Before you start

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

Step-by-step

1
Get the IDP before leaving home
Korea recognises 1949 Geneva Convention permits, issued only in the country that issued your licence. Valid one year from your date of entry and carried together with the original home licence — the permit alone is not a licence. It cannot be obtained after arrival, and leaving and returning does not reset the year.
In personWho: You, in your home countryBefore departureLocal IDP fee, typically under US$25
2
Arrange the apostille at the same time
KoROAD needs proof your foreign licence is genuine. An apostille from the issuing authority is the reliable route, since several embassies in Seoul have stopped issuing confirmation letters. Doing it from Daejeon afterwards means couriering documents home and waiting weeks.
In personWho: You, in your home countryBefore departureVaries by country
3
Check the reciprocity list for your country
Acknowledged countries skip both the written and practical tests, leaving an eyesight and aptitude check. Everyone else sits a 40-question written test in English. A few countries have class-limited or partial arrangements, so read the entry for yours rather than assuming from a forum post.
OnlineWho: YouBefore booking
4
Attend the KoROAD examination office
Bring the ARC, passport with entry records, foreign licence, apostille and photos. Usually completed the same day though allow half a day. Your foreign licence is surrendered and held until you permanently leave Korea, so obtain a duplicate at home first if you will need it abroad.
In personWho: YouOften same dayLicence issuance fee KRW 10,000, or KRW 15,000 for the IC card
5
Buy a transit card, and check the KTX before you assume you need a car for Seoul
One rechargeable card covers Line 1 and every city bus with free transfers. Separately, Daejeon station sits in the old downtown rather than out of town, and KTX and SRT put Seoul roughly an hour away — for a great many trips the train genuinely beats driving, and a lot of residents here run their lives that way.
In personWho: You5 minutesCard roughly KRW 2,500–4,000; fares around KRW 1,500
6
If you buy a car, check the tram alignment against your commute
Compulsory motor insurance is required and open to foreign residents through the major insurers, and a Hi-Pass transponder handles expressway tolls. Parking is generally easy outside Dunsan. The variable to check is Line 2: the tram follows arterial roads through five districts, and surface construction phases will close lanes on those roads for years. The city publishes the alignment and phasing — read it before choosing a commute.
In personWho: You with a dealer and an insurer1–2 weeksInsurance varies; parking is cheap by Korean standards

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 conversion

Things most newcomers don’t know

Daejeon station being downtown is a bigger deal than it sounds.

Most Korean cities put their high-speed station on the edge; Daejeon's is in the old centre, with a second SRT stop at Daejeon and Seodaejeon nearby. Combined with roughly an hour to Seoul, that turns the capital into a day trip rather than an expedition and makes a car much less necessary than the city's layout suggests. Newcomers who commute to Seoul weekly usually end up living within reach of the station rather than near a motorway.

Source: community-reported

Both documents the exchange needs can only be obtained where your licence came from.

The Geneva Convention IDP and the apostille proving your licence is genuine are issued only by authorities in the licence's home country. Once you are in Daejeon, fixing either means couriering paperwork home and waiting weeks. People discover this at the KoROAD counter months after the point at which it was a trivial errand. Sort both before you fly.

Source: KoROAD; US Embassy Seoul

The tram is a decade-long construction project first and a transport system second.

Line 2 is 38.8 km with 45 stations through five districts, broke ground in 2025 after nearly thirty years of planning, and the end-2028 target has already been publicly walked back toward the turn of the decade. For anyone signing a two-year lease now, the relevant fact is not the opening date but which phase your street is in. Check the published alignment before you commit to an address or a commute.

Source: community-reported; Daejeon Metropolitan City tram project announcements

Sejong is close enough that plenty of people live in one city and work in the other.

The administrative capital is roughly twenty minutes away by road with frequent BRT buses, and the flow runs both directions — Daejeon residents working in Sejong ministries, Sejong residents using Daejeon's hospitals and schools. If your job is in Sejong, Daejeon is a legitimate and much cheaper place to live, but check the specific BRT route rather than assuming the whole city is equally connected.

Source: community-reported

Common mistakes to avoid

Arriving without a Geneva Convention IDP and finding it cannot be obtained in Korea.
Leaving the apostille until after the move and waiting weeks for documents from home.
Assuming reciprocity applies without checking KoROAD's current list.
Choosing a commute without checking whether it runs along the tram alignment.
Surrendering your original foreign licence without obtaining a duplicate at home first.

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