Fuel Types for Cars or Trucks in Korea

by
Support Local Businesses and Local Ads

South Korea has a few fuel types for cars and trucks. Here is a quick introduction to common fuel types for passenger vehicles. In this post, I don’t address fuel types used only for commercial vehicles. Instead, I’m here to help you find the right car for your daily adventures.

Choosing A Fuel Type

Your ability to enjoy Korea and your car may be heavily impacted by the fuel type you select. For example, many of our volunteers choose LPG. This allows them to travel across Korea more freely. Now, here are are few things to consider when thinking about the fuel types included in this post and what type you need:

  • Operating Cost: What can you afford to spend each month and how much do you need to drive? Look long and hard at what you can afford and what your financial goals may be.
  • Availability of Fuel Type in Your Area: You may live in an area where one particular fuel type may not be as easily accessible for you so check this before making a choice.
  • Performance Expectations: If you have plenty of money to send and performance is an issue, then you may want to stick to a traditional fuel type like Regular and Diesel
  • Time in Korea: You may find your commitment to living in Korea may impact which fuel type you choose. Saving money over time may not matter if you are only here for a year.
  • Plans to Export the Vehicle: If you plan to export your vehicle when you leave Korea, make sure that the fuel type you choose is easily available in your home country.
  • Resale Value: Sometimes, certain vehicle types sell more easily than others. This may change over time and depend on vehicle type.

Common Types of Fuels for Personal Vehicles

Here are the most common fuel types for cars or trucks in Korea. New types may be introduced or phased out over time.

Regular (휘발유) Fuel Type

South Korea has high standards for its gas. The gasoline grades available in South Korea include RON 91 regular and RON 94 premium fuel. Also, in 2009 South Korea’s gasoline become some of the cleanest in the world when they introduced a sulfur limit of 10 ppm for gasoline.

Support Local Businesses and Local Ads
  • Regular is sold at the same pumps as Diesel. Thankfully, South Korea color codes the handles to help make mistakes harder to make.
  • Regular is the yellow handle at the pump. The Diesel handle will be green. You can use Papago to translate the pumps if you feel unsure.
  • Regular pumps may be either Self Service or Full Service so pay close attention to this as well. Different Self Service pumps may work differently. There is no universal standard. Some pumps offer English translation and some may not.
  • Some Regular pumps may not accept foreign-issued payment options such as debit or credit cards. Such pumps may require a domestic payment type. They will usually accept KRW in cash.
  • Korean Regular may be known as Premium or Super Premium in other countries. For example, US Premium fuel is RON 91 and Super Premium is 93. In South Korea, they simply call all of it the same name and don’t offer anything below RON 91. Usually, the Korean pumps offer RON 94.
  • Even though two grades of gasoline may exist, each gas station usually only offers one grade at the pump. The station will show either a 91 or a 94 to show which they chose. More often than not, the gas stations choose to offer RON 94.

US Vehicles Can Use Korean Regular Fuel

Note for US drivers who have brought their vehicles from the US. You can fill your vehicles with Korean Regular gas off base. This is ok for two reasons: 1) Korean Regular gas is not inferior in quality and 2) US gas is not unique to the US. You can comfortably fill your vehicles off of US bases as needed for road trips.

Clarifying such information is not pedantic. In fact, this has been a common question asked over the last decade. Therefore, I want to respect the concern and make the information clearly available. What may seem self-evident to some may not be self-evident to others. That’s ok.

Diesel (경유) Fuel Type

Diesel has gone from a national favorite to a national disgrace. The turn of Korean public opinion against Diesel is partially due to the urea crisis. The Urea crisis left many diesel drivers in crisis during an already difficult time.

Korea is now moving away from Diesel. In fact, in July of 2021, Seoul banned the purchase of new diesel cars for government use. By 2025, Seoul city hopes to remove all diesel vehicles from public transportation, including taxis, airport buses, and city tour buses.

  • Diesel is sold at the same pumps as Regular and you can find it across the country. Thankfully South Korea color codes the handles to help make mistakes harder to make.
  • Diesel is the Green handle at the pump. The Regular handle will be yellow. You can use Papago to translate the pumps if you feel unsure.
  • Regular pumps may be either Self Service or Full Service so pay close attention to this as well. Different Self Service pumps may work differently. There is no universal standard. Some may be in English and some may not.
  • Some Diesel pumps may not accept foreign-issued payment options such as debit or credit cards. They may require a domestic payment type. They do accept KRW in cash.

Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) Fuel Type

LPG is a colorless, low-carbon, and highly efficient fuel that South Korea uses for taxis, trucks, buses, and some private vehicles. You may also know this gas by its common names: Propane and Butane.

  • LPG is sold at different stations than Gas and Diesel. You can find LPG stations using Naver Maps and they are clearly marked on the roadside.
  • LPG stations are ALWAYS full service. This is because filling an LPG tank requires a special nozzle that requires some training. Just sit back, relax, and let the professionals take care of it.
  • LPG costs roughly half the cost of Regular or Diesel. This means you can easily afford to road trip across Korea even when the gas prices skyrocket.
  • Until 2019, The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy restricted LPG fuel only for taxis, rental cars, and vehicles for disabled people. However, in 2019 the Ministry of Trade announced they would remove such restrictions to promote the use of LPG.
  • Small and large vehicles come in LPG. You have options when looking at LPG. You can find both Gyeongcha (like Kia Mornings) and SUVs that take LPG.
  • Some LPG pumps may not accept foreign-issued payment options such as debit or credit cards. They may require a domestic payment type. They do accept KRW in cash.

Electric Fuel Type

South Korea has been doubling down on its push for electric vehicles. Electric charging stations have been expanding quickly across the country. We will continue to add to this information as we learn more.

Hybrid Vehicle Fuel Types

South Korea offers hybrid fuel-type personal vehicles such as:

  • Electric/ Regular Hybrid (common)
  • Electric/ Diesel Hybrid (limited)
  • Electric/LPG Hybrid (limited)
  • LPG/ Regular Hybrid (common)

My Recommendations

My fuel type recommendations for cars or trucks in Korea relate to your income level. Our volunteers encourage anyone making less than 40 mil KRW a year to look into purchasing an LPG vehicle because of the massive savings in a year. If you make more money, look into the electric and hybrid electric options.

Buying a Car in South Korea

We hope this post about Fuel Types for Cars or Trucks in Korea helps you make choices for purchasing a vehicle easier. Learn more about buying a car in South Korea here. It’s important to do plenty of research on both how to buy a car in Korea and the car types available in South Korea.

Getting Your Korean Driver’s License From Scratch

Do you need to get your driver’s license here in Korea? We have a great article for that! There are quite a few quirks that you need before taking the three tests.