Visa requirements for South Korean citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of South Korea.
As of 2026, South Korean citizens have visa-free or visa on arrival access to 187 countries and territories, ranking the South Korean passport 2nd in the world according to the Henley Passport Index.
As of 2026, 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 only ones to provide visa-free access to all European countries. In addition, the South Korean passport provides visa-free access to the largest area of the world.
The South Korean government has banned travel to several countries to ensure the safety of its citizens. Neither consular assistance nor protections will be provided to people traveling to those countries with the South Korean passport, unless they have been given special authorization before traveling.
Visa requirements for holders of normal passports travelling for tourist purposes:
Visa requirements for South Korean citizens for visits to various territories, disputed areas, partially recognized countries and restricted zones:
From January 1, 2014 to present, the South Korean government, due to safety concerns, has banned its citizens and permanent residents from visiting Afghanistan, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and other regions for safety reasons. These measures are being extended every 6 months.
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 8 people on 6 occasions, from Lim Su-kyung in 1989 to Ro Su-hui in 2012, who visited one or more banned countries without prior authorization and returned to South Korea via Panmunjom, were sentenced to imprisonment of up to 10 years.
Holders of an APEC Business Travel Card (ABTC) travelling on business do not require a visa to the following countries:
<sub>1 - Up to 180 days</sub><br /> <sub>2 - Up to 90 days</sub><br /> <sub>3 - Up to 90 days in a period of 180 days</sub><br /> <sub>4 - Up to 60 days</sub>
The card must be used in conjunction with a passport and has the following advantages:
South Korea and North 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 North Korean side.