Getting a driver's license in Korea

Last week I got my very own Korean driver's license - yay! So excited. :D

Thanks to a new Canadian friend I met a couple of months ago, I was introduced to this place called Multicultural Family Support Center. I didn't even know there was such a place in Jeonju. But it's really great. The people there are really nice and helpful, and they offer several different types of classes, like language, music, arts and crafts classes etc., and most of them are free. They even offer a driver's license class to help you get a driver's license.

Of course getting a driver's license can't be entirely free. But the class they offered was free, meaning we got free books and free lessons for about a month to help us pass the written exam. They also provided us with all the information and all the documents we needed, which made everything so easy. Of course you can easily get a driver's license on your own if you look up all the information online, but it was just so much easier and more comfortable this way. :)

THEE TYPES OF EXAMS:

1. WRITTEN EXAM

So the first thing you need to do is pass the written exam. Luckily the written exam is available in several different languages, so you can take it in English, Russian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese etc. I originally wanted to take it in Korean, because I also wanted to learn all the vocabulary at the same time. But I ended up not having enough time for that, since my family was visiting me for about 3 weeks. So I just took it in English. The book (which we got for free from the center, but otherwise costs about 10dollars) contains all 700 questions and answers. Out of these you get 40 on the exam:

22 questions with 1 correct answer (22x 2points = 44points)
17 questions with 2 correct answers (17x 3points = 51points)
1 video question (1x 5points = 5points)
You then need at least 60 points out of 100 to pass the exam.

 

It took me about 3~4 days to study. What I did was, I just tried answering all the question to see how many I already knew. Luckily most of the questions are pretty logical, so you can solve them correctly if you just think about it a bit. I marked all the questions that I got wrong and after finishing all the 700 questions I went back to the ones I got wrong the first time, which was around 125. I tried solving those again and still ended up with around 40 of them wrong. Then I just wrote the questions and answers of those 40 down on a piece of paper and just learned those. This method seems to work, 'cause I ended up getting 100 points on my written exam. :)

Actually before taking the written exam, you need to get your eyes checked at a hospital. It takes less than 5 minutes and costs less than 10 dollars.

After you're done with that, you go to a driving school.

There you first need to take 5 hours of traffic safety education class. I didn't realized I was supposed to listen to the whole 5 hours on the same day and didn't bring any food with me. Luckily the driving school provided us with big bowls of ramyeon (Korean cup noodles) during a break time. :) Well I must say the driving school I went to was really nice. They also gave us ramyeon before the exam. :) The instructors there were all really nice too and even though the school was located quite far from where I live, they had a shuttle bus pick us up every morning. :)

2. DRIVING COURSE EXAM

After that it's time for a driving course test. You only spend 2 hours of driving on the school's driving course. After that you immediately get a driving course test. Which is super easy. You have to sit in a car by yourself and do exactly as the computer tells you. For example:

-turn on the engine within the next 10 seconds
-turn on the left blinker within the next 5 seconds
-turn on the wipers within the next 5 seconds
And so on. Really super easy. I don't even know how anyone can fail that test.

3.ON-ROAD DRIVING EXAM

Finally it's time to get on a road. I was really excited, although at the same time a bit scared. I wasn't sure if I was ready to get on the road, after only 2 hours of practice on the driving course. But I trusted my instructor. There are 4 possible courses you can get on the final exam and you only get to practice driving on those 4 courses. 

The minimum is 6 hours of practice driving before taking the exam. I had 2 hours of Monday, 2 hours on Tuesday and 2 hours on Wednesday morning. And I already had an exam on Wednesday afternoon. I really wasn't too confident, because 6 hours just doesn't seem enough. But I guess it's enough for those 4 courses.

There's a special instructor for the exam. And the whole exam and scores are recorded on this special tablet. When you're ready, you click where it says 'course' and the computer picks a random course for you. I got course B.

There are 4 available courses at that driving school. A, B and E are kind of similar. But the last U-turn on the E course is different, 'cause there's no special green traffic signal to turn left. I didn't like this course and was hoping to get course C. Surprisingly everyone else seemed to hate course C. I guess 'cause it's different. But I liked that there was only one U-turn on that course. I really don't like U-turns.

Anyway I got a B course. You start with 100 points and then keep getting minus points for when you make mistakes. You need at lest 70 points to pass. I passed with 84 points - yay! :D

Since all is done thought a computer, the results are sent to the police station right away and my driver's license was waiting for me at the driving school the next day already.

Here it is - yay. ^^

However, I am still not confident enough to drive on the road by myself yet. I will practice for a while with my husband, before I start driving on my own. But first, he needs to teach me how to park. :D I don't think I can go anywhere before I know how to park. :D

So basically, getting a driver's license in Korea is super easy. But that also kind of worries me. I mean, 6 hours of practice driving is just not enough, is it? No wonder so many Koreans drive like complete maniacs (I don't mean to be rude, but it's kind of true). I know that back in my country, people get around 20 practice hours on average, which also includes driving at night, on the highway etc. Nothing like that here, just 4 set courses. 

Korea is going to make some changes about getting a driver's license at the end of December 2016. Which is also one of the reasons the center encouraged us to pass the exam as soon as possible. I really hope they make it a bit more difficult.

It was also not very expensive. I paid around 400 dollars at the driving school. Another 7 for written exam, 7 for medical check up. And I think about 20 dollars for getting my driver's license issued. So still less than 450 dollars all together. Compared to Europe, that's really not expensive, right?. Unless you fail. Then it can get expensive. Because every time you fail the final exam you need to pay 55 dollars to retake it. Or you can buy more practice hours, if you feel that 6 hours are not enough. Then you pay 30 dollars per extra hour, but of course the cost may be different depending on your driving school.

Anyway, congratulations to me ;) Oh and speaking of congratulations: the center organized this small "party" at the end of class and gave us all small presents for passing the exam. I actually got 2 presents. I got an extra one for being the only one who passed the written exam with 100 points :D

I got a cute tumbler and a purple shopping bag. :) Big thanks to the Multicultural Family Support Center in Jeonju. :)