Go to Main Content
T T

Vehicle Purchase & Insurance

New Registration

It is important to register your vehicle upon purchase. The car manufacturer, dealer, etc., are required by law to register vehicles at the purchaser’s request. Driving a brand new vehicle without registration can result in a sentence of up to 2 years or a fine of up to 5,000,000 won.

The Information and Administration Office

Each Gu (district) office

Required Documents for the Registration of New or Imported Vehicle
  • Certified
    copy of your Residence card and passport
  • Application for registration
  • One vehicle certificate (for new vehicle)
  • One import declaration document or import certificate (for imported
    vehicle)
  • Proof of permission to drive the vehicle temporarily and temporary tag number
    (for those who get permission to drive)
  • One ownership certificate (for those who cannot prove ownership with document
    3 or 4)
  • Certificate of safety test (for safety tested vehicle)
Required Documents for Re-Registration
  • Same documents as above, documents1-7
  • One certificate of cancellation
  • One certificate of new automobile test

Vehicle Registration Transfer

If you purchase a used vehicle from a car dealer, most of the time the dealer will apply for the registration for you. However, you can do it yourself. If you don’t apply for a registration transfer, then the previous owner can do it. You must register your used vehicle within a specified period of time (15 days for purchase, 20 days for donation, 3 months for inheritance, within 15 days for other situation) or you can be fined up to 500,000 won.

Information and Administration Office

Each district office Cada oficina del distrito

Required Documents for the Registration Transfer of a Used Vehicle
  • One used vehicle transfer certificate (for purchase)
  • Certificate of the owner’s seal stamp and legal seal from the previous owner. (For purchases only, you should write down that the usage of the certificate is for delivery reasons, and you should provide your name and resident registration number.)
    If you satisfy  one of the conditions described below, you do not need to attach a certificate of the previous owner’s seal stamp them:

※ If an automobile salesperson or an applicant of an automobile auction house sell or help find an automobile
※ If the transferor and the transferee make a direct deal, and the transferor personally confirms at the Gu (District) office whether the car has been transferred.

  • One certificate of presentation (for donation)
  • One car registration (except when the previous owner applied for it for you)
Cars imported as part of moving cargo

Foreigners entering Korea with the intent to reside for at least a year, or those accompanying a family member and planning a stay for at least 6 months are eligible to bring an automobile as part of their moving shipment.

  • Must be recognized by customs as part of the moving cargo
  • The vehicle must be a small- to medium–sized vehicle. Small vehicles and sedans are ideal, and trucks, mobile homes and other vehicles exceeding passenger space for ten are prohibited from being imported.
  • Vehicles must have been used for at least three months prior to departure date.
  • Must be registered under the applicant’s own name. Must provide vehicle registration and insurance documents as proof.
  • Taxes and Tariffs: 2,000 cc or more (34.24%), 800 cc – 2,000 cc (26.52%), 800 cc or less (18.8%).

 

Korea Transportation Safety Authority - vehicle and emission inspection information

GO

National Institute of Environmental Research - information on gas and noise emissions

GO

Change of address

A change of address requires an application by you to alter your registration. Those who fail to register their new address within 15 days of their move (starts from the day of the move) will be fined up to 300,000 won. If the registered address of the automobile owner is also the base location for the use of the automobile, a registration of change in the base location of automobile use can be substituted with a report on the change of the owner’s place of residence.

Information and Administration Office

Each district office

Required Documents
  • Copy of car registration
  • One document (if the car is for business purposes, then you will need a certificate regarding the changes of the business, according to the laws of the Vehicle Transportation Service) to certify the purposes of  your address alteration (contents of changed address).
  • Two registration number plates (for changes of the registration number)

Automobile insurance

All foreigners, including citizens, military, diplomats, consulates, and foreign corporations can be insured.
There are quite a few auto insurance companies

 

Check the links below for more information. 

AIG General Insurance
  • Tel. +82-2-1544-2792

AIG General Insurance

GO

Hanwha General Insurance Co., Ltd.
  • Tel. +82-2-1566-8000

Hanwha General Insurance Co., Ltd.

GO

LIG Insurance
  • Tel. +82-2-1544-0114

LIG Insurance

GO

Samsung Fire Insurance Co.
  • Tel. +82-2-1588-5114

Samsung Fire Insurance Co.

GO

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co.
  • Tel. +82-2-1588-5656

Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance Co.

GO

Automobile test

All drivers are required by law to take their vehicles in for regular checkups. Non-commercial automobiles are required to have a comprehensive automobile checkup from the 4th year of use and a regular checkup every 2 years. This checkup should be done at least 31 days before the expiration date. The penalty fine starts to accumulate 30 days after your initial 30–day period. 20,000 KRW will be charged after the registration date. From that point on, an additional 10,000 KRW will be charged every two days. The maximum penalty is 300,000 KRW. However, if this regular checkup cannot be done within a specified period due to unavoidable circumstances, citizens can apply to postpone the checkup. The automobile checkup can be done at the Road Traffic Authority or at a designated private repair shop. In certain circumstances, such as long-term repair requirements due to car accidents, etc., you can apply for a deferment of the test. Regular automobile tests can be taken at Road Traffic Safety Authority or test locations from authorized private repair centers. In addition, automobiles, which are registered in an area, are required to have an exhaust gas checkup, and the effective period and method of the checkup and penalty fines imposed are the same as those for a regular automobile checkup.

Disposal

The owner of a automobile can dispose their car at any registered junkyard with an automobile registration card and ID. If using a proxy (disposal agency) and not a registered junk yard, a certificate of the owner’s seal stamp of the automobile owner is required as well.

Required documents
  • Certificate of vehicle registration.
  • A copy of the vehicle’s original registration that has been issued within the last three days.
  • A certificate of ownership with the owner’s seal stamp.
  • You must also present your Alien Registration Card.
Disposal procedure

The time taken for disposing of an automobile is 5-10 min. After disposing an automobile at a registered junk yard, get an automobile disposal certificate.

※ If an automobile is disposed at an unregistered junk yard, a certificate of automobile disposal cannot be obtained. If some accidents occur to the automobile  after the disposal, the liability will be on the owner of the vehicle, so a registered junk yard must be used.

Impossible to dispose an automobile
  • A mortgage is set or sequestration is imposed.
  • Disposable if an interested party submits a cancellation certificate and a certificate of the owner’s seal stamp.
  • Disposable if an automobile registration government office submits a request for automobile disposal.
  • An automobile cannot be disposed it the registered details of an automobile, such as a vehicle identification number, differs from the details in the vehicle registration record.


Share Scrap
E-mail Copy