VPN Apps for South Korea: 5 Paid + 5 Free Services for 2026
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
5 best paid VPNs for South Korea
- 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..
5 free VPNs for South Korea
- 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.
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 2026
All tests were carried out in 2026. 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
| ExpressVPN | NordVPN | Surfshark | CyberGhost | PIA | |
| Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Jurisdiction | British Virgin Islands | Panama | The Netherlands | Romania | United States |
| No-logs policy | Independently audited | Independently audited | Independently audited | Independently audited | Court-proven |
| Speed | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps | 100+ Mbps |
| Servers | 3,000+ servers in 105 countries | 9,200+ servers in 137 countries | 4,500+ servers in 100 countries | 11,500+ servers in 100 countries | 35,000+ servers in 91 countries |
| Simultaneous connections | 14 | 10 | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Starting price | $2.49/month | $3.49/month | $2.79/month | $1.59/month | $1.33/month |
| Review | ExpressVPN review | NordVPN review | Surfshark review | CyberGhost review | PIA review |
| Discount |
ExpressVPN
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
| 1 month | 6 months | 1 year | |
| Price (monthly) | $12.99 | 9.99 | $3.99 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, Bitcoin, and other alternative methods.
Conclusion
- Easy access to the US Netflix library in South Korea
- 3,000+ servers to choose from (for different platforms)
- Support of all platforms (even TVs and routers)
- No leaks
Read more: ExpressVPN review
NordVPN
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
| 1 month | 1 year | 2 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $12.99 | $4.99 | 3.49 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, Cryptocurrency, and others.
Conclusion
- The app finds the fastest dedicated IP automatically
- Double VPN makes you 100% anonymous in South Korea
- Onion Over VPN makes your connection even more private
- Opportunity to choose the fastest server in a certain country
Read more: NordVPN review
Surfshark
Overview
I like Surfshark VPN for its high-quality service and attractive prices, especially if you make use of the current Surfshark coupon code "OFFCN". 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
| 1 month | 6 months | 2 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $16.45 | $6.49 | $3.39 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 | 30 | 30 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, Sofort, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, Cryptocurrency, and others.
Conclusion
- The app suggests you the fastest server in the nearest country
- CleanWeb feature to block ads, malware, and trackers
- HackLock function to alert you when your private data (emails and passwords) are about to be hacked
Read more: Surfshark review
CyberGhost VPN
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
| 1 month | 1 year | 2 years | 3 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $12.99 | $4.29 | $1.59 | $2.29 |
| 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
- Affordable prices for high-quality VPN
- Protection of all gadgets within 1 account
- Fast servers around the world
Read more: CyberGhost VPN review
PIA
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
| 1 month | 1 year | 2 years | |
| Price (monthly) | $11.95 | $3.33 | $1.33 |
| Money-back guarantee | 7 | 7 | 7 |
Payment options: PayPal, Credit Cards, and Bitcoin.
Conclusion
- Port forwarding is offered by request
- 5 variant of data encryption
- 35,000+ servers around the globe
Read more: PIA review
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.
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 145 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.
Read more: Review of ProtonVPN
Free Windscribe
Main qualities:
- Free plan
- 63 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.
Read more: Review of Windscribe VPN
Free TunnelBear
Main qualities:
- Free plan
- 26 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)
Read more: Review of TunnelBear
Free Hide.me
Main qualities:
- Free plan
- 46 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.
Read more: Review of hide.me
Free Turbo VPN
Main qualities:
- Free plan
- 45 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.
Read more: Review of Turbo VPN
Read also:
FAQ
What do VPNs give to the Koreans?
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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