If you live in Korea and have no license you can exchange, you can earn a Korean one by taking the same tests (운전면허 시험) Korean learners take. The written test comes in English, the official fees can stay under KRW 100,000, and a driving school is a choice rather than a required step.
This guide covers who can apply, which license class to pick, each test in order, the deadlines that can send you back to the start, and what a driving school changes.
How we checked
The steps, pass marks and fees come from the Korea Road Traffic Authority (KoROAD, 도로교통공단), which runs the test sites. The legal rules come from Korea’s Road Traffic Act (도로교통법), its Enforcement Decree and its Enforcement Rule. We read them all on November 4, 2026, and we didn’t use driving school ads or forums for any number here. Unit conversions and fee totals are our own math.
The short answer
- Who can apply: you must be 18 or older and meet the health standards. Foreigners also need alien registration, unless exempt, or a domestic residence report.
- The order: safety class, physical check-up, written test, course test, learner’s license, road test, then your license card.
- Pass marks: for a Class 2 ordinary license, 60 on the written test, 80 on the course test and 70 on the road test.
- Official cost: KRW 86,000 if you pass everything the first time and use a test-site check-up. Driving school tuition is separate.
- Driving school: optional. A licensed school can test you in-house for the course and road tests, but you still sit the written test.
Exchange first, if you can
A valid full license from another country may mean you don’t need any of this. A license from a recognized country is exchanged with a physical check-up, and others add the written test. Our guide to converting a foreign license shows who qualifies and has a checker for the tests that apply to you.
The route in this guide is for people starting from scratch. That includes anyone whose license can’t be exchanged, such as a learner’s permit, or one earned without more than 90 days of living in the country that issued it. If you’re only visiting, an international driving permit is the option to look at.
Who can apply
Article 82 of the Road Traffic Act sets the minimum age for a car license at 18. The same article says a non-Korean can’t receive a license without alien registration, unless exempt from registering, or a domestic residence report for overseas Koreans.
KoROAD’s list of accepted ID includes the Alien Registration Card, the overseas Korean residence card and a passport. You also have to meet a basic standard for eyesight and for telling red, yellow and green apart. Corrected vision counts.
Class 1 or Class 2?
Most people driving a car only need a Class 2 ordinary license (제2종 보통). Class 1 ordinary (제1종 보통) adds larger vans and trucks, with a higher written pass mark and stricter eyesight rule.
| Class 2 ordinary | Class 1 ordinary | |
|---|---|---|
| Passenger cars | Yes | Yes |
| Vans and buses | Up to 10 seats | Up to 15 seats |
| Trucks, by payload | Up to 4 tons | Under 12 tons |
| Written test pass mark | 60 | 70 |
| Vision, both eyes open (corrected) | 0.5 or better (0.6 in the other eye if you can’t see with one) | 0.8 or better, and 0.5 or better in each eye |
Article 54 of the Enforcement Rule lists automatic-only as a condition a Korean license can carry. The pages we read don’t set out who may test in which transmission, so ask your test site or school before you book, especially if you might ever drive a manual.
The steps, in order
- Safety class. A free one-hour video class, any time before the written test. Bring ID.
- Physical check-up. At the test site or a hospital. Mungyeong, Gangneung, Taebaek, Gwangyang, Chungju and Chuncheon sites have no check-up room, so go to a hospital first.
- Written test. Bring your application form, ID and photos.
- Course test. A closed-course driving test at the test site.
- Learner’s license. Issued once you’ve passed the written and course tests.
- Road test. On public roads with your learner’s license.
- License card. Issued after you pass the road test.
Photos are 3.5 cm × 4.5 cm (about 1.4 × 1.8 inches), in color and taken within six months. KoROAD asks for them at several steps, so bring a few spares. Not every test is offered at every site, but Seoul’s Gangnam, Dobong, Gangseo and Seobu sites all run the Class 1 and 2 ordinary tests.
The written test
The written test (학과시험) has 40 multiple-choice questions and runs 40 minutes on a computer. KoROAD says the questions come from its published question bank, and its site has a foreign-language section for that bank, though we didn’t check which languages it covers. Your score appears as soon as you finish.
You can register on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with tests paused from noon to 1 p.m. KoROAD says you can sign up and sit the test the same day, though schedules vary by site, so check before you go.
Languages: Korean, English, Chinese and Vietnamese. KoROAD also announced Mongolian at test sites nationwide from October 29, 2026.
The course test
The course test (기능시험) covers at least 300 meters (about 980 feet). You work the car’s controls, keep your lane, make an emergency stop, stop on a slope, turn left and right, park in a right-angle space, go through a signal-controlled intersection and speed up in an acceleration zone. You need 80 out of 100.
