Renting a car in Korea as a foreigner involves two separate sets of rules. The law decides who may drive here at all. The rental company decides who it will hand the keys to, and its list is usually longer.
Mix them up and you can be turned away at the counter with a perfectly legal permit. This guide keeps them apart: what the statutes say, what one major rental company publishes on top, and what the government’s model rental contract says about insurance and damage.
The short answer
- The law: visitors may drive a rental car on a recognized international driving permit (IDP), and rental companies must check the driver before handing over a car.
- The company: age limits, permit types, card payment and similar conditions come from each company’s own terms, not from the law.
- Insurance: basic liability cover comes with the car. Damage to the rental car itself needs separate cover, and without it that damage is yours to pay.
- After the trip: traffic fines and parking charges from your rental period are still yours to pay.
What Korean law requires
Two laws do most of the work here: the Road Traffic Act (도로교통법) and the Passenger Transport Service Act (여객자동차 운수사업법), which regulates rental businesses.
| Rule | Where it comes from | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Visitors on an IDP may drive cars rented from a rental business | Road Traffic Act, Art. 96(2) | Rental cars are the exception to the ban on driving business-registered vehicles on a permit |
| Drive only the classes printed on your permit | Road Traffic Act, Art. 96(1) | A permit that covers cars only won’t cover a large van |
| Carry your license while driving | Road Traffic Act, Art. 92 | Have the IDP itself on you while driving. A photo or scan won’t do |
| Rental companies must check the contracted driver’s qualification through the government’s license-check system | Passenger Transport Service Act, Art. 34-2(2) | The counter check is a legal duty, not just company caution |
| Fine for companies that break the checking rule | Passenger Transport Service Act, Art. 94(2), item 6-3 | Up to KRW 5 million under the statute |
Article 34-2 is written around Korean licenses and the government’s license-checking system. It doesn’t spell out how an IDP is checked.
Which permits count in the first place, and how the one-year limit from your entry date works, is covered in our guide to Korea’s international driving permit rules.
What the rental company adds
Everything beyond the law is contract terms. As an example, here is what Lotte Rent-a-Car lists on its English rental information page as of October 9, 2026. Other companies set their own conditions.
- Age: drivers aged 21 to 79 on the pick-up date.
- Permit type: an IDP stamped for class B, D or E for vehicles up to 9 seats. Its 15-seat vans need class D.
- Original only: photocopies, PDFs and photos of the permit are not accepted. Permits from private organizations are refused.
- Documents: passport, IDP, a local address and phone number in Korea.
- Payment: a debit or credit card in the name of the renter, driver or companion. No cash.
- Young drivers: a daily surcharge for drivers under 30 on the mainland.
None of these come from the Road Traffic Act. A different company can set a different age range or ask for different documents, so check the terms of the company you actually book with.
Insurance: what’s included and what you choose
The Korea Fair Trade Commission publishes a model car rental contract, the Standard Terms for Car Rental (자동차대여 표준약관, No. 10064, revised October 29, 2021). The commission recommends its use, but your own rental contract is what applies.
Included with the car. Article 11 says the company rents out cars covered by compulsory liability insurance plus comprehensive insurance for bodily injury to others, damage to other people’s property, and injuries to yourself (자기신체사고).
Damage to the rental car itself. That needs separate cover. The model terms give two forms: an own-damage insurance policy, or the company’s damage waiver (차량손해면책, usually sold as a CDW). Without either, Article 18(3) leaves you to pay for the damage yourself, assessed against the car’s value at the time of the accident. Some companies, Lotte among them, list the CDW as mandatory.
The deductible. Even with a CDW, you usually pay a set amount after an at-fault accident. Since the 2021 revision, Article 18(2) caps that amount at the actual repair cost.
Loss of use. Article 19 lets the company charge for rental income lost while the car is being repaired. If it offers no objective calculation, the charge is 50% of the daily rate you paid, for each repair day.
Check the coverage limits too. On the same Lotte page, cover for damage to other people’s property is listed at up to KRW 20 million per accident. Anything above a limit falls on you.
When cover doesn’t apply
Article 18(1) lists cases where you may get partial or no compensation. They include driving without a valid license, drunk driving, and accidents while someone not named on the contract was driving.
At pick-up and during the rental
Inspect the car with staff. Under Article 12 of the model terms, the company checks the car with you against an inspection sheet before handing it over. Photograph any marks you find.
Only named drivers. Article 15 bars anyone not listed on the contract from driving. The one exception is a professional designated-driver service used when the named driver can’t drive because of drinking or injury.
The driver must match the booking. Article 4(2) lets the company refuse the contract if the driver at pick-up is not the driver given when booking. Register a second driver in advance if you plan to share the driving.
Fines and charges after you return the car
Article 16(2) of the model terms makes the renter responsible for traffic fines, parking fines and parking fees from the rental period, even after the car goes back. Lotte’s page says that after a key-drop return outside business hours, charges such as fuel, tolls and fines are billed to your registered card.
Before you book
- Confirm your IDP was issued under the Geneva or Vienna convention, or a bilateral agreement with Korea, and covers the vehicle class you want.
- Read the company’s age, payment and document rules on its own website, not on a booking platform summary.
- Decide on damage cover before you reach the counter, and note the deductible and loss-of-use terms.
- If two people will drive, register both before pick-up.
For questions about whether a permit is legally valid, ask the Korean embassy or consulate in your country rather than the rental company.
Last checked: October 9, 2026. Sources: Road Traffic Act, Articles 92 and 96 and Passenger Transport Service Act, Articles 34-2 and 94 (Korean Law Information Center, in Korean); Standard Terms for Car Rental No. 10064 (Korea Fair Trade Commission, in Korean); Lotte Rent-a-Car rental information.