Reproducir episodio
Resumen del episodio
Ed opens with his “criminal history” — killing a rental car in Japan by putting diesel in a gasoline engine. Lesson learned: green pump = diesel, yellow pump = gasoline (same in Korea).
This leads into a nuanced discussion of whether DIY travelers should rent a car.
The verdict: rent if you have 3-5 days and want flexibility or off-the-beaten-path destinations (west coast, tangerine farms, green tea fields); skip if you’re a novice driver, staying only in Jeju City, or have just 2 days.
They cover the rental process, GPS language settings, self-service gas stations, parking, and the dreaded 30 km/h school zone speed traps that can rack up 120,000 won ($90) fines.
Puntos clave
- Green pump = diesel, yellow pump = gasoline (same across Korea and Japan)
- Rent a car if: 3-5 days, want flexibility, visiting off-the-beaten-path places (west coast, tangerine farms, green tea fields, Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road)
- Skip the car if: novice driver, staying only in Jeju City, just 2 days, uncomfortable with night driving (no lights on mid-mountain roads, hairpin turns)
- Need international driver’s license; not all companies rent to foreigners — check for English website
- Lotte Rent-a-Car and SK Rent-a-Car work with foreigners; price includes collision damage waiver and roadside assistance
- At airport: follow signs to rental car shuttle bus → office → complete paperwork → get car
- Ask staff to change GPS language to English before leaving the lot
- Self-service gas stations (셀프) are slightly cheaper; kiosks often have English
- Parking free outside Jeju City and Seogwipo; paid parking auto-calculated via transponder and billed to rental company
- Speed traps everywhere near schools: 30 km/h zones for children, 50 km/h for elderly areas
- Speeding ticket = 120,000 won (~$90) per violation — can rack up multiple fines in one drive
- Tickets billed to your credit card through rental company even after you leave Korea
- No freeways on Jeju; Hallasan blocks direct routes — trips take longer than expected
Coreano práctico con Sora Ssaem (쌤)
Gas station phrases — attendant is called 사장님 (sajangnim)
- 가득요 (gadeugyo) — Fill it up (or just say “full”)
- 5만원요 (oman-won-yo) — 50,000 won worth
- 카드 (kadeu) — Card
- 현금 (hyeongeum) — Cash
Note: 카드 (card) and 가득 (full) sound similar — pronunciation matters!
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Transcripción del episodio
Ed's Criminal History — Killing a Car in Japan
Soraya (00:19) Everyone! Welcome to our podcast, Vamos a Jeju. So today we’re going to talk about car rental in Jeju. Do we have to rent a car or not? Or is it enough with the bus, public transportation? But before we start, we have a story that Ed murdered a car, rental car in Japan. So maybe we can start with his criminal history in Japan.
Ed (00:45) Guilty as charged. I did indeed kill a car in Japan a few years ago. And what happened was I did the most dumb thing possible with cars is that I put diesel into my car which was a gasoline powered car and so like two minutes after driving out of the gas station in northern Japan the car just went like I give up and died so that was not smart of me and back then, it was a very small town so that no one spoke English. And then I was trying to figure out what kind of different gasoline there was. And when I used Google Translate, it said vehicle oil, vehicle oil, vehicle oil, was all the same translations.
Soraya (01:30) You
Ed (01:32) Thankfully I was, well, I was stupid enough to put diesel into a gasoline car. I was smart enough to buy a lot of insurance, so I didn’t pay anything beyond $500 which is the price for also killing a car ever since that I’ve learned to be very very careful about what kind of a fuel I’m putting into a car and I always have car insurance. You look very disappointed in me Sora I’m sad.
Soraya (01:54) Yeah, because I thought you’re very very smart and it’s like anyway, no, I think before we start we can point out the color of the fuel because it’s the same in Korea and Japan so usually we put green color for diesel and we put yellow color for gasoline so you don’t get confused like someone who made a mistake.
Ed (02:24) Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, I think it’s helpful to share with folks that, you have green for diesel in Korea and then you have yellow for gasoline and that’s the same colors for both Jeju and the mainland, correct?
Soraya (02:40) Yes, right.
Ed (02:41) Okay, so let’s dive into today’s topic about car rentals. So I don’t know, like have you ever rented a car in Korea since you have your own car?
Soraya (02:50) Yeah, do. Yes, we do. Sometimes we rent a car when we travel, you know, in the mainland. Or my husband, Jaden, he likes to try new toy. Then we rent a car for a day and then try to drive around the islands and then just return it.
Ed (02:53) That sounds exactly like Jaden. It’s like, let me check out this new toy. Yeah. Okay. So what’s the difference in experience between a Korean renting a car and a visitor, renting a car?
