Korean Traffic Rules Foreigners Get Wrong: Turns and Lanes

Most of Korea’s traffic rules will feel familiar. A handful don’t, and those are exactly where foreign drivers pick up fines: turning right on red, making a U-turn, drifting into a blue lane, and cruising through a school zone at city speed.

This is Part 2 of our Korea driving series. Fines here are for a passenger car. The first figure is the on-the-spot police fine; the second, where given, is the camera fine. Part 3 explains the difference.

Can you turn right on a red light in Korea?

Yes, but the rule changed on January 22, 2023, and many Koreans still get it wrong.

• Signal ahead is red: come to a full stop before the crosswalk, whether or not anyone is there. Then turn slowly.
• Signal ahead is green: you can turn, but stop if a pedestrian is crossing or about to cross.
• The crosswalk after the corner: stop if there are pedestrians, whatever the pedestrian light shows.
• A dedicated right-turn signal (우회전 신호등, an arrow light on the corner) overrides all of this. Turn only on its green arrow.

Turning on red where there’s a right-turn arrow signal is a signal violation: ₩60,000 and 15 points (₩70,000 by camera). Failing to stop for pedestrians is ₩60,000 and 10 points. Police ran a national right-turn crackdown from April to June 2026, because in 2025, 56% of people killed in right-turn crashes were pedestrians.

When do you have to stop for pedestrians?

Since July 12, 2022, Korean law says you must stop when a pedestrian is crossing or is about to cross (통행하려고 하는 때). Someone standing at the kerb looking at the road counts. This applies to crosswalks without signals too.

Inside a school zone, at a crosswalk without a signal, you must always stop, even if nobody is there.

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How do left turns and “unprotected left turns” work?

A normal left turn is allowed only on a green left arrow. A plain green light does not mean you can turn left.

The exception is a blue sign reading 비보호 (bi-boho, “unprotected”). There, you may turn left on a plain green light, yielding to oncoming traffic. Turning left on red at a 비보호 junction is still a signal violation.

Can you make a U-turn anywhere?

No. U-turns are banned by default and allowed only where a U-turn sign stands over a broken centre line. Look for a small plate under the sign:

↩️ Conditional U-turn signs

Plate says	Meaning
좌회전시	Only while the left-turn arrow is on
보행신호시	Only while the pedestrian light is green
적색신호시	Only while your signal is red
(nothing)	Any time it’s safe

A U-turn across the centre line where it isn’t allowed counts as crossing the centre line: ₩60,000 and 30 points. Ignoring the condition on the plate is treated as a signal violation (₩60,000 and 15 points).

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What are the blue lanes, and when can you use them?

Blue lines mark bus-only lanes. In Seoul:

🚌 Seoul bus-only lanes

Lane type	How it looks	Bus-only hours
Centre-of-road	Lanes in the middle with bus-stop islands	24 hours, every day
Kerbside, all day	Double blue line	Weekdays 07:00–21:00
Kerbside, rush hour	Single blue line	Weekdays 07:00–10:00 and 17:00–21:00
Dotted blue section	Broken blue line	You may cross to turn right or enter a building

Always trust the sign above the lane over this table. A camera catch is ₩50,000 per camera, and on a long corridor you can pass several.

The Gyeongbu Expressway (Seoul–Busan) also has a bus lane in the leftmost lane, 07:00–21:00: on weekdays from Yangjae to Anseong IC (56 km), and on weekends and holidays all the way to Sintanjin IC (134 km). Rental vans with 9 or more seats may use it only with 6 or more people on board. The police fine is ₩60,000 and 30 points.

How fast can you go in a school zone?

30 km/h. School zones (어린이보호구역) are marked by red road surfaces, yellow signs, and usually a camera. Between 08:00 and 20:00, fines are doubled: speeding up to 20 km/h over is ₩60,000 (₩70,000 by camera), and a signal violation is ₩120,000.

Some cities are trialling higher night-time limits in school zones, but only 84 of Korea’s 15,856 school zones use them. Assume 30 km/h unless a sign or electronic board shows otherwise.

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Which lane should you use on the expressway?

The leftmost lane (1st lane) is for passing only. Once you’ve overtaken, move back right. You may stay there only when traffic is slower than 80 km/h. Police catch about 54,000 drivers a year for this, using unmarked cars and drones: ₩40,000 and 10 points, or ₩50,000 if caught on video.

The rest of the list

📋 Other rules with fines (passenger car, 2026)

Rule	Fine
Blocking an intersection when the light changes (꼬리물기)	₩40,000 (₩50,000 by camera)
Seatbelt: driver, or any unbelted passenger (every seat)	₩30,000 each
Child under 13 unbelted / under 6 without a car seat	₩60,000
Using a phone while driving	₩60,000 + 15 points
No turn signal (30 m before on roads, 100 m on expressways)	₩30,000
Cutting into a queue	₩30,000
Driving on the expressway shoulder	₩60,000 + 30 points
Headlights off at night or in a tunnel	₩20,000

Drink-driving starts at a blood alcohol level of 0.03%, lower than in many countries. That’s roughly one drink. Between 0.03% and 0.08% the penalty is up to one year in prison or a ₩5 million fine; above that it rises steeply, and refusing a breath test is punished even harder. Don’t drive after any alcohol.