The other day an acquaintance of mine told me that she wanted to obtain a Korean driver’s license. But, she said, the thought of paying 300,000 won for one put her off. I asked how she had arrived at that figure and she remarked that another teacher told her that was what it cost. Well, let me tell you, 300,000 are more than six times the actual cost. 

I went through this process during September and now have a license to drive in Korea. My license cost less than 50,000 won and is good for seven years. Let me take you through the steps required to get your license. However, I have one caveat; remember, what was a procedure, a rule, a fee, or a requirement for me may not necessarily obtain today. 

It is possible to do everything in one full day but you may wish to devote two half days to this effort. First, you need a driver’s license from your home country that is good for at least twelve months beyond the date that you are applying for a Korean license. You must also bring two passport size photos with you. I seem to recall that photo machines are available at the licensing office in Nam-bu. 

You will need an English translation of your license. Your first stop should be Image Consulting on the top (9th) floor of the Archi Building in Choryang (Stop #14 on the subway). Their telephone number is 469-9482 and they are on the same side of the street as the Pusan Train Station. Leave your license with them and you should be able to pick up the translation in an hour. The cost will be between 6,500 and 7,000 won. Then, get back on the subway and go two more stops to Chungang (Stop #12), and go to Immigration. Go to the 2nd floor and all the way to the end of the main counter, which is on your left. You must have your passport and immigration card or booklet with you. What you need is a printout of the dates that you have entered and exited Korea. (Don’t ask me what this has to do with driving a car in Korea; all I know is that it is one of the pieces of paper required for a license). This shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes and the cost is 1,000 won. 

Then, it is back on the subway to Image Consulting for the translation of your license and directions to the lawyer that they work with, as the translation of your license must be notarized. Once you locate the attorney’s office it will require twenty minutes or so for him to copy, stamp, and put together all your documents. The cost for this is 22,000 won. Now you are ready to go to the drivers license bureau in Nam-gu. 

When you arrive at this office, enter the building and go downstairs. You will go into the main room. You will go to a counter where they will look at your paperwork and fill out an application form for you. The fee for this is about 5,000 won. Then, you go to an adjoining room for two brief eye exams. One is for color blindness and the other is the usual chart of letters in descending size. 

After you have finished downstairs you go up to the main floor. Walk to the front counter and they will direct you to a window in back where you will pay about 7,500 won. Then, return to the front counter again. You will turn in all the remaining papers and your foreign license to them. They will tell you to return in five working days to pick up your Korean license. At that time they will give you a Korean license and return your foreign license. 

Don’t lose your receipt. You must have it to pick up your new license. 

Now, that wasn’t so bad after all, was it? And the cost certainly wasn’t 300,000 won.