Soraya (03:15) Yeah, yeah, just one day. It’s not too expensive. So yeah. First of all, you need the international driver license. Because for Korea, we just need our like Korean driver license and it’s kind of easy to rent a car. And for visitors, you just need the international driver license.
Ed (03:26) Okay. The other difference is that not all car rental companies will rent to visitors. Right? So I remember Jayden used to work at a company called Socar and they started a line of business to cater for the international market and then they discontinued it. So I think with Socar, only Koreans can rent from them.
Soraya (03:48) Right. Yes, right now, yes.
Ed (04:10) Yeah, so if you want to visit Korea and you want to rent a car, double check that it actually will rent to foreigners. And typically the telltale signs like whether the website has English, right? If it’s just all pure Korean, it’s probably a hint that they only rent to Koreans.
Who Should (and Shouldn't) Rent a Car
Soraya (04:22) So then before we talk about detail, I think we need to talk about like to whom do we recommend car rental or just use public transportation.
Ed (04:42) Okay. And so I’m thinking like, I’m not the best person to talk to because like, if you ask me, I’d be like, the bus. Take the bus. Bus, bus, bus is best. But so maybe you should drive, get it, you should drive this part of the conversation.
Soraya (04:50) For me, I recommend car rental if you want more flexibility. I like to travel without plan. If you’re this kind of person, it’s better rent a car because to take a bus or public transportation, you really need to plan beforehand. But with the car rental, you can just go anywhere you want and then yeah, there’s no limit.
Ed (05:27) Okay, I was making a funny face when you were saying that because like I don’t really have a plan either but I guess the difference is I’m a slow traveler so like for me, you know, a short trip in a single place is like three to four weeks and so I guess I should recognize that some people only have like not three to four weeks but maybe three to four days. So they have less of a luxury to, you know, slowly take the bus to Songsan Ilchubong and then slowly take the bus to Seogwipo City. Like they may not have that kind of time.
Soraya (05:58) Yeah…
Ed (06:03) I guess I see where you’re coming from. I think a car rental will make more sense. If you have like three, four or five days and you want to maximize your time on Jeju, then yeah, a car rental makes sense. Plus, as we mentioned in a previous episode, you would then be able to like, in a car, you could like move very freely with your luggage in the car and then just hop from place to place in the short time and do a full tour of a full loop of Jeju and then be back in the airport in like three to four days later. And so with a bus, that’s more troublesome, but with a car, it’s more feasible. I think another category of travelers where car rentals make more sense is if they want to go to like the off the beaten path kind of places, like harvesting tangerines or going to some green tea fields. Those places are a bit further away and even the sunset coastal road.
Soraya (06:47) With the dolphin, right?
Ed (06:56) The Sinchang Windmill Coastal Road. That is hard to get to, so a car would be great for that and then in fact the entire western coast of Jeju is where cars are going to be very useful.
Soraya (07:08) Yeah, so if you want to go like less touristy place, it’s hard to go there by bus. So then yeah, we recommend car rental. Yes.
Ed (07:18) Right. So how about we flip it around to say like what type of travelers should not bother with car rentals.
Soraya (07:26) If you are a novice driver.
Ed (07:28) Yeah, because somebody doesn’t like to drive at night. So maybe you should talk about why novice drivers should think twice before renting a car in Jeju.
Soraya (07:37) Because at night, the main road, of course we have a light but in a mid mountain road there’s no light at night. And also there is lots of like hairpin turns in Jeju. So if you are a novice driver, maybe not.
Ed (07:56) People who only plan to stay in Jeju City should not bother with a car.
Soraya (07:59) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Ed (08:02) If you’re just there for like two days all the places you want to go to are very well covered by buses. Plus it may be challenging to find parking in some parts of Jeju city. And many buses have their own lanes. So it’s actually faster to be in a bus than in a taxi or a car. So maybe if you’re planning to stay only in Jeju City, renting a car might not be the best idea.
Picking Up the Car & Setting Up GPS
Ed (08:21) So let’s say our listeners have, you know, gone through that mental checklist of whether or not they need a car and they decided, yes, I need my own set of wheels in Jeju. So they reserved it and now they have arrived in Jeju airport. What next?
Soraya (08:40) So when you arrive the airport, you come out from the arrival hall and you will see the sign like bus, taxi and rental car. So you follow the line for rent a car and you will be arriving in a bus stop. And from the bus stop, it’s a bus stop specialized for a rental car company. So you can wait your bus from the rental car, take the bus and then you go to the office. So there you do all the process for rental and then they will give you the car and then you can just enjoy. And when you come back, you also come back to the same place, return the car and then again take the shuttle bus from there back to airport.
