Visa requirements for South Korean citizens



Visa requirements for South Korean citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of South Korea.

As of 2024, South Korean citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 193 countries and territories, ranking the South Korean passport 2nd in the world according to the Henley Passport Index.

As of 2024, the passports of South Korea, Andorra, Brunei, Chile, Israel and Palau are the only ones to provide visa-free access to all G8 countries, and the passports of South Korea, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Hong Kong, Israel, Palau and Uruguay are the to provide visa free access to all European countries''.

Visa requirements
Visa requirements for holders of normal passports travelling for tourist purposes:

Territories and disputed areas
Visa requirements for South Korean citizens for visits to various territories, disputed areas, partially recognized countries and restricted zones:

Access-restricted countries
, the South Korean government, due to safety concerns, has banned its citizens and permanent residents from visiting Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Also, South Korean citizens are basically not allowed to visit North Korea except when special authorizations are granted by the Ministry of Unification on a limited basis (e.g. workers and businessmen visiting or commuting to / from Kaesong Industrial Complex). Yet eight people on six occasions, from Lim Su-kyung in 1989 to Ro Su-hui in 2012, have visited one or more banned countries unapproved and returned to South Korea via Panmunjom were sentenced to imprisonment of up to 10 years.

APEC Business Travel Card


Holders of an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) travelling on business do not require a visa to the following countries:

1 - Up to 180 days 2 - Up to 90 days 3 - Up to 90 days in a period of 180 days 4 - Up to 60 days

The card must be used in conjunction with a passport and has the following advantages:
 * No need to apply for a visa or entry permit to APEC countries, as the card is treated as such (except by Canada and United States)
 * Undertake legitimate business in participating economies
 * Expedited border crossing in all member economies, including transitional members

Consular protection of South Korean citizens abroad


The Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea each set the territorial scope in their respective constitutions to cover the entire Korean Peninsula.

So the two Koreas regard each other's territory as part of their own territory and do not recognize the sovereignty of the other side as a country. For this reason, embassies based on the premise of establishing diplomatic relations between foreign countries cannot be mutually established.

Inter-Korean exchange relations are not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of each government, but the Ministry of Unification on the South Korean side and the Workers' Party of Korea on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea side.