South Korea North Korea
South Korea 
North KoreaLast reviewed July 2026
Crossing the border
South Korea and North Korea share a land border you can cross by car. Keep your passport, national driving licence and International Driving Permit together, and check opening hours and any toll or vignette requirements before you travel.
Driving rules in North Korea
- Drive on the right (not applicable to tourists).
- Independent driving is prohibited.
- All movement is guided.
- Roads outside Pyongyang are sparse.
Once you're driving in North Korea
Destination-specific detail sourced from national road authorities, motoring clubs and rental policies — the things that catch cross-border drivers out.
Driving on a foreign licence
Self-drive is effectively impossible for visitors: foreign tourists are not permitted to drive in North Korea and must travel only with their state-assigned guides and government-arranged vehicles. Tourists may not rent cars or use public transport independently, so no foreign licence or IDP is usable in practice (only long-term foreign residents may import and drive cars).
Tolls & road charges
Not relevant to visitors, as tourists cannot drive; the country's few highways, such as the Pyongyang-Wonsan and Pyongyang-Kaesong motorways, are used only by official and guided transport. There is no consumer toll-tag system a foreigner would ever use.
Parking in the cities
Not applicable for tourists, who never control their own vehicle; all movement is in guide-arranged transport that parks at sanctioned sites only. Independent stopping or wandering off the approved itinerary is prohibited.
Fines & camera enforcement
Because independent driving is banned, the real risk is detention for breaching tour rules rather than ordinary traffic fines; punishments for rule-breaking can be severe and arbitrary. Most Western governments advise against all travel.
If you have an accident
There is no tourist-driving accident procedure because visitors do not drive; in any incident you remain with and follow your assigned guides, who handle authorities. Western governments warn that consular help is extremely limited (the Swedish embassy acts as protecting power for some nations).
Driving in the capital
Pyongyang has wide, near-empty multi-lane boulevards famously directed by uniformed traffic-control officers at major intersections, but foreigners only ever experience them as guided passengers. Photographing checkpoints, military sites or straying from the route is forbidden.
Sources: youngpioneertours.com · travel.gc.ca · travel.state.gov