3 Things To Know Before Renting a Car on Jeju Island, South Korea

When we were planning our trip to South Korea, it was always a given that we would visit Seoul and Busan, Korea’s two largest cities. But there was one more place I wanted to go, after reading The Island of Sea Women a few years ago: Jeju Island. Matt had never heard of Jeju Island, but when I told him it would be an escape to nature after spending five weeks in some of Asia’s biggest cities, he was immediately convinced. 🙂

During the majority of our trip, we used public transportation to get around, but we decided that renting a car on Jeju Island would be the most time- and cost-effective option — it would allow us to explore more of the island at our own pace, without having to deal with catching buses and dragging our bags around with us. The rental car worked out really well, and it actually helped us stumble across some places we wouldn’t have been able to visit otherwise!

So while I highly recommend a rental car for your Jeju trip, here’s what you need to know before renting a car on Jeju Island.

1. You Need an International Driver’s License — Yes, Really

I’m pretty sure we had rented cars in Ireland, the UK, Germany, and Ecuador in the past without having an International Driving Permit (IDP). In Spain, you’re theoretically supposed to have one, but it’s kind of hit-or-miss whether you’ll be asked for it. But for driving in South Korea, it’s absolutely NOT optional.

If you’re American, it’s really easy and cheap to get one. (Just like how easy and cheap it was to get our regular driver’s licenses, lol.) All you have to do is find a local AAA office near you that offers IDPs. You fill out the form, bring it in along with your regular driver’s license and two identical 2×2 inch photos (like a passport photo), and pay $20. They issue it to you immediately!

The IDP is valid for one year, and you can choose a start date for your license within six months. Matt and I got our IDPs when we were visiting the U.S. in April, but we weren’t going to South Korea until September. So when we got our licenses, we requested the start date to be September 1, 2025 — which means it’s good until August 31, 2026.

Learn more about IDPs from AAA.

2. You Are Going To Want a GPS in the Rental Car

Fun fact: Google Maps doesn’t work in South Korea.

Apparently, South Korea refuses to work with Google to export the necessary data to create a high-quality map for the platform. The cited reason is national security concerns, particularly regarding its contentious relationship with North Korea. But there are likely other factors at play, like questions over who should be “in charge” of a country’s data, and whether local providers like Naver Maps and Kakao Maps should be displaced.

Anyway, long story short… Google Maps doesn’t work in South Korea. If you visited other cities before your stop on Jeju Island, you’ve probably already figured that out and downloaded Naver or Kakao. (I personally used my favorite travel app, Citymapper, in Seoul.)

When you’re taking public transportation through a metro area, you can get by with less-than-perfect translations of directions and general ideas of what number metro line you need to take. But when you’re driving… you’re going to want a GPS.

Many rental cars come with an extremely accurate GPS built into the car. You can choose between Korean and English navigation, and it also helps keep you informed of speed limits and traffic cameras in the area. (More on that later.) Plus, you don’t have to worry about whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or have good cell service, especially if you’re in small towns.

I’m not sure if we paid extra for the GPS or not, but I do think it was worth it, and I would do it again for sure in the future.

3. The Speed Limits Are Extremely Low… And Extremely Strict

When it comes to speed limits, you’ve heard of school zones. Where you have to drop your speed down to like 25 mph when school is in session.

But have you ever heard of silver zones?

You will when you rent a car on Jeju Island!

Jeju Island has a lot of old people. Apparently, those older than 65 make up 20% of the island’s population, and nearly 13% are older than 80. So there are lots of silver zones, or senior protection zones — even more than school zones — throughout Jeju Island, where the speed limit drops very drastically… to 30 km/h, or about 18 mph.

Also, there are traffic cameras EVERYWHERE. Also, the cameras allegedly don’t give you any “wiggle room” if you’re a kilometer or two over the speed limit. Also, it takes you soooo long to go even a short distance on the island because you have to drive so slow all the time. Also, the GPS I told you to get will be screaming at you constantly. “Senior Protection Zone ahead, in 500 meters. Senior Protection Zone ahead, in 400 meters. Senior Protection Zone ahead, in 300 meters…”

(We could hardly even listen to music while driving around the island because the GPS wouldn’t shut up for more than 15 seconds at a time.)

I’m making fun of it, but I obviously understand it’s important to drive safely, especially around vulnerable populations like children or the elderly. I understand that there are a lot of tourists who are renting a car on Jeju Island, and speed limits help prevent accidents and keep the road safer for everyone.

But I’m also still not convinced that we aren’t going to suddenly receive like 20 speeding tickets in the mail one day when we least expect it. 😬

(Bonus) 4. You Might Not Have To Pay for Gas

Despite my many car rentals in the last 10 years or so, renting a car on Jeju Island introduced me to something I’d never seen before: the gas card.

Note: This was with SK Rent-a-Car, so I can’t speak to other car rental companies on the island. But we did have a good experience with SK!

Normally, when you rent a car, you pay for your own gas with your own credit card. If the car’s gas tank is full when you pick it up, typically you need to return it to the car rental center with a full tank — otherwise, the rental company will charge you (a super high price) to fill it up themselves. In this situation, you’re essentially paying a flat rate for the rental car and then paying for distance driven in the form of gas.

But on Jeju Island, it was very different. When we picked up the rental car, the worker at the desk told us there was a blue gas card in the car and explained how it worked. Instead of paying for gas with your own money, you use the gas card, which is kind of like the rental car company’s credit card.

However, when you return the rental car at the end of your trip, you will be charged an additional fee based on the number of kilometers driven. Typically, this rate is around ₩140-200 per km — which is about 9-14¢ (USD). I did not see any communication about this in our rental documents, which just said “unlimited kilometers,” but I just checked our credit card statement and it looks like we paid an additional $53.24 USD when we returned the car, after four days.

I honestly felt like it kind of all evened out, whether we were paying for our own gas (like we normally do) or whether the car company paid for gas and we paid for the kilometers driven. So if you’re in a similar situation when renting a car on Jeju Island, don’t worry: you’re not getting charged for gas AND distance.

Plan Your Jeju Island Trip

Now you know the most important tips about renting a car on Jeju Island! I hope this helps you avoid any surprises… except maybe the speeding tickets. I can’t help you with that one. 😜

Have you ever visited Jeju Island, or are you planning to? Would you rent a car, or try to take public transportation? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

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