Korean Job Discussion Forums

[KHerald]

Has anyone gotten their drivers license in Korea from scratch? Including taking the written and driving tests here. This would probably involve someone speaking fluent Korean.

What about simply �trading in� your foreign license for a Korean one?

Want to share good/bad experiences please PM, e-mail, or post here.

Matt

[email protected]

[sadsac]

Got my Korean D/L in Masan. Had my Aussie D/L translated by the consulate and then presented that with a couple of photos to the test centre in Masan. Test was in English. I think it was 20 questions compared to the 300 odd that a Korean has to answer. Passed the test, paid the money and got a licence for 10 years. To easy.

[lsrupert]

I got my license in Seoul, near Coex. Americans can't just trade in their licenses, so I had to take their test. I didn't have to take the driving part of the test though. I did go to their website and study a little, just in case there were questions about the signs in Korean. The test was on a computer, in English! Easy, easy. The physical test was funny though. They make you squat!!! You go in a group of 4, and squat in front of someone. I have no idea why you need to prove that you can squat. lol What does that have to do with driving??? I passed the test, took about an hour break while waiting for the license to be prepared, and off I went! Good luck!

[ellegarden]

I got my Korean license from scratch at Mopo-go Office near THE World Cup Stadium.

All in all, it took about 5 or 6 trips to the place.

It was confusing the whole way through. I had to go to 1 desk fill out a paper. Go to another desk, buy some stamps, go back to the other desk show them. Finally, I did a "written" test which was in English on a computer. It was about 80 questions and I think you had to get 80%.

After that, I had to get some more stamps (every stamp has to be paid for and is about 2000 to 8000W) went back to the international desk and scheduled an in class course.

The next day I had to sit through about 2 hours worth of video tapes in Korean (had subtitles) about bad driving and drinking and driving etc.. After which, I had to buy some more stamps that made me eligible for the in-car track test.
Up until this point everything was easy. But the following day I got to the track to do the test. They put me in a room with 20 other koreans and began to explain the rules. Unfortunately for me there was no English explanation. After the explanation I got to the track and they showed me a car and told me to drive. Drive where? Do what? I didn't know. I drove. After about 1 minute the car started beeping wildly and a small siren started blaring. Some guy ran up to the car told me to move over and started driving it. I guess I failed.

So I had to go back, reschedule, get some more stamps and come back the following day do the track test again. I don't know what I was thinking but I guess I thought the following day would be different. Maybe somehow I would magically know what to do. I didn't. But luckily after the test some Korean dude that spoke English was kind enough to explain to me how exactly to go through the course. What speeds, where to stop, where to parallel park, he explained the computer system and the grading system, a real nice guy.

After going through the usual stamp rituals I successfully passed the test on my 3rd try.

Next was the road test. They gave me a road map that showed the courses and told me that I needed 10 hours of driving experience with someone who has had their korean license for at least 3 years. I got my coworker to sign it for me and a few days later I was back.

I failed the road test because I changed lanes too quickly to get over to make a right turn. I guess I was nervous, didn't really memorize the course very well, maybe I got cut off. It was funny to hear the guy try to explain why and draw diagrams

Finally, on my 2nd try, I passed and after going through the stamp ritual I got my license.
I think I made a total of 7 trips there, spent about 100,000W. Great fun.
But now I can drive!!

[Hanson]

[jbpatlanta]

I go tmine from scratch. Passed the written exam first try. I only needed a 60% to pass. It had 50 questions in English. Pretty easy.

Then sat through a safety lecture. Or rather I slept through it with the rest of the class.

The first two times I took the course test I failed because I had know idea what to do. Then an instructor who spoke English explained what to do. Next time passed it with no problems.

My wife signed that I drove 10 hours and I went back for the road test. The instructor asked my wife to hop in the back seat to translate. She told him I didn't need a translator. We took off and drove down the street made a u turn went back up made a u turn and went back to the test center. Took maybe 10 minutes. I got docked 5 points because I looked over my shoulder to check my blind spot. The instructor told me that you can only use the mirrors. I was amazed. I told him that back home you would be docked points for not looking over your shoulder. He seemed to think that was impossible. Anyway passed no problems.

Glad I don't ever have to do it again through. Cost about 70.000 won and 6 trips to the testing center.