Ed (09:08) If you are listening to this and you’re looking to rent a car in Jeju, you can go to Lotte Rental Car as well as SK Rental Car. I rented from Lotte Rent-a-Car and yeah, was a very good experience. I remember the price being very reasonable. We rented it for seven days and unlimited miles. And I was especially surprised that the price included two things. The first was collision damage waiver as well as roadside assistance. So like if I have a flat tire or you run out of gas along the road, they’ll come out and take care of that for you. And yeah, so normally, from my experience renting cars from like all my travels, usually collision damage waiver is an extra fee that I pay. And so they’re picking it up from the airport. And I guess once they’re in the car, my experience has been that because Korean is not my first language or even my second language or even my third language I have a hard time like reading the Korean when I’m driving you know I’m saying? Like when I’m reading Korean I have to stare at it and go very slowly and so if I’m driving if I keep staring at it I’ll have an accident and I’ll need the insurance. I think one thing that I found very helpful was to ask the people at the rental car company to change the default language to English, especially.
Soraya (10:45) The staff speaks English there?
Ed (10:46) Yeah, the staff at Lotte rental car, they spoke some English, but it doesn’t take much like I asked in Korean, so that was okay. But even if you don’t speak Korean, it’s just say like English, change-juh. I’m sure they understand.
Soraya (11:04) That’s true. That’s true. Yes.
Ed (11:07) I’m sure they have one. Yeah. Actually, the truth is, I think most Koreans under 50 years old, they understand English. They may not speak English but they all understand English. I think, right?
Soraya (11:23) Right. Yeah, it’s easier when you just use the vocabulary. Don’t use like grammar. Don’t, yeah, do not try to make sentences. Just use word by word and they would understand.
Ed (11:29) So English? Please? Change-juh? Okay? Okay? Yes.
Soraya (11:37) Yes that’s perfect that’s perfect.
Ed (11:44) I’m not sure how it is in every car system, but in case the default language of the car and the navigation is different, make sure to check for that as well.
Gas Stations, Parking & Speed Traps
Ed (12:11) And so you told me once that if you’re in some of the bigger like in Jeju city, if you want to get gasoline, the self service, the self-puh actually is a bit cheaper by a few, few won, but like by a little bit.
Soraya (12:11) Yes, the self-gas station is a little cheaper than the normal one where someone serve you to get the gas And also, as Ed told me, if you feel a little intimidated, maybe you can also use self-gas station because you don’t have to talk to anyone. You just need to use the kiosk. Just click. And I think also they have English in that kiosk, right? Yeah.
Ed (12:38) Yes, yes, especially near the city. But if you do do sel-peu don’t be like me and kill the car.
Soraya (12:45) Again.
Ed (12:46) Okay… No… Not again, never again… NEVER!
Ed (13:42) So you’ve got your gas now and you’re driving around. Obviously you need to stop the car at some point. So parking across the whole island, except for Seogwipo city and for Jeju city. I want to say it’s almost always free parking. That’s been my experience, right? And so the exceptions are going to be the two cities. And my experience with the one time I rented the car from Lotte rental car is that the paid parking is actually automatically calculated by the in-vehicle transponder machine. So I don’t actually pay, I pay to Lotte rent a car when I finished return the car.
Soraya (13:21) Huh? Yeah? Well, really?
Ed (13:31) Yo! Yes! Really? I know. I know. I don’t know.
Soraya (13:34) How come? Where did you park?
Ed (13:42) I parked in Seogwipo city near the Olle Market. Some of them you have to pay with the machine. But then, and there’s a few like, there’s nowhere to pay. I was like, it’s okay. Then the guy said, oh, it’s already done. Also, was like, oh, oh, oh, then later, later when I returned the car, there was an item in my Lotte for like, oh, the price for parking. Yeah.
Soraya (13:57) Really? I didn’t know that. Really? Anyway, usually paid parking is automatic, but you have to pay before you get out. When you get in, they will take photo of your plate number, and then when you go out, you have to pay before going out from the kiosk, you just put your number, plate number, and then pay by card, and then you can just go out. Or you can pay when you go out, right?
Ed (14:38) Right. I found it very helpful to just take a photo of my license plate and favorite it for the whole time when I’m renting a car. So one more thing that really annoyed me about Jeju driving, not about Jeju, but Jeju driving is that on the coastal roads, there are so many speed traps like I think you need to slow down to a very slow, I think 30 kilometers per hour. It is so slow. That’s like about 20 something miles per hour. It’s like so slow you can run faster than that. It’s like, it’s fine if it’s just one or two, but there’s so many. Okay, fine. Usain Bolt can run faster than that. But it’s like, there’s so many of them. Why are there so many speed traps on the coastal roads?
Soraya (15:03) 30 km per hour. No way, you cannot run faster! No. Because the 30 kilometer per hour, that’s for children. Because we have so many elementary schools around the coastal road. So near the elementary school, you have to slow down until 30 kilometer per hour. That’s why. And also we have protecting for old people. For that place, you should slow down until 50 kilometer per hour.
