Before you start

An Alien Registration Card — the exchange is for residents only
Your foreign licence plus an apostille or embassy confirmation that it is genuine
Passport with entry and exit records
Three colour photos, 3.5 × 4.5 cm, taken within six months

Step-by-step

1
Get an International Driving Permit before you leave home
Korea recognises IDPs issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, and they are only obtainable in the issuing country. It is valid for one year from your date of entry and must be carried together with your original home licence — the permit alone is not a licence. There is no way to fix this after arrival.
In personWho: You, in your home countryBefore departureLocal IDP fee, typically under US$25
2
Get the apostille while you are still at home
KoROAD needs proof that your foreign licence is authentic. An apostille from the issuing authority is the reliable route, because a growing number of embassies in Seoul no longer issue confirmation letters. Arranging an apostille from Busan afterwards means posting documents home and waiting weeks.
In personWho: You, in your home countryBefore departureVaries by country
3
Check whether your country has reciprocity
For acknowledged countries the exchange skips both the written and the practical test, leaving an eyesight and aptitude check. For the rest you sit a 40-question written test, available in English. KoROAD publishes the current list; a handful of countries have partial or class-limited arrangements, so read the entry for yours rather than assuming.
OnlineWho: YouBefore booking
4
Attend the Busan licence examination office
Take your ARC, passport with entry records, foreign licence, apostille and photos to the KoROAD examination office. It is usually a same-day process but allow half a day. Your foreign licence is surrendered and held, and returned when you permanently leave Korea — so if you need it abroad in the meantime, get a duplicate at home first.
In personWho: YouOften same dayLicence issuance fee KRW 10,000, or KRW 15,000 for the IC card
5
Get a transit card before you think about a car
A rechargeable card bought at any convenience store covers Busan's four metro lines, the buses, the Busan–Gimhae light rail and the Donghae coastal line, with free transfers between modes. Cashless top-ups at station machines. For most residents this replaces car ownership entirely rather than supplementing it.
In personWho: You5 minutesCard roughly KRW 2,500–4,000; metro from KRW 1,600, city bus KRW 1,550
6
If you do buy a car, budget for parking and the hills
Compulsory motor insurance is required and available to foreign residents through the major insurers. A Hi-Pass transponder handles expressway tolls, including the bridges and tunnels that stitch Busan together. Older hillside districts have almost no off-street parking, and the gradients around the sanbok roads defeat inexperienced drivers in winter ice.
In personWho: You with a dealer and an insurer1–2 weeksInsurance varies; tolls and parking are the recurring cost

Documents you’ll need

Alien Registration Card
Passport with entry and exit records
Foreign driver's licence plus apostille or embassy confirmation
Three colour photos, 3.5 × 4.5 cm
International Driving Permit, if driving before you convert

Things most newcomers don’t know

Both documents you need for the exchange can only be obtained in your home country, and both are easy to forget.

The Geneva Convention IDP is issued only where your licence was issued, and the apostille proving your licence is genuine has to come from the same authority. Once you are in Busan, fixing either means couriering documents home and waiting. People discover this at the KoROAD counter, months after the point at which it was a five-minute errand.

Source: KoROAD; US Embassy Seoul — driving in Korea

KoROAD keeps your foreign licence, and gives it back only when you leave Korea for good.

The exchange is a surrender rather than a duplication. If you drive when you visit home, or your foreign licence doubles as your national ID card, this is a genuine inconvenience for the whole length of your stay. The standard workaround is to obtain a replacement copy at home before you convert, which is legitimate and much easier done in advance.

Source: KoROAD — driver's licence exchange

Busan's geography, not its traffic, is the argument against a car.

Mountains split the city into pockets connected by a small number of tunnels and bridges, so there is no grid to shortcut through and a single incident in the Hwangnyeong or Baeksan tunnel gridlocks a whole side of the city. The metro, the light rail and the Donghae line follow the same corridors underground and are unaffected. Residents who commute across the city almost universally take the train.

Source: community-reported

The Donghae line quietly changed which suburbs are commutable.

The coastal rail line running north-east from Bujeon past Centum, Songjeong and on toward Gijang and Ulsan is integrated into the transit-card system with ordinary transfer discounts. It made seaside districts that used to be an hour of bus traffic into a straightforward train commute, and rents in those areas have not fully caught up with that.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving without a Geneva Convention IDP and finding you cannot obtain one in Korea.
Leaving the apostille until after you move, then waiting weeks for documents from home.
Assuming reciprocity applies to your country without checking KoROAD's current list.
Not obtaining a duplicate home licence before surrendering the original to KoROAD.
Buying a car for a hillside district with no off-street parking and winter gradients.

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.