Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sigmundsmith]

Any recent information would be great from people who have actually gone through the whole process of getting a Korean drivers license - not exchanging your license from your own country.

I have already:

attended the safety video (best comedy show I've seen in a while)
had a medical exam (I can see - good for me)
completed the written test (again, some funny questions in there)

Now I have to do the driving test on their course tomorrow. If someone has done this recently, can you give me any advice of what is involved?

The next and final stage is the on-road driving test. What was it like? How long was it?

[LPKSA]

[alljokingaside]

Painfully easy, and tragically easy to fail.

The range (they had an English version), you need to follow instructions to a T. If yr testing protocol's anything like mine, wait until you hear two dings before proceeding to perform critical actions like turning on hte windshield wiper, etc (which I failed the first time- frigging dingbats)

The road test is fairly easy. They present you with a few routes that you'll have to memorize. (3 on my test, all aroudn the same neighborhood). I opted to take it immediately following range (2 hours) and had no difficulty memorizing the routes. You can schedule for whenever available though. Follow the rules and proceed normally. A friend told me that they take off for checking yr blind spot though. While I normally do, I didn't during the test and had no points knocked off. =/ At the end, you parallel park and have 5 minutes. (Seriously)

[sigmundsmith]

Thanks for the reply. I had already done both the tests by the time I read your response. I wish I'd had seen it before.

But yes, the driving course test was fairly straight forward. It was to demonstrate that you know the basic operating instruments of the car. But like you said, you need to wait for the 2 beeps after the instructions are given. I didn't do that once and lost 5 points.

Once you have turn on your lights and off - turn on you left indicator and off - turn wipers on and off you take off at a blistering 20 km on a straight track. Then you here emergency (in Korean) and a flashing red light - you break and come to a complete stop. Then wait a few seconds and take off again to the end of the track. In all it's 50 meters long and straight. Put the car in park and wait for the computer to tell you you have passed.

Then the road test. It will be the instructor, you and another applicant. There are 4 road courses that the computer (tablet) randomly chooses from - A, B, C, D.

The tablet instructions were in English. The instructor was basically an observer. So, pull out from the parking bay at the driving center. Then when you come to the exit of the car park it tells you to turn left or right - depending on the course it has chosen. Then for 10 minutes you go for a nice drive around while listening to the tablet tell you to turn left/right/make a u-turn in 300... 200.. 100 meters. Then back to the driving center car park where you parallel park the car where you left from. The size is very easy to do parallel parking is very easy.

Just some advice while driving. Don't go over 60 km ... twice I was traveling at 65 km and the instructor told me to slow down. Also, when you come to a traffic light to stop, put the car in neutral and pull the handbrake on. You get points deducted if you leave the car in drive (automatic) and have your foot pressed on the brake pedal.

Also, make sure you understand when you can make a u-turn. I wasn't sure and asked the instructor if it's ok to go now. I think she understood that I wasn't quite sure so I probably lost some points there.

I hadn't driven a car for about 5 years but it was fairly painless.

If anyone is planning to go through the Korean drivers license process like I did, I would suggest to do a little bit of study for the written test. There were some questions that I just had to guess: What is the maximum height that a truck can carrier a load?; If there is an insurance claim against you for a traffic accident, what percentage penalty will you have to pay if you're late with your payment?

I think I was extremely lucky passing the test (I got 65, you need at least 60 to pass). And yes, it's in English.

Things you need to take with you:
ARC; Passport; 4 photos

Choose the type of license you want - manual; automatic; and I think they have one for commercial vehicles (Bongo truck). I just chose automatic even though I'm comfortable driving a manual I just know that I would not buy a manual car anyway.

You can do the whole process in 1 day, but it will be a long day for 8:30 until about 5 or 6 pm. I did it over 2 days. Fill out the application form (attach photo to the form); go to the safety educational video room (1 hour - English subtitles); eye test; written test.

After the written test, I made an appointment for the next day (10:30) to do the course driving test. Then after passing that, made an appointment for 12:30 for the road driving test.

Like I said you can do it in one day but it's a long day. Or if you only have mornings available, you can do each stage on different days. So, if you have limited time to give up 1 or 2 days, you can do it over 5 days. I believe the centers are also open on Saturday's as well.

Total cost was less than 50,000won. You pay when you when you apply for each stage.

I hope this information is helpful for anyone who wants to do their Korean driving license test.

[LPKSA]