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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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kentucker4
Joined: 03 Sep 2007
Location: Georgia
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 Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:11 pm Post subject: Driving in Korea |
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| How much does it cost to rent a car for the weekend here and how long does it take to exchnage a US license for a Korean license? I really miss driving. |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:22 pm Post subject: Re: Driving in Korea |
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| kentucker4 wrote: |
| I really miss driving. |
I missed driving too (in Canada). I love to drive (in Canada). My favourite thing to do is to drive around and blast music (in Canada).
I drove from Ilsan to Uiwang on the weekend and I realized I don't like driving in Korea. It actually wore me out more than all the walking I did that day. On the highways and expressways, people were merging into the fastest single lanes through three or four other lanes without looking or signalling. A couple of times people weaved right between my car and the one in front of me without any notice whatsoever, and I thought I was definitely going to hit them.
You know when you see an empty spot on the highway back home, you want to merge into it but you think it isn't a good idea because there isn't enough clearance? Same thought happens in Korea, but then someone in a car / SUV twice as big as yours will do it and all you can think is "wow, I can't believe he did that without touching the cars on either side". They won't do it carefully either, they'll just fly on into it before someone else takes it.
I let a guy merge back into traffic again after he came off an off ramp because he was stuck and no one else would let him in. It stunned everybody, as I could tell by the horns beeping. If I hadn't been there, he'd have been waiting at the bottom of the off ramp all day before someone let him merge.
Driving in Korea isn't nearly what it is back home. If you want to drive here, then you should drive through the country. Don't drive through Seoul. |
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Dome Vans
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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Swapping a licence from foreign to Korean takes 30 minutes and cost 12 000 won. Take 4 passport photos, ARC, licence and Passport. The eye test costs 5000 won and the licence cost 7000 won.
I hired a LPG Tosca for me and some teachers to take a 3 day road trip it cost 70 000 won a day. Between us that only worked at 42 000 each. Dirt cheap. Some companies may not hire to you unless you've had the licence for more than a year, the other smaller companies will do and they're open to haggling for hiring more than 2 days.
Well worth it, there's loads of beautiful bits to Korea that you just can't visit without a car. |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Dome Vans wrote: |
Well worth it, there's loads of beautiful bits to Korea that you just can't visit without a car. |
Seconded. The city driving sucks, but the countryside should be fun. Lots to see and do. |
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Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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| Dome Vans wrote: |
Swapping a licence from foreign to Korean takes 30 minutes and cost 12 000 won. Take 4 passport photos, ARC, licence and Passport. The eye test costs 5000 won and the licence cost 7000 won.
I hired a LPG Tosca for me and some teachers to take a 3 day road trip it cost 70 000 won a day. Between us that only worked at 42 000 each. Dirt cheap. Some companies may not hire to you unless you've had the licence for more than a year, the other smaller companies will do and they're open to haggling for hiring more than 2 days.
Well worth it, there's loads of beautiful bits to Korea that you just can't visit without a car. |
Where do you have to do that and what are their hours like? I'm having trouble finding reliable online information.
Seems pretty lame that I'd have to go to Seoul and that they are only open weekdays for a short time in the morning and again in the afternoon. |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Actually, I have a vacation coming up and a personal car would be nice. Where can you rent cars? |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Underwaterbob wrote: |
| Dome Vans wrote: |
Swapping a licence from foreign to Korean takes 30 minutes and cost 12 000 won. Take 4 passport photos, ARC, licence and Passport. The eye test costs 5000 won and the licence cost 7000 won.
I hired a LPG Tosca for me and some teachers to take a 3 day road trip it cost 70 000 won a day. Between us that only worked at 42 000 each. Dirt cheap. Some companies may not hire to you unless you've had the licence for more than a year, the other smaller companies will do and they're open to haggling for hiring more than 2 days.
Well worth it, there's loads of beautiful bits to Korea that you just can't visit without a car. |
Where do you have to do that and what are their hours like? I'm having trouble finding reliable online information.
Seems pretty lame that I'd have to go to Seoul and that they are only open weekdays for a short time in the morning and again in the afternoon. |
Hehe! We actually visited the lake at Chungju on the way back of our road trip, really nice bit of Korea.
I imagine that the city (Chungju) is big enough to have a Driver Licence centre. It's the same place that people take their tests so it'll be open all day and lateish as well. I went with my PS co-teacher so it was very easy. Having a Korean there makes it tons easier although the woman at the centre filled everything out for us. Sorry I can't be more specific.