[spyro25]

i also did the whole thing from scratch at the hakjang-dong driving school in busan. i didnt have a license from the uk so it was all new.

i remember i got a book (dont have it anymore unfortunately) explaining the rules of the road in very poor english from the nambu test centre. i also used naver to find driving test help guides and did a couple of those. i passed the written test by 3%, but the test was written in very poor english. not sure how i passed considering i knew next to nothing about any question on the paper.

i then joined the hakjang driving school. a couple of amazing teachers with a very very poor grasp of english showed me around for the first 10 hours or so (2 hours a day) of lessons. they showed me how to reverse and parallel park by lining up my mirrors with certain parts of the track (a skill i quickly forgot how to pull off when it came to driving for real - it took me over a year to become adept at parking after). after 10 hours they let me drive on my own. i would crank up the radio or put on my mp3 and speed around the course much to the annoyance of my trainers. i was the first and only foreigner who had joined the school and i was the source of much debate and discussion among the instructors. however i did have a wonderful time and was always treated very well.

i passed the course test with a perfect 100% score. however i took the test an hour and a half late (as did all the test takers that day) as my name was over three syllables long and would not enter into the main computer. felt a little ashamed over that but i know some koreans with four syllable names so it must happen to them to.

next we did 10 hours on the road. my instructors varied in english ability, but i was whizzing around the course in no time. one course was easy (just going along, then doing a u-turn, then coming back to the school. the other course was more difficult. after 3 hours or so, i was so adept my instructors would let me drive to dadaepo beach (where the busan rock concert is held) or other far away places. i had a great time and felt confident to drive.

test day we had a two hour lecture before the test entirely in korean. something about turning out into a four lane road. couldnt get most of it. i got the 'easy' course to do in the test itself, but i almost messed it up by having difficulty going across four lanes of traffic in rush hour. my examiner looked kind of angry. also, at the end i stalled my engine waiting for some car to get out of a narrow lane on the way back. i felt for sure i had failed the test, but as i got the bus on the way back home they called me to tell me i had passed.

i got a couple of certificates proving i had passed both the course and road test and took them to the main registration centre in busan. a few hours later i got my license.

i really wish i would have listened to the lecture before the test though. 3 weeks after i had gotten my license, i was involved in a serious smash because i pulled out of a turn into a four lane road, didnt see any cars coming when turning into the first lane, and got my back end smashed up by a delivery driver (who much have been driving at lightning speed). he did the old 'fake injury' angle and ended up in hospital for a few days (at my expense) and i got a bill for 3.5 million won (which my insurance paid) as well as the fee to repair my car.

that said, i don't blame the school or my instructors for not being able to explain the rules of the road fully - i was their first and only foreign student, and they did a great job explaining in broken english and stuttering korean how to drive the car. the accident was something that could have been prevented however by clearer english in the training manual offered by the main driving admin during the written test.

oh yeah i also had to sit through some funny road safety videos (but i cant remember what stage of the process this was) along with some other foreigners. lil hazy on that.

any more questions ask in here or PM me.

[spyro25]

so far it looks like i am the only guy who actually took the full 20 hours course and 10 hours road driving school. has anyone else done this?

[Bibbitybop]

KHerald, this is off the topic you requested, but relevant.

I have a USA drivers license and International drivers license which makes me legal in Korea. I could "trade" my home license for a Korean license easily. But I have a motorcycle endorsement on both of my licenses. It's legal for me to drive a motorcycle over 125cc here with them, but I can't "trade" my license for a Korean license and keep the motorcycle endorsement. I would have to go through a rigorous process to get a Korean license with a motorcycle endorsement on it, despite the fact I've been through a rigorous Motorcycle Safety Foundation course in the USA and have passed the tests in the USA.

No sweat, though, I simply won't be getting a Korean license.

[bellum99]

1: I did the written test on the computer.

2: I did the 15 hours of driving training (going around and around on the track)--i didn't do the road training.

3: I did the driving test with the police officer next to me.

I passed. One thing to note:

You need to have the Korean licence for 2 years or when you go back to Canada you still have to pass the tests. Check the info for B.C:
http://www.icbc.com/licensing/lic_renew_replace_new.asp



How to get the licence in Korea:
http://www.dla.go.kr/english/01_info/info01.jsp#01

[Typhoon]