Renting a Car and Car Sharing

For most residents in a Korean city this is the sensible answer: do not own a car, hire one for the weekends you actually need it. Public transport covers the rest, and the arithmetic usually favours hiring by a wide margin.

Two things decide whether you can. Which licence you hold, and the insurance tier you accept at the counter - which is where a cheap rental becomes an expensive one.

Which licence works

Licence	Generally accepted
Korean driving licence	Everywhere, no questions
International permit, plus your home licence	Widely, and both must be presented together
Home licence alone	No

The international permit must be obtained before you leave your own country and is time-limited from your entry to Korea. Companies will also check it against your passport. Getting a Korean driving licence covers the permit's limits and the exchange route.

Expect minimum age and minimum experience requirements - typically an age floor above the legal driving age, plus a period of holding the licence - with young-driver surcharges above that. Larger and premium vehicles carry higher floors.

You will also need a credit card in the driver's name for the deposit. A debit card is sometimes accepted and often not.

The insurance tiers, where the money is

Every counter offers a basic cover included in the headline price and two or three upgrades. The headline rate usually comes with a substantial deductible, meaning you pay the first slice of any damage.

What the tiers typically do:

• Basic - included. Liability cover, with a large excess on damage to the rental car.
• Mid - reduces the excess to something survivable.
• Full - removes or nearly removes the excess, and often adds loss-of-use charges.

The upgrade is frequently worth it, and for one reason specific to driving here: fault in a Korean accident is apportioned as a percentage, not assigned wholly to one party, so even an incident that feels like the other driver's problem can leave you with a share. Car insurance in Korea explains how that works.

Check whether your own travel insurance or credit card already provides rental excess cover before paying for it twice.

Car sharing, which is what residents actually use

App-based car sharing is excellent in Korea and better suited to city life than conventional rental. Cars sit in dedicated bays in apartment complexes, car parks and near stations, you book by the hour from your phone, and you unlock the car with the app.

Why it suits a resident: no counter, no paperwork each time, hourly rather than daily pricing, and vehicles within walking distance. For an afternoon of moving furniture or a day trip, it is the cheapest route to a car in the country.

Registration takes a few days because the licence has to be verified, so sign up before you need it, not on the morning you do. Foreign licences and permits are accepted by some services and not all, so check before relying on it. Fuel is usually paid with a card in the car and tolls are billed afterwards.

Tolls, fuel and parking

Expressway tolls are collected electronically. Rental and shared cars have a transponder fitted and the tolls are billed to you afterwards, so you simply drive through the electronic lanes.

Fuel policies vary: return it full, return it as received, or prepay. Returning it full yourself is almost always cheapest. Photograph the gauge at pickup and return.

Parking is the real cost of driving in Korean cities, and it is worth checking what your destination offers before deciding to drive at all. Many attractions and all apartment complexes charge.

Picking it up and handing it back

The ordinary discipline, which matters more here because damage disputes turn on percentages:

• Photograph and video the whole car at pickup, including wheels, bumpers and the roof, with the time visible.
• Note existing damage on the form rather than trusting that it is already recorded.
• Check the fuel level and mileage against the paperwork.
• Photograph it again at return, in the same detail.
• Get a signed return confirmation rather than leaving the keys and walking away.

Driving out of the city

Which is the point of hiring one. A few Korean specifics:

Navigation apps are excellent and essential; the Korean ones handle traffic and speed cameras better than the international ones. Expressway driving is straightforward and well signposted, with service areas that are genuinely good. Cameras are everywhere and fines arrive by post, which for a rental means the company passes them to you with an administration charge.

Mountain roads in winter need caution and sometimes equipment. And on Jeju, where almost everyone hires, book well ahead in season because the island runs out of cars.

Life in Korea covers where to go, and getting around Korea covers when the train is still the better choice.

Where this goes wrong

• Arriving with a home licence only. You need the permit with it.
• Taking the basic tier and meeting the excess after a shared-fault incident.
• Paying for excess cover your card already provides.
• Signing up to car sharing on the day you need it, before verification completes.
• No pickup photographs, and a disputed damage charge.
• Driving into a city centre without checking what parking costs.

Where to go next

Car leasing and long-term rental covers the step up if you need a car most weeks, and getting around Korea covers the alternative most residents settle on.