Some mistakes fail you on the spot. KoROAD’s list includes these:
- Not keeping your seat belt on for the whole test
- Touching a curb with any wheel, or causing an accident
- Not starting within 30 seconds of the start signal
- Skipping a section or not completing it properly, such as driving up the slope without stopping
- Rolling back 1 meter or more on the slope, or taking more than 30 seconds to clear it
- Running a signal, or crossing the stop line with your front bumper
KoROAD lists English and Chinese audio and on-screen support for this test. It also lists online and in-person booking, but we couldn’t confirm that foreign residents can verify their ID online, so ask at the test site.
The learner’s license and road practice
Once you’ve passed the first two tests, you can get a learner’s license (연습면허) for KRW 4,000. It lasts one year from the day it’s issued.
The law sets three conditions for road practice, in Article 55 of the Enforcement Rule:
- A supervisor riding with you who has held a license for that vehicle for at least two years and isn’t suspended
- The practice-driving sign from the rule’s Annex 21 on the car
- No driving for anything other than practice, such as running a commercial vehicle
The road test
The road test (도로주행시험) is drawn at random from four routes of at least 5 km (about 3.1 miles). A navigation voice guides you, and English voice guidance is available. The test scores 57 items, and you need 70 out of 100.
Instant fails here include going more than 10 km/h (about 6 mph) over a posted limit, exceeding the limit in a protection zone for children, seniors or people with disabilities, ignoring a signal, failing to protect pedestrians, not yielding to an emergency vehicle, causing an accident and not wearing a seat belt. Once you’re licensed, our guide to speed cameras and fines shows what speeding costs.
Driving school or test site?
KoROAD’s test order has no school step, so you can go straight to the test site. What a school gets you is teaching time, plus in-house checks that can replace two of the tests.
This applies to a licensed driving school (전문학원), a category the law separates from other driving schools (학원). Annex 3 of the Enforcement Decree says its course certificate replaces the test site’s course test, and its graduation certificate replaces the road test. Neither replaces the written test.
Annex 32 of the Enforcement Rule sets the minimum teaching time for an ordinary license at licensed schools. It’s 13 hours: 3 of classroom teaching, 4 on the course and 6 on the road. A school can teach more than that.
We couldn’t find an official tuition figure or an official list of schools that teach in English, so we’ve left both out. Ask each school directly what it charges and which language its instructors and in-house checks use.
Official fees
These are KoROAD’s fees for a Class 1 or Class 2 ordinary license. The total is our own addition. Retakes cost the same as the first attempt.
| Item | Fee (KRW) |
|---|---|
| Safety class | Free |
| Physical check-up at a test site | 7,000 |
| Written test | 10,000 |
| Course test | 25,000 |
| Learner’s license | 4,000 |
| Road test | 30,000 |
| License card, standard (Korean or English) | 10,000 |
| Total | 86,000 |
A mobile license card costs KRW 15,000 instead, which brings the total to KRW 91,000. A check-up at an outside hospital costs whatever that hospital charges.
Deadlines and retakes
Each deadline runs for one year, and missing one can cost you tests you’ve already passed. KoROAD says you don’t repeat the safety class when you restart this way.
| Stage | Deadline | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|
| Written test | Pass within 1 year of your first attempt | Start again with a new application |
| Course test | Pass within 1 year of passing the written test | Start again from the written test |
| Road test | Pass while your learner’s license is valid (1 year) | Retake the written and course tests |
If you fail the course or road test, you can retake it after three days have passed. KoROAD’s example: fail on Monday the 1st, and you can test again from Thursday the 4th.
Driving school students have separate limits. Your course certificate gets you a learner’s license only within one year of passing the school’s course check, and your graduation certificate gets you a license only within one year of passing its road check.
After you pass
Your card is issued at a test site. Bring your final application form, ID and one photo. KoROAD says licenses now run on a 10-year cycle, with the renewal window falling within six months either side of your birthday in that tenth year. The cycle shortens to five years from age 65 and three from age 75.
If a car is next, our guide to buying a used car in Korea as a foreigner covers the paperwork.
Before you go
- Check whether you can exchange a license instead. It’s far less work.
- Confirm your alien registration or residence report is in place.
- Pick Class 2 or Class 1, and ask about automatic or manual before booking.
- Take the safety class and check-up before your written test.
- Note the date of your first written attempt, because the one-year limit starts there.
Rules and schedules change, and the test site decides your case. For anything unclear, call KoROAD’s customer center at 1577-1120. It’s open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and KoROAD also lists a foreign-language chat on its KakaoTalk channel.
Last checked: November 4, 2026. Sources: KoROAD Safe Driving portal (in Korean), under 운전면허 시험 → 면허시험 안내; Road Traffic Act, Articles 82, 84 and 108 (Korean Law Information Center, in Korean); Enforcement Decree of the Road Traffic Act, Annex 3 (in Korean); Enforcement Rule of the Road Traffic Act, Articles 54, 55 and 106 and Annexes 21 and 32 (in Korean).
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