Most Korean expressways charge tolls, and the toll plazas give you two kinds of lanes to choose from. Drive through a Hi-Pass lane without a working unit and the toll is recorded as unpaid against the car.
This guide covers how the system works on roads run by the Korea Expressway Corporation (한국도로공사, KEC), which discounts and surcharges apply to ordinary cars, and what to do if you miss a payment. The rules come from KEC’s own pages and the Toll Road Act.
The short answer
- Two lane types: Hi-Pass lanes charge an in-car device automatically. Regular lanes work with a paper toll ticket and payment at the booth.
- No Hi-Pass device? Use the regular lanes, and take a ticket where one is issued.
- Price changes: light cars pay half, cars pay 5% more on weekend and holiday daytimes, and the Seollal and Chuseok holidays are toll-free.
- Missed a toll: it can be paid later. Left unpaid through the notice process, a surcharge of 10 times the unpaid toll can be added on top.
Hi-Pass lanes and regular lanes
Hi-Pass (하이패스) is KEC’s electronic toll system. A unit in the car, with a toll card inserted, pays as you drive through a Hi-Pass lane without stopping. KEC says Hi-Pass was installed at toll plazas nationwide by the end of 2007.
Regular lanes are for cars without Hi-Pass. On most routes, including the Gyeongbu Expressway, you collect a toll ticket (통행권) at the entry plaza. The ticket records where you entered and the vehicle class. At the exit plaza you hand it over and pay for the distance you actually drove.
Some routes, such as the Seoul Ring Expressway, use an open system instead. There is no ticket. You pay a fixed amount at each toll plaza you pass through.
Don’t skip the ticket. On roads where KEC expressways connect to privately run ones, a single payment at the final exit covers the whole trip, and the ticket is how your entry point is known. KEC warns that without one, the toll for the longest possible distance may be charged.
Paying at the booth
KEC’s toll-collection page doesn’t list payment methods for the exit booth itself. Its unpaid-toll guide lists cash, prepaid and postpaid toll cards, and credit cards for settling unpaid tolls at toll offices and booths. Neither page says whether foreign-issued cards work, so carrying some Korean won is a sensible backup.
Hi-Pass cards
The Hi-Pass unit needs a card inside it. There are two kinds.
- Prepaid: KEC’s own Hi-Pass card is sold at expressway rest-area information desks, toll offices and Hi-Pass centers. It is topped up in steps of KRW 1,000, up to KRW 500,000.
- Postpaid: a toll-payment credit card issued by a Korean card company. Tolls are billed by the card company.
Hi-Pass in a rental car
None of the sources we checked say whether rental cars come with a Hi-Pass unit and card. Lotte Rent-a-Car’s English rental page, in its note on after-hours key-drop returns, says extra charges such as fuel, tolls, fines and late fees are billed to your registered card. It says nothing about Hi-Pass.
Ask at the counter whether the car has a working Hi-Pass setup before you head for the expressway. If it doesn’t, stay in the regular lanes. Our guide to renting a car in Korea as a foreigner covers the other contract terms, including who pays charges that show up after you return the car.
Discounts and surcharges
| Rule | Change | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Light car (경차) | 50% off | Engine under 1,000cc and within 3.6 m long, 1.6 m wide, 2.0 m high. For electric and hydrogen cars, only the size limits apply |
| Weekend and holiday surcharge | 5% extra | Class 1 vehicles, which include cars. Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., by exit time. Not during the Seollal and Chuseok holiday periods |
| Seollal and Chuseok | Free | The day before, the day itself and the day after each holiday, on all expressways including private ones |
| Commuter discount | 20% or 50% off | Hi-Pass only. Weekdays except public holidays, by exit time, on KEC trips under 20 km between toll plazas: 50% from 5 to 7 a.m. and 8 to 10 p.m., 20% from 7 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. |
| Electric and hydrogen cars | 30% off in 2026, 20% in 2027 | EV-dedicated Hi-Pass unit only. Includes private expressways. Scheduled to end December 31, 2027 |
The light-car discount comes from the Enforcement Decree of the Toll Road Act (유료도로법 시행령), Article 8. The Kia Ray, covered in our guide to Korea’s boxy light car, is one example of a Korean light car.
KEC’s page doesn’t explain how the light-car discount is applied to a rental car, at the booth or through Hi-Pass. If you rent a light car, ask the rental company.
If you drive through without paying
It happens: you end up in a Hi-Pass lane without a unit, the card isn’t inserted, or the balance has run out. The toll is then recorded as unpaid against the car.
Where to pay. KEC lists several places to settle unpaid tolls in person. They include toll offices and booths, rest-area information desks and payment kiosks, and GS25 and CU convenience stores after identity verification. Gas-station kiosks take credit or debit cards, and payment by phone goes through 1588-2504.
Online payment on KEC’s toll website needs the registered owner’s digital certificate, and a rental car isn’t registered to you. The site’s non-member page can look up unpaid tolls by plate number, but payment there also needs identity verification. Same-day unpaid tolls don’t show up in the lookup.
The 10x surcharge. The Toll Road Act lets the operator add a surcharge on top of the unpaid toll, set by the decree at 10 times the unpaid amount. When KEC applies it depends on the case:
- For an ordinary miss, notices go out in order: a first notice, a bill, a reminder, then seizure of the vehicle and a fourth notice with the surcharge.
- A car with 20 or more unpaid tolls in the past year is surcharged immediately from the 20th.
- Fraud, such as using someone else’s discount card, is surcharged immediately.
For an ordinary miss, paying before the fourth notice avoids the surcharge. With a rental car the notices may never reach you, so settling a missed toll yourself is the safer course.
Before you drive
- Ask the rental company whether the car has Hi-Pass, and whether it counts as a light car.
- Without Hi-Pass, use the regular lanes and keep the toll ticket until the exit.
- Carry some Korean won as a backup at the booth.
- Check the toll for your route on KEC’s website before a long trip (고속도로 › 통행요금 › 통행요금조회).
- If you miss a toll, settle it at a toll office, a rest-area information desk or a GS25 or CU store.
For questions about a specific toll, KEC’s 24-hour call center is 1588-2504.
Last checked: October 11, 2026. Sources: Korea Expressway Corporation pages on toll collection, discounts and surcharges, and unpaid tolls (ex.co.kr, under 고속도로 › 통행요금 and 미납요금, in Korean); KEC expressway toll website (in Korean); Toll Road Act, Article 20 and Enforcement Decree, Articles 8 and 14 (Korean Law Information Center, in Korean); Lotte Rent-a-Car rental information.