Taking the Korean Driving Test as a Foreigner: Written, Course and Road Stages

Test path vs licence exchange

Most foreigners in Korea do not need to take the test from scratch. If your home country (or US state / Canadian province) is on Korea’s reciprocal-recognition list, you can exchange your existing licence for a Korean one with paperwork and a vision test, with no driving test. We cover that route in our driving licence exchange guide.

You take the full test when your country is not reciprocal, your home licence has expired, or you have never held a licence. The process runs at a driver’s licence test centre (unjeon-myeonheo-siheomjang, 운전면허시험장) run by the Korea Road Traffic Authority (KoROAD), and covers four steps: traffic safety education, the written test, the closed-course test and the on-road test.

The written test (hakgwa-siheom, 학과시험)

The written test is 40 computer-based multiple-choice questions drawn from a large official bank, covering traffic signs, road rules, safe driving and basic vehicle operation.

• Languages: Korean, English, Chinese and Vietnamese. If you read none of these, plan to study in English.
• Pass score: 60/100 for a standard Class 2 licence; 70/100 for Class 1.
• Fee: about 10,000 won.
• Retake: you can retake as early as the next day; there is no waiting period for the written stage.

You must complete one hour of traffic safety education before applying. Many people pass within one or two attempts, and KoROAD publishes free English study material.

The closed-course test (gineung-siheom, 기능시험)

The second stage is a closed-course driving test in a controlled yard, with an automated voice guiding you through a fixed sequence of manoeuvres:

• Vehicle pre-checks (lights, wipers, turn signals on command)

• Hill stop without rolling back

• T-parking (reverse parking into a bay)

• Speed-zone control, S-curves and basic cornering

• Pass score: 80/100 (you start at 100 and points are deducted).

• Fee: about 25,000 won.

• Retake: you must wait 3 days before retrying.

This stage has the highest failure rate among first-timers because the sequence is precise and the instructions come from an automated voice — request the English voice option before you start.

The on-road test (doro-juhaeng-siheom, 도로주행시험)

The final stage is real driving on public roads along a designated route, with an examiner in the car. You are scored on lane discipline, signalling (at least 30 metres before a turn or lane change), intersection handling, school-zone rules and safe speeds.

• Pass score: 70/100.
• Fee: about 30,000 won.
• Retake: 3-day wait before retrying.

The road test relies more on the examiner’s spoken instructions, which may be in Korean. If your Korean is limited, a few hours of practice at a driving school (unjeon-hagwon, 운전학원) before the road test is strongly recommended — many foreign residents who fail do so on ‘driving too slowly’ or hesitant lane changes.

Fees, timing and practical notes

• Total statutory fees if you pass each stage on the first attempt: roughly 80,000–90,000 won (written 10,000 + course 25,000 + road 30,000 + licence issuance 10,000–15,000 + vision test 6,000–7,000).
• Validity windows — after passing the written test you have one year to pass the course test, and one year from the course test to pass the road test. Miss a window and you restart that stage.
• Documents — passport, Alien Registration Card (ARC), three 3.5 cm × 4.5 cm photos taken within six months, and the on-site vision test. Tourists without an ARC generally cannot take the full test.
• Retakes — there is no limit on the number of attempts, within the validity windows.

Note — fees, pass scores and test formats change, and some centres differ in facilities. Confirm the current procedure and the reciprocal list on the KoROAD site before you start.