up to 100 km/h on expressways with two or more lanes each way, and 80 km/h on single-lane ones. The police can set up to 120 km/h on designated sections of multi-lane expressways.
Bad weather lowers the limit by law. The maximum drops 20% on wet roads or under 20 mm of snow. It drops 50% when heavy rain, snow or fog cuts visibility to 100 m or less, the road is icy, or snow is 20 mm or deeper. Where a variable speed sign is posted, its limit applies. Our guide to speed cameras and fines sets out the full limits table and what a camera ticket costs in a rental car.
Rest areas and fuel on the way
Expressway rest areas (휴게소) are the natural breaks on a long drive. ROAD PLUS lists the cheapest rest-area fuel prices along the route you search, which helps if you want to fill up without leaving the expressway.
On our Seoul–Busan search, the lowest rest-area gasoline price shown was KRW 1,827 per liter, a little under that day’s national average.
The ROAD PLUS map can also show EV chargers, hydrogen stations and drowsiness shelters (졸음쉼터). For fuel types and self-service pumps, see our guide to Korean gas stations. Driving an EV? Our EV charging guide covers rates and payment.
Planning the route
ROAD PLUS route search works between toll gates and interchanges, and the map has an English option. It is useful for checking distance, live traffic and roadworks before you leave.
For turn-by-turn directions on the road, our guide to navigation apps explains why Google Maps falls short in Korea and what drivers use instead.
To price a route that isn’t in the table, use the toll lookup on KEC’s toll website. It is in Korean and asks for the start and end toll gates by name, which is also what the calculator’s “My own route” option needs.
Weekends and holidays
KEC adds 5% to class 1 tolls on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., based on when you exit. That is the gap between the two toll columns in the table.
Over the Seollal (Lunar New Year) and Chuseok holidays, expressway tolls are waived for the day before, the day itself and the day after. Those are also the most crowded days on the roads, so expect much longer drive times than the table shows.
Leaving Seoul, and Jeju
Getting out of Seoul is often the slowest part of the day. Our look at driving in Seoul as a foreigner weighs whether a car makes sense inside the city at all.
Jeju Island is a separate trip, since you rent a car on the island itself. Our Jeju car rental guide deals with renting there.
Last checked: November 7, 2026. Sources: ROAD PLUS, Korea Expressway Corporation traffic information (route search; in Korean, with an English map option); KEC expressway toll website (toll lookup, in Korean); Korea Expressway Corporation (discounts and surcharges, in Korean); Opinet, Korea National Oil Corporation (nationwide average fuel prices, in Korean); Enforcement Rule of the Road Traffic Act, Article 19 (Korean Law Information Center, in Korean).
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