VPN Apps for South Korea: 5 Paid + 5 Free Services for 2022

The VPNs in the rating are the best ones for South Korea. Thanks to these apps, you won’t be subjected to prosecutions for the statements about protests posted on your social media account.
There are also other problems VPN software is meant to solve. Thus, while reading this article, you’ll get to know:
- Top 5 best VPN providers to make use of
- 5 free VPN services that can be used in South Korea
- The peculiarities of VPN use in the country
- ExpressVPN: Premium VPN with advanced functions to make you anonymous while surfing the Internet. Servers are placed in 160 locations around the world.
- NordVPN: Trust-and-true VPN provider with attractive discount system and double VPN feature to make you 100% anonymous.
- Surfshark: Cheap VPN with maximum advanced features hide your IP address and unblock any content when being in South Korea.
- CyberGhost VPN: Reliable tool with special servers for torrenting and streaming. It offers the app with a user-friendly interface.
- PIA: Great VPN that allows 10 connections per subscription. It works with any device, making it safe and private..
- ProtonVPN: Support of devices running on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux. 1 device is allowed for a free plan.
- Windscribe: Good solution if you know what server you need. Reliable data and confidentiality protection.
- TunnelBear: Great app with attractive an interface. The VPN is available for free on an unlimited basis due to its free plan.
- Hide.me: Free plan of a paid VPN. No ads for a free version is definitely a plus! 1 allowed connection.
- TurboVPN: The best solution if you look for a VPN for Android. It offers a free unlimited plan for this OS.
Recommendation: If you are looking for a way to bypass the restrictions imposed by the government in South Korea, it’s necessary to subscribe to one of the VPNs you’ll read about in this article. All of them work in the country. But not all of them as cross-functional as wished it to be. Read brief reviews and find the one that will meets all your demands.
VPN in South Korea: what for?
South Korea, like many other countries, regulates internet access to prevent the spread of prostitution and illegal gambling. All pro-North Korea sites, blogs, and social media accounts are blocked, of course. 37% of all internet content undergoes censorship in South Korea.
While this long list of restrictions may make sense on paper, it is not necessarily so when practice. For example, South Koreans cannot access Google Map data for their own country because of a law prohibiting the distribution of maps when the country is at war (South Korea is technically at war with North Korea).
South Koreans also have little privacy online, as government spies are constantly monitoring comments and posts for North Korean sympathizers.
The year of 2007 became crucial for many bloggers, as many of them were censored and arrested. Their posts on the Internet were deleted by the police. In this connection, big internet platforms required the identity verification of their users one year later.
In such a way, the use of a VPN in South Korea is a desperate measure for netizens who search for privacy and freedom online.
The best VPN for South Korea in 2022
All tests were carried out in 2022. And after numerous speed and security tests, I’ve chosen the leader – ExpressVPN. Apart from fast servers around the globe, it offers access to blacklisted sites. And all these in full anonymity.
Comparison of the main features of VPN services to use in South Korea
Service | Ranking (out of 10) | Stealth level (out of 10) |
Speed, Mbps | Country selection | Number of servers | Price (monthly) |
ExpressVPN | 10 | 9 | >100 | 94 | 3000+ | $6.67-12.95 |
NordVPN | 10 | 10 | >60 | 59 | 5700+ | $3.30-11.95 |
Surfshark | 10 | 10 | >50 | 63 | 1700+ | $2.49-12.95 |
CyberGhost | 9 | 9 | 40-70 | 90 | 6000+ | $2.25-12.99 |
PIA | 9 | 10 | >50 | 45 | 3300+ | $2.69-9.95 |
ExpressVPN
Main advantages
- 24/7 support service
- 94 countries
- Fast servers
- No logs
Overview
Thanks to stable connections and advanced features of ExpressVPN, you can do anything you like online: stream video without limits, access blacklisted websites, download torrents anonymously in South Korea.
The process of the ExpressVPN app setup is dead easy. You are to open its official site, create an account, choose and pay for subscription, download and run the app.
Price
The table lists the ExpressVPN plans and prices
1 month | 6 months | 1 year | |
Price (monthly) | $12.95 | $9.99 | $6.67 |
Money-back guarantee (days) | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, Bitcoin, and other alternative methods.
Conclusion
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NordVPN
Main advantages
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Obfuscation
- User-friendly app
- 5200+ servers
Overview
After the last update (June 12), I’ve noticed improve performance and stability. Now I can choose from my ‘Recents’ to connect to the server I used some time ago. Quite convenient.
Thanks to the obfuscation function, you’ll manage to bypass any restrictions in South Korea as well as in the neighboring countries like China. Thus it’s won’t be a problem to unblock any Kodi addon or torrent site.
Price
The table lists the NordVPN plans and prices
1 month | 1 year | 3 years | |
Price (monthly) | $11.95 | $4.92 | $3.29 (2022 Winter promotion) |
Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, Cryptocurrency, and others.
