Getting a driver's license in Korea is pretty easy but it is a unique experience. First of all I am lucky that my school is very helpful. (and insistent that you get a license,which is partially why there so helpful)One of our administrators drove me to the capital of our province, Daegu, to get my driver's license. It is only about 25 minutes away and easily accessible by train for me, but since I had no idea where to go once I got there the ride that Jay gave me was greatly appreciated.
I feel it needs to be mentioned that I am the only foreigner in Gumi that I know of who has a scooter and is legitimately licensed, registered and insured. Most teachers don't have any sort of license let alone registration or insurance.You really don't need it unless you happen to get in an accident or pulled over by the police(which is very,very rare). Even if you do get pulled over they would most likely just let you go instead of dealing with you. It is possible to get a ticket for not having a license or even have your scooter impounded, but I have never heard of either happening. However, my Hog Won (private school) is particular about following the rules which is good since most Hog Won's just break laws and have no regard for their teachers rights. My school is the exception.
The first thing I did was buy my scooter from a legitimate source, a bike shop. There I obtained my title for the bike. Then I got insurance for about $170 for the year, this includes theft and accident coverage.(my scooter is worth about $900 but foreigners are targets for theft so I felt this was a good deal) The next step was to take the title and insurance paper's to the local Hyonggok City Office and register my scooter. This costs about $30 for the fees and taxes(thats sales tax and all cost's,pretty cheap by US standards). At this point my scooter was legitimate I had a license plate and theft and accident coverage.
The last step is to get my Korean Driver's License. I have a valid Ohio License, so I took that to the Daegu City Hall, paid about $40 (stamp fees,test fees,license fees) and got my license. You have to fill out everything in triplicate and its all in Korean but luckily my friend knows a lot of Korean so he helped me. You also have a quick physical exam and eye test.Then you take a 20 question computer exam on Korean driving laws. This was difficult considering there is no material in English to study from. The test is also in broken British English, I managed to get a 65% and passed, I don't know what the minimum required score is to pass but I think it might be 65%. Regardless I passed. Then they took my Ohio License and gave me a Korean one, it's valid for 10 years. I am suppossed to return it when I leave and get my Ohio license back but since my Ohio one expires in February and I will already have a new Ohio license when I leave. I am going to keep my Korean License as a souvenir of my journey.
