Purchasing a Vehicle

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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 5,000,000won.

Legal Basis

Article 8 of the Law of Vehicle Administration, Article 18 from the Statute of Vehicle Registration, and Article 27 from the Regulation of Vehicle Registration

Information and Administration Office

Si/Do or Si/Gun/Gu (City/Province or City/Township/District)

Required Documents for Registration of New or Imported Vehicle

  • - Certified copy of Alien Registration 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 whogetpermission todrive)
  • - 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, 1~7
  • - One certificate of cancellation
  • - One certificate of new automobile test

Purchasing a used vehicle

Vehicle Registration Transfer

If you purchase a used vehicle from a car dealer, most of the time the dealer applies 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 the job. You must register your used vehicle within a specified period of time (15 days for purchase, 20 days for donation, 3 months for inheritance) or you can be fined up to 500,000 won.

Legal Basis

Paragraph 1 of Article 12 of the Law of Vehicle Administration, Paragraph 1 of Article 27 of the Statute of Vehicle Registration, and Paragraph 1 of Article 33 from the Regulation of Vehicle Registration.

Information and Administration Office

Si/Do or Si/Gun/Gu (City/Province or City/Township/ District)

Required Documents for Registration Transfer of Used Vehicle

One certificate of used vehicle transfer (for purchase)
- Certificate of seal impression and legal seal from previous owner. (For purchases only, you should write down that the usage of the certificate is for delivery reasons, and provide your name and resident registration number.) If you satisfy the conditions described below, you won’t need them.

  • If a car dealer or car auction owner made a deal or acted on a recommendation
  • If the transferrer and the transferee make a direct deal, and the transferrer confirms at the Gu (District) office that the car has been transferred personally
    - One certificate of presentation(fordonation)
    - 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 familymember and planning a stay for at least 6 months are eligible.

  • 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 importation.
  • Vehicles must have been used for at least three months prior to departure date.
  • 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%).
  • For vehicle and emission inspection information, visit the Korea Transportation Safety Authority.
    www.kotsa.or.kr/Telephone : 1577-0990
  • For more information on gas and noise emission. Visit theNational Institute of Environmental
    http://tprc.nier.go.kr
    Telephone : 032-560-7653

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 (which 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 use of the automobile, a registration of change in the base location of use can be substituted with a report of changes to the owner’s place of sojourn.

Change of Address

Article 11 of the Law of Vehicle Administration, Paragraph 1 of Article 22 from the Statute of Vehicle Registration Article, and Paragraph 1 of Article 29 from the Regulation of Vehicle Registration

Information and Administration Office

Si/Do or Si/Gun/Gu (City/Province or City/Township/ District)

Required Documents

  • - Copyof car registration
  • - One document (if the car is kept for business, then youwill need a certificate regarding the changes of the business, according to the laws of the Vehicle Transportation Service) to certify the purposes of addressalteration (contents of changed address).
  • - Two registration number plates (for changes of registration number)

Automobile insurance

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

Check the links below formore information.

Automobile test

Automobile test All drivers are required by law to take their vehicles in for regular checkups. After registering your vehicle, you will receive a notice in the mail requesting a checkup. It is recommended that you stay aware of the validity term. The penalty fine starts to accumulate 30 days after your initial 30–day period. 20,000 won will be charged after the registration date. From that point on, an additional 10,000 won will be charged every three days. The maximum penalty is 300,000 won. In certain circumstances such as long-term repair requirements due to car accidents, etc., you can apply for deferment of the test. Regular automobile tests can be taken at test locations from authorized private repair centers.

Disposal

Vehicles can be disposed of at any auto junkyard. It is not a difficult process and should not cost you to get this done. In fact, the junkyard will pay you for the metal parts.

Required documents

  • - Certificate of vehicle registration
  • - A copy of the vehicle’s original registration issued within the last three days
  • - A certificate of ownership with the owner’s seal impression
  • - You must also present your alien registration card

* Source : http://english.seoul.go.kr/lh/residence/driving.php?pidx=2