🚗 Japan to Korea: IDP Required + Sides Flip (2026)

Crossing from Japan to South Korea looks like a short hop, but behind the wheel two things change at once — and both need sorting before you go.

First, the document. South Korea will not accept a Japanese licence on its own; you need a 1949 Geneva Convention International Driving Permit, which you arrange in Japan through JAF (the Japan Automobile Federation) before you leave. It is valid for one year from your date of entry and must travel with your home licence and passport — a rental desk in Busan or Seoul will refuse the car without it. There is no way to get one once you have landed, so make it the first item on your list. Our Driving Permit Checker confirms the combination Korea expects.

Second, and just as important, South Korea drives on the right while Japan drives on the left. Everything reverses: you sit on the left of the car, you give way to the left at roundabouts, and your instinct at every junction points the wrong way at first. The danger window is the opening hour — pulling out of the rental lot, joining your first multi-lane road. Take it slowly and deliberately until the new geometry stops feeling alien. The South Korea driving guide has the road-sign basics, mostly in hangul.

City driving is the next surprise. Korean urban traffic is fast and assertive — lane changes are quick, and gaps close. Speeds are signed in km/h: 50 in town, 80 on rural roads, 110 on the expressways. Camera enforcement is dense and unforgiving; many junctions combine speed and red-light cameras, and a typical minor over-limit ticket runs around KRW 30,000. The expressways themselves are smooth and well-signed once you are on them.

The alcohol limit matches home at 0.03, but South Korea polices it hard with frequent night-time checkpoints, and the thresholds for suspension and revocation are low. Don’t drink at all if you are driving.

Fuel sits near the USD 1.42 a litre mark, and the all-purpose emergency line is 112 for police, 119 for fire and ambulance. If you plan to push the speed on the expressways, run the numbers first through the Speeding Fine Calculator.