Road signs in South Korea

Road signs in South Korea are regulated by the Korean Road Traffic Authority (Korean: 도로교통안전공단).

Signs indicating dangers are triangular with a red border, yellow background and black pictograms, similar to road signs in Greece. Mandatory instructions are white on a blue background, prohibitions are black on a white background with a red border, and supplementary information signs are rectangular with black text on a white background. Like other countries, the signs use pictograms to display their meaning. Any text included in signs will normally be in Korean and English. Signs are normally placed 1 to 2.1 meters high.^[1]

South Korean road signs depict people with realistic (as opposed to stylized) silhouettes.

Road signs in South Korea closely followed Japanese and European rules on road signs until the 1970s.

South Korea signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on December 29, 1969, but has yet to ratify the Convention.^[2]

Warning signs

Warning signs are triangular with yellow backgrounds, red borders and black pictograms.

• 
  Crossroad
• 
  T-shaped intersection
• 
  Y-shaped intersection
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  Intersection to right
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  Intersection to left
• 
  Through street
• 
  Traffic merge from right
• 
  Traffic merge from left
• 
  Traffic circle / Roundabout
• 
  Railway crossing
• 
  Trams crossing
• 
  Right curve
• 
  Left curve
• 
  Double bend, the first to the right
• 
  Double bend, the first to the left
• 
  Two-way traffic
• 
  Ascending hill (10%)
• 
  Descending hill (10%)
• 
  Narrow carriageway
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  Right lane decrease / End of right crawler lane
• 
  Left lane decrease / End of left crawler lane
• 
  Keep right
• 
  Pass left or right
• 
  Start of dual carriageway
• 
  End of dual carriageway
• 
  Traffic lights
• 
  Slippery road
• 
  Riverside road (quayside or river bank)
• 
  Bumpy road
• 
  Speed humps
• 
  Falling rocks
• 
  Loose chippings (retired on October 17, 2019)
• 
  Crosswalk (pedestrian crossing)
• 
  Children crossing ahead
• 
  Bicycles
• 
  Roadworks
• 
  Airplanes
• 
  Crosswind
• 
  Tunnel
• 
  Bridge
• 
  Wild animals crossing
• 
  Other dangers (option 1)
• 
  Other dangers (option 2)

Prohibition signs

Prohibition signs are round with white backgrounds, red borders and black pictograms.

• 
  Road closed
• 
  No motor vehicles
• 
  No trucks
• 
  No buses
• 
  No motorcycles and mopeds
• 
  No motor vehicles, motorcycles and mopeds
• 
  No rotary tillers, tractors or handcarts
• 
  No tractors or rotary tillers (retired on September 2, 2008)
• 
  No oxcarts or horse-drawn carts (retired on September 2, 2017)
• 
  No handcarts (retired on September 2, 2020)
• 
  No bicycles
• 
  Do Not Enter From Vehicle To Mopeds
• 
  No straight ahead
• 
  No right turn
• 
  No left turn
• 
  No crossing traffic (retired on September 28, 2007)
• 
  No U-turn
• 
  No passing
• 
  No stopping or parking
• 
  No parking
• 
  Maximum weight limit (5.5t)
• 
  Height limit (3.5m)
• 
  Maximum width limit (2.2m)
• 
  Minimum safe distance between vehicles (50m)
• 
  Maximum speed limit (50km/h)
• 
  Minimum speed limit (50km/h)
• 
  No horn (retired)
• 
  Slow
• 
  Stop
• 
  Yield
• 
  No pedestrians
• 
  No vehicles carrying dangerous substances / explosives

Mandatory instruction signs

Mandatory instruction signs are round with blue backgrounds and white pictograms.

• 
  Motor vehicles only
• 
  Bicycles only
• 
  Bicycles and pedestrians only
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  Trams only
• 
  Traffic circle / Roundabout
• 
  Go straight
• 
  Right turn
• 
  Left turn
• 
  Straight and right turn
• 
  Straight and left turn
• 
  Left Turn and right turn
• 
  U-turn
• 
  Pass left or right
• 
  Pass right
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  Pass left
• 
  Follow directions
• 
  Diversion / Detour
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  Parking Lot
• 
  Bicycle Parking Lot
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  Pedestrians only
• 
  Crosswalk (Pedestrian crossing)
• 
  Senior citizens crossing (In the Silver zone)
• 
  Children crossing (In the School zone)
• 
  Bicycles Crossing
• 
  One Way
• 
  One Way
• 
  One way
• 
  One way end
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  Bus only Lane
• 
  Tram only Lane
• 
  HOV Lane
• 
  Priority over oncoming traffic
• 
  Allow bicycle side-by-side

Supplementary signs

Supplementary signs are rectangular with white backgrounds and black text. Most of signs are only written in Korean.

• 
  District (Whole Downtown)
• 
  Date (Except for Sunday and Holidays)
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  Time
• 
  Time (You can park here within 1 hour)
• 
  Traffic light status (When the red light turned on)
• 
  Front through road
• 
  Safe speed (30 km/h)
• 
  Weather condition (foggy area)
• 
  Road condition (when snow or rain falls)
• 
  Traffic control (get in lane)
• 
  Traffic regulation (do not cross)
• 
  Vehicles limitation (only for sedans)
• 
  Sign explanation (tunnel length is 258m)
• 
  End (retired)
• 
  End (retired)
• 
  End
• 
  Tow-away zone

Direction and distance signs

Direction and distance signs are rectangular with dark green backgrounds and white text. In urban areas, direction signs have dark blue backgrounds. The signs are normally written in Korean and English. In March 2010, Korea Expressway Corporation introduced a new type of direction sign for expressways.^[3] Currently, Korea Expressway Corporation changes old direction signs to new ones on their expressways. This new type of direction sign is exit guide based sign and its typeface has changed from Sandol Doropyojipanche (Sandol traffic sign typeface, which can be seen on the distance sign and direction sign below) to Hangilche (Hangil typeface). It also includes motorways.

• 
  Motorway
• 
  End of motorway
• 
  Motorways end point announcement sign

• 
  Distance sign
• 
  Direction sign (with name of junction)
• 
  New expressway direction sign (introduced in early 2010)
• 
  Stop line (without Korean language)

Other signs

• 
  Asian Highway route shield
• 
  Expressway route shield
• 
  National Highway route shield
• 
  Local highway route shield
• 
  Urban Road route shield
• 
  Urban expressway route shield

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Road signs in South Korea.

1. ^ Road Traffic Authority Guide
2. ^ "United Nations Treaty Collection". treaties.un.org. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
3. ^ "건교투데이::건설교통전문 리얼타임 뉴스". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-11-28.
4. ^ (Traffic Safety Sign) Korea Expressway Traffic Authority 2009.
5. ^ (Traffic Safety Sign Schedule) Road Traffic Authority 2008.