Conclusion
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Surfshark
Main advantages
- Kill switch
- No-logs policy
- Fast servers
- Best price
Overview
I like Surfshark VPN for its high-quality service and attractive prices. It’s allowed to make use of its static IPs in Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, the UK, and the US. The MultiHop feature serves to make Surfshark users 100% anonymous, as it helps to double back your activity on the Internet.
I usually recommend to enable the functions of auto-connect and kill switch to make your device protected at any time.
Price
The table lists the Surfshark plans and prices
1 month | 6 months | 2 years | |
Price (monthly) | $12.95 | $6.49 | $2.49 |
Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, Sofort, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Cryptocurrency, and others.
Conclusion
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CyberGhost VPN
Main advantages
- 5944 servers
- Fast connections
- 90 countries
- Advanced features
Overview
CyberGhost is on the list of the best VPNs for South Korea because of its NoSpy servers. They serve to hinder your virtual traces to that no one could know about your browsing history. Also, while switching between the servers you can unblock restricted content inside the country.
It gets better. The provider allows P2P and makes it protected against the prying eyes.
Price
The table lists the CyberGhost VPN plans and prices
1 month | 1 year | 2 years | 3 years | |
Price (monthly) | $12.99 | $3.99 | $3.49 | $2.25 |
Money-back guarantee | 45 | 45 | 45 | 45 |
There’s an option to add a dedicated IP. Its monthly cost is $5 (for 1 IP).
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, and Cryptocurrency.
Conclusion
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PIA
Main advantages
- 10 simultaneous connections
- No-logs policy
- Robust protocols
- Multi-platform compatibility
Overview
After installing PIA VPN, I’ve enabled the ‘Connect on Launch’ function. I recommend you do the same you don’t want to be monitored in South Korea. For your security, it’s also possible to block the domains used for ads, trackers, and malware by switching on ‘PIA MACE’ – perfect invention!
Price
The table lists the PIA plans and prices
1 month | 1 year | 2 years | |
Price (monthly) | $9.95 | $3.33 | $2.69 |
Money-back guarantee | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, and Bitcoin.
Conclusion
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Best free VPNs for netizens in South Korea
If you cannot pay for the service right now, you can make use of VPNs that a offer free trial. This period usually lasts for 1-7 days.
Alternatively, you opt for a free VPN. The ones I’ve picked over for South Korea are either 100% free or offer a free package.
Warning: Despite all the pluses of a free VPN, it has significant minuses: restrictions in speed, traffic, bandwidth, and servers. Besides, free VPNs often show ads, and free plans have a limited number of functions.
Free ProtonVPN
Main qualities
- Free plan
- 1 connection
- Servers in 3 countries
I’ve chosen ProtonVPN as the number 1 for South Korea due to its medium speed, no ads, and strict no-logs policy. However, there is no P2P protocols support. Besides, not all restricted content can be unblocked because of the limited number of servers.
Free Windscribe
Main qualities
- Free plan
- 10 countries
- 10 GB traffic
One more VPN that I recommend for users in South Korea is Windscribe. Although it has restricted traffic, the provider resets the bandwidth every 30 days for the users with the confirmed email address.
Free TunnelBear
Main qualities
- Free plan
- 5 countries
- 500MB traffic
The speed is really fast for South Korea. But I don’t like the traffic restriction. 500MB is not enough for a month. However, there’s a way-out – you’ll get 1GB more if you share a tweet about the provider)
Free Hide.me
Main qualities
- Free plan
- 5 countries
- 10 GB
A good VPN to make your browsing history hidden from the prying eyes in South Korea. 10GB is enough for many tasks – streaming, web surfing. However, it’s not enough for torrenting. In this case, it’s better to subscribe to a VPN for torrenting.
Free Turbo VPN
Main qualities
- Free plan
- 7 countries
- Lifelong
The VPN is quite easy to use. I like it most of all on my smartphone – quick connect, easy access to servers. However, the speed is not so good as for its paid version.
FAQ
What do VPNs give to the Koreans?
- Free access to services on the Internet is guaranteed. Streaming of any content being in South Korea.
- Censorship will not restrict the Koreans in expressing their thoughts on social networks.
- Monitoring will not be discussed in your family, as with the best South Korean VPN provider it is simply impossible.
- VPN for Korean games is the best way to play any computer game you like. Just find an ideal VPN provider and subscribe to it without delay.
- Protection against hackers for both average netizens and state agencies (during the first half of 2017, the Foreign Ministry of Korea underwent cyberattacks 8200+ times).
Is VPN legal in South Korea?
Yes. Despite its internet censorship, it’s absolutely legal to use VPNs in the country. There’s no punishment for such activity.
Is it possible to use proxy in South Korea?
The answer depends on what you are going to do with proxy. If you want to change your location and security is not important for you, you can use a proxy. However, if you want to make your online activity protected or want to unblock Hulu library, it’s recommended to use a VPN.
What websites are blocked in South Korea?
The local ISPs block access to sites that highlight gambling, prostitution, porn site, and some sources related to North Korea. At the same time, access to streaming services can be also restricted.
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