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| Where can you rent cars? |
Even in my small city of 30 000 people, there is about 4 or 5 car hire places. If you go to a Daewoo/Hyundai dealership then they can point you in the direction of their hire place or in the direction of another hire company. Hiring paperwork only takes 10 minutes then you're ready to go. |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Dome Vans wrote: |
Even in my small city of 30 000 people, there is about 4 or 5 car hire places. If you go to a Daewoo/Hyundai dealership then they can point you in the direction of their hire place or in the direction of another hire company. Hiring paperwork only takes 10 minutes then you're ready to go. |
Do you need a credit card with 2,000,000 WON available on it? Back home, you need a credit card with $2,000 on it just to rent the car. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
| Dome Vans wrote: |
Even in my small city of 30 000 people, there is about 4 or 5 car hire places. If you go to a Daewoo/Hyundai dealership then they can point you in the direction of their hire place or in the direction of another hire company. Hiring paperwork only takes 10 minutes then you're ready to go. |
Do you need a credit card with 2,000,000 WON available on it? Back home, you need a credit card with $2,000 on it just to rent the car. |
Nope that's what amazed me. No deposit needed! Sparkling Korea. They trust you! The accident cover is a bit different than in the West though, I didn't completely understand it but I didn't put a scratch on it so was ok. I don't think they have excess here for an accident. But I think different companies have different policies. I think if I'd had a prang then I'd pay for it or part of it. I've also heard about each person paying 50/50 if there's a dispute with who's fault, but this is just from what I've read here. |
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creesschaef
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 5:10 am Post subject: Re: Driving in Korea |
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| kentucker4 wrote: |
| how long does it take to exchange a US license for a Korean license? I really miss driving. |
I just went through the process of exchanging my US license for a Korean one. It was an interesting ordeal.
I went to the foreigner desk where I was greeted by a nice lady with half-decent English. After looking at her computer monitor for some time, she was still unable to find out what needed to be done. I then showed here and explained what I needed to do to get a license.
You will need to have a physical test, buy some stamps, and take a 20 question test. If your town is small, you may have to set up a time to take the written test. If you are in a larger area, odds are that you will be able to walk in anytime before 5 pm and take the test on the computer.
Go to the foreigner counter and they will help you find the correct forms. It will help to know some Korean, or to have a Korean with you for this portion. You will also need 4 passport sized photos.
The physical test is an eye test (numbers, not letters), squatting to the ground and back up, and handing over 5,000 won. They will then stamp your form over and over. After this, go back to the foreigner counter, where they will set you up to take the test. I took the computer-based test. It was easier to read than I had heard from others. After you pass this, you will get another stamp and be prodded towards the foreigner counter once more. The kind folks at the counter will process your license and you will receive it after waiting a short while (~30 minutes). The license will be good for around 9 years.
What you need to bring:
1) US license
2) ARC card
3) Passport
4) Won (I think it was 17,000 won)
5) 4 passport-sized photos (some locations have photo booths)
There is also a study book that is available for 14,000 won. It isn't really needed for the test, but it is a good resource for investigating all of the rules and regulations that differ from the US. |
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poppydaisy
Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Location: Bundang, Korea
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:04 am Post subject: |
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| I'm going tomorrow to get my Korean license. How's the test and what traffics laws are different than back in U.S.? Where can I find out more about this? I thought it was an automatic thing if you have a U.S. driver's license. |
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creesschaef
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Location: Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2008 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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| poppydaisy wrote: |
| I'm going tomorrow to get my Korean license. How's the test and what traffics laws are different than back in U.S.? Where can I find out more about this? I thought it was an automatic thing if you have a U.S. driver's license. |
It's an automatic thing for most other countries, but due to the agreement with the US, we get to take the written/computer-based test. It's not a big deal, you just have to think through the questions. You have 50 minutes to take the test, which is way more than any qualified driver needs.
Each test will have different questions, but knowing how the penalty points work here might help you with a question or two. Some of the road signs are slightly different than back home. On all roads, there may be lanes specified for buses, commercial vehicles, cars, and passing lanes. Reversible lanes are quite common here, something I didn't see much in the US.
Also, there were an abundance of questions about flat tires, whether it be in the front or rear. You should know what a flat in the front or rear will make the car do. Also, a basic understanding of hydroplaning won't hurt either. I didn't have any questions on parking, I guess that is more of a cluster than anything.
Don't worry too much about it. If you get 60% of the questions, you're golden. |
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poppydaisy
Joined: 02 Mar 2008
Location: Bundang, Korea
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| Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:09 am Post subject: |
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I went and got my license today and I didn't have to take a test. They just wanted me to relinquish my Ohio Driver's License to them and made me a Korean driver's license. They said they would hold on to my license until I want to leave the country and all I need to bring back to show them is my passport and a plane ticket and they'll give your license back. They did a quick eye exam for numbers and a quick color blindness test. It was rather quick and easier than I anticipated.  |
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