Korean law requires a child seat for young children, but the details that matter to visiting families are easy to miss. Who gets fined, which seats count, and what happens in a taxi are all spelled out in the law, mostly in Korean.
Below: the age limit, the certification rule for the seat itself, the taxi exception and the fines, each tied to the article it comes from.
The short answer
- Under 6: the child must ride in a child restraint fitted to the seat.
- 6 and older: a seat belt in every seat, front and back.
- The driver is responsible. The fine for an unbelted passenger under 13 is KRW 60,000, charged to the driver.
- The seat must be certified in Korea. The rule names Korea’s own safety certification for children’s products.
- Taxis and buses have a narrow exception for the driver, not a general one for children.
What the law says
Article 50(1) of the Road Traffic Act (도로교통법) requires every driver to wear a seat belt and to make sure passengers in all seats wear one too. The rule doesn’t apply to motorcycles.
For a child under 6, the article says “seat belt” means the belt used after a child restraint (유아보호용 장구) is fitted. A belt alone doesn’t meet the rule at that age.
The age comes from Article 11(1), which defines 영유아 (infants and young children) as anyone under 6. Article 50(1) also allows exceptions for illness and for situations set by ministry rule, covered further down.
How the age is counted
Korea’s Civil Act counts age in full years from the date of birth (Article 158, revised in 2022). That is the same way most countries count.
So the car seat rule applies until the child’s sixth birthday. The older “Korean age” count doesn’t apply.
After that, the child moves to the ordinary seat belt rule. These articles set no booster stage between 6 and adulthood. Whether a 6- or 7-year-old still fits an adult belt safely is a separate question from what the law requires.
The seat itself has to be certified in Korea
Article 30 of the Enforcement Rule of the Road Traffic Act (도로교통법 시행규칙), revised in 2022, says the child restraint must have safety certification under Article 17 of the Special Act on the Safety of Children’s Products (어린이제품 안전 특별법).
That is a Korean certification. A December 2019 survey report by the Korea Consumer Agency, written before this rule change, lists car seats among the safety-certified children’s products, the highest level of control, and refers to certified seats as KC-certified.
What about a seat you bring from home? The rule’s wording names only the Korean certification. It doesn’t mention seats certified to European (ECE) or US standards, and we found no official guidance on how police treat them.
If this matters for your trip, ask the Korean National Police Agency, which enforces the rule. Don’t rely on a rental company or a seller to answer it.
Taxis and buses
You may read that taxis are exempt from the car seat law. The rule text is narrower than that.
Article 31 of the Enforcement Rule lists when a driver doesn’t have to make passengers buckle up. Item 8 covers drivers of commercial passenger vehicles, such as taxis and buses. It applies when a passenger is drunk or otherwise can’t be made to wear a belt, or when the driver has told passengers to wear one and they don’t.
So the exception lifts the driver’s duty once they have told you to buckle up. It doesn’t make riding without a restraint allowed or safe. It means the fine can’t land on the taxi driver.
None of these articles require a taxi to carry a child seat either. If you want one, plan to bring or book it.
Separately, Article 31 lists other exceptions, such as a person who is injured, ill, disabled or pregnant and judged unsuitable for a seat belt, and emergency vehicles on duty.
Fines
Article 160(2), item 2, of the act allows a fine of up to KRW 200,000 on a driver who fails to make passengers wear seat belts. The actual amounts are in Annex 6 of the Enforcement Decree (도로교통법 시행령), item 9, in the version in force since October 2, 2026:
| Unbelted passenger | Fine to the driver |
|---|---|
| Under 13 | KRW 60,000 |
| 13 or older | KRW 30,000 |
Because Article 50(1) defines a young child’s seat belt as the belt used with a child restraint, a child under 6 without one falls under the under-13 line. That is our reading of how the two provisions fit together. The Korea Consumer Agency’s car seat report cites the same KRW 60,000 figure.
These are administrative fines (과태료) on the driver, whether or not they own the car. The duty sits with the driver, so a parent riding as a passenger doesn’t shift it. The driver’s own unbelted fine comes under a different provision and isn’t covered here.
Renting a car with children
If you plan to rent, ask about child seats when you book, not at the counter. Check that the seat you are given carries the KC mark, since Korean certification is what the rule names.
Whether a seat costs extra, and what happens if it is damaged, depends on your rental contract. Our guide to renting a car in Korea covers what the law requires of rental companies and what comes from their own terms.
If something goes wrong on the road, our guide to what to do after a car accident in Korea sets out the steps the law requires and when you must call the police.
Before you drive
- Count each child’s age from their birthday. Under 6 means a car seat.
- Look for the KC mark on any seat you rent or buy in Korea.
- If you are bringing a seat from home, ask the police how it is treated before you rely on it.
- Make sure everyone in the back seats is belted, not just the front.
- For taxis, plan to bring or book a seat. The law doesn’t require the taxi to have one.
Last checked: October 21, 2026. Sources: Road Traffic Act, Articles 11, 50 and 160, Enforcement Decree of the Road Traffic Act, Annex 6, Enforcement Rule of the Road Traffic Act, Articles 30 and 31 and Civil Act, Article 158 (Korean Law Information Center, in Korean); Korea Consumer Agency, survey report on child restraints for cars, December 2019 (in Korean); Korean National Police Agency (English).