Riding in South Korea...
 

Hi,

My motorcycle and I are going to be in Incheon, South Korea in late May. I have to take in Sokcho the Dong Chun ferry to Vladivostok, and I am not pretty sure if is possible to ride in Korea. Do somebody have information about it?

Gts

Ivan, temporarily importing a motorcycle into Korea is a piece of cake - the only minor hiccup I had was temporarily misplacing my bike registration documents and having to get a copy faxed from Melbourne. The customs officers in Busan were some of the nicest, and most humble, individuals I have ever met. They went out of their way to assist me and one even gave me a free copy of his book which he had had published.

See Across the universe: The Burgie lives again - long live the Burgie. for details.

Riding in Korea is very pleasant - just stay away from the freeways though. Like China, bikes (of any capacity) are verboten on freeways as I discovered the hard way.

Then, it means that is going to be possible to ride from Incheon to Sokcho?
Which company helps you with the customs and all the paperwork?

Do somebody know how much take the Dong Chun ferry from Sokcho to Vladivostok (or Zarubino… it seems that is easier the clearance)

careful !
 

it is easy to temp import bike or vehicle into South Korea.

BUT . . . . . .

depending on your driving licence country of issue (and/or passport country of issue) you may not ( MAY NOT ) be able to ride or drive there.

for example in 2007 we went through with a friend, we (british passports, british licence) had no issues, but the friend (german passport, german licence) was not permitted to ride there.
This all boils down to an agreement between countries to mutually allow other countrys drivers to drive/ride in the particular country, sort of an agreed recognition of any countrys verification to drive ie driving licence procedure.
Now, the original agreement made soon after the end of WW2 did not invite Germany (and maybe others) to the table to sign the agreement.
The superseding agreement made during the 60's then didn't include Korea (because of the whole north v south dispute going on at the time).
Consequently this has never been corrected and so to this day I think you'll find that a German issued driving licence will not be recognised.
There may of course be some other countries that fall between the cracks, I suggest contact South Korea Customs and Immigration to confirm.

Import company - we used Wendy Choi at aerokorea 'A'T' unitel.co.kr she is excellent, very friendly, very helpful (tell her phil sent you)

Ferry for us cost $500 for the vehicle (4x4) and $250 per person.

Time - overnight crossing, about 7 hrs if i remember rightly.

South Korea is fantastic country to explore, visit and drive. We stayed 7 weeks.

Phil.

www.philflanagan.com

To the best of my knowledge the Dong Chung ferry only sails to Zarubino at present (no longer to Vladivostok). When I took it in June 2008 it was around $100 per person (open bunk in common area) and $200 for the bike.

Bookings can be made the same day as the ferry sails and there is usually plenty of space for late arrivals. No special paperwork is required to depart South Korea.

Regarding shipping into Korea, I used Eagle Shipping (Mr Lee), but they only have an office in Busan, not Incheon.

I flew my bike to incheon and rode in sth. korea last july ,then took the ferry to vlad.
Wendy Choi is the person to contact, i was apparently the first rider to ride out of the airport,the clearance cost $400usd and 3 days Wendy really looked after me , finding a hotel and taking me there and also taking me to dinner.
Now the paperwork is in place it should be a lot quicker and cheaper.
I cant remember how much the ferry cost ,but it wasn,t cheap and took around 17hrs to zarabino ,the recommended route.
Don,t expect a luxurous sailing theres only a small shop on board and it rocks, even in calm water all the time , i had to lie down the whole trip due to seasickness.The boat was nearly empty when i sailed in mid july.
The paperwork at both ends took around 3/4hrs .

Wendy Choi e-mail?
 

Thanks a lot for the information, it will be very useful.

It seems that Wendy Choi is the one to the paperwork, but does somebody have her email?

Considering your words Phil, I am not going to have any problems, because for the Mexicans, Korea doesn’t ask for passport. It seems that is a good politics between the countries (maybe the only one) jajajajajaja

Ivan, Phil wrote it 3 posts back!

As usual, some great info above! I found South Korea to be one of my big "surprise" countries. If you email the HU community in Seoul you will find plenty of aspiring RTW types- and a few that have been RTW. I found the HU members and the people of S.K. to be friendly as can be. The hills in the north reminded me of California(US) and parts of France. Not being allowed to ride on the highways didn't cramp my style at all. S.K. is a beautiful country with fun food and very warm people. After the rather boring food in Siberia the food in S.K. was fantastic! I took the ferry from Vlad to Sokcho and cleared customs in about 2 hours. There was a paperwork delay but the folks let me go eat lunch. Sokcho is cool: there is a waterfront where people scuba and enjoy watersports. Ride slow and have fun, it really is a country worth visiting. Say "hi" to Wendy if you meet her. Hook.

+1 on what Hook and Phil said. After the roughness of SE Russia, Korea is a welcome paradise. Spend some time in Sochko and enjoy the ride to Incheon...tell Wendy that Edde Mendes says hello!

korean shipment agency
 

You may contact with her by this ;

Wendy Choi (Won-Young Choi, as Korean name)
#303 DOWON BLDG 133-7
SUNG SAN-DONG MAPO GU SEOUL KOREA
TEL:82-2-372-6181 FAX:82-2-375-8145
wendy {AT} aerointl {DOT} kr

Mx3
 

Thanks a lot for all the information. Principally for the Wendy Choi mail.

Definitely I am going to enjoy some raiding days in Korea. Will be just a week but will be perfect to be in Seoul and Sokcho.

A friend and I are pretending to be the first Mexicans in a RWT (our proyect is MX3 "M"éxico en "M"otocicleta por el "M"undo). Our trip starts on May 1 and if everything is ok, will end in two years and a half.

Thanks again for all the information. I will contact Wendy.

Incidentally, there is a regular ship between Busan(korea) and Manzanillo(mexico)...if you don't want to ship by air.

You also have a fast boat between Long Beach(California) and Busan(korea)...1 week I believe.