Visa requirements for South Korean citizens

South Korean citizens can enter all 29 Schengen states without a visa, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole area.

Of the 198 countries whose entry rules are known in both directions, South Korea and 109 of them let each other’s citizens in without a visa obtained in advance (visa-free, on arrival or with an ETA; an e-visa counts as a visa).

1 country asks holders of the South Korean passport for a visa beforehand, although its own citizens enter South Korea without one: Nauru.

The reverse holds for 54 countries: holders of the South Korean passport get in without a visa obtained in advance, but their citizens need one for South Korea (Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus and 49 others).

14 countries ask holders of the South Korean passport for a visa obtained before travel from an embassy, a consulate or a visa centre. 3 of them have an embassy or consulate on record in South Korea.

11 countries have no embassy or career consulate on record in South Korea, so the application usually goes to one of their posts in another country. Counting the post an official diplomatic list names for South Korea, or else the nearest one within 2,000 km, those posts are most often in China (6).

The United States refused 25% of visitor-visa (B1/B2) applications from citizens of South Korea in fiscal year 2025, by the State Department’s adjusted refusal rate. 82 of the 197 nationalities with a published rate had a lower one and 114 a higher one; the middle value was 32%.

Visa-free travel with the South Korean passport

By continent, the South Korean passport is visa-free in 45 countries in Europe, 30 countries in the Americas, 22 countries in Asia, 13 countries in Africa and 4 countries in Oceania. The longest visa-free stays for South Korean citizens are allowed in Georgia (360 days), Antigua and Barbuda (180 days), Armenia (180 days), Costa Rica (180 days), Dominica (180 days) and Mexico (180 days).

Visa on arrival

South Korean citizens can get a visa at the airport or land border of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burundi, Cambodia, Cape Verde, the Comoros and 32 others.

E-Visa and electronic travel authorisation

An e-Visa, applied for online before the trip, is how South Korean citizens enter Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cuba, DR Congo and 14 others. Australia, Canada, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and 4 others ask instead for an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a lighter online check than a visa.

South Korea’s neighbours

For the neighbouring countries, the rules are: North Korea (visa required).

How the passport compares

Among neighbouring passports, the North Korean passport ranks 189th (38 destinations). Of the 198 passports in the data, 62 can enter visa-free, 48 need an ETA and 88 need an e-Visa for South Korea.