Ed (15:44) For old people. 50. So what, so you have to go slower for children, but faster for old people. It’s like, are old people supposed to be faster than children? Like what’s happening here? Like old people can dodge faster.
Soraya (16:02) I don’t know why but that’s the law. I don’t know why but that’s the law.
Ed (16:07) Okay and it’s only at coastal road. I remember the drive like in and around Seogwipo city is especially bad. I mean especially a lot of speed traps but I guess it would be the same in Jeju city right?
Soraya (16:20) Right near the school or like the village.
Ed (16:25) Speed traps are annoying, but I guess what’s even worse is that if you exceed 30 kilometers per hour, then you get a ticket, right?
Soraya (16:33) Yes, so you need to pay 120,000 won which is around like 90 US dollar. So do not exceed the speed because if you get like several of it, it’s gonna be like more than your rent a car fee. It’s a lot.
Ed (16:57) And so, and then I think that gets billed to your rental car company, right? And then that…
Soraya (16:59) Yeah, and then they will charge from your credit card.
Ed (17:11) Right. So just because like you returned the car, gone back to your home country. You’re like, woohoo, I escaped the ticket. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It’s going to, they’re going to get you. They’re going to get you. And you will totally be able to rack up more than one fine in like, if you keep going at 40 kilometers per hour over these speed traps in one drive, like you can get like five, six, seven tickets, right?
Soraya (17:20) Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Ed (17:35) Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s not like you get one and then you’re done. It’s like, it’s not one and done. It’s like one and again and again and again. So it’s going to be pretty expensive. So that is one of the downsides of renting a car.
Some Driving Tips
Ed (17:46) That’s a pretty detailed overview of whether or not people need to rent a car in Jeju. We talked about what are the considerations for renting a car and whether or not it’s just better to just do public transportation. And then we talk about picking up the car, getting the car set up for English or your native language before you drive out of the rental car facility, we talk about how to get gas, about parking, driving conditions, and of course the infamous speed traps.
I think one more thing I want to add for people who are driving in Jeju is to not underestimate how long it takes to go from one place to another. If you are coming from, let’s say Europe or Canada or America, you look at the distance is like, oh, it’s just 60 miles, like 100 kilometers. That’s not bad. You can do that in like one and a half hours. Just understand that it takes a bit longer than that because in the middle of the island is Hallasan. And so there’s no straight road. Number two, there’s no freeways. There’s no expressways. There’s no Autobahn in Germany. There’s no interstate system in America. It’s all local roads. So there’ll always be traffic lights or road circles and of course speed traps and road bumps. Most of the time you’re going to be driving around no more than 50 to 60 kilometers per hour and then if you’re in the coastal roads you’re dropping down to 30 kilometers for the speed traps so it’s going to take you much longer than you think so when you’re planning your trip I guess buffer some extra time.
Coreano práctico con Sora Ssaem (쌤)
Now here’s the part of the show where Sora is going to help us learn some handy Korean. And of course, as always, we call it Handy Korean with Sora Ssaem.
Soraya (19:50) Waaaa
Ed (19:52) So Sora, what are we going to share with our friends today?
Soraya (19:54) Okay. So today we’re going to talk about what you have to say in the gas station. So as we mentioned, there’s two different kinds of gas station. One is self. So you can just do with the kiosk and the other one is with the people who work there and then usually what we call them is 사장님 (sajangnim). Maybe you have heard of this. It actually means literally it’s owner of the place but we just call this to anyone who works there. I mean to respect them. So we just call them like 사장님, 사장님 and then someone will come to your car and then you just tell them, you can tell them like 가득 (gadeuk) meaning full. You can also say “full” actually they will understand “full.” And we have learned 주세요 (juseyo) before so you can just say 가득 주세요 (gadeuk juseyo) or you can say like the amount of money like 50,000 like 오만원 (oman-won).
One more vocabulary for you is 카드 (kadeu) literally card and 현금 (hyeongeum) meaning cash. So you can actually pay by card or 현금 cash. But sometimes people are confused with two words like 카드 and then 가득 which I just mentioned the “full.” It sounds similar but it has like different pronunciation so 카드 like the card and then 가득 full.
Ed (21:39) So those are very handy phrases to be able to use when you rent a car in Jeju or Korea and when you want to be able to top up on your gas. And I guess if you would like to learn all these phrases, just go ahead and check out our show notes.
And if this episode has got you thinking, hmm, maybe I really should be renting a car in Jeju. Well, we have put together a 14 part email series that is catered for the DIY traveler in Jeju.
Soraya (22:07) So to get that email sent straight to your inbox, sign up at vamosajeju.com/start. And for the latest update, follow us on vamosajeju on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. And finally, the best way for a new podcast like us to grow is organically. So if you found this episode helpful, please share with your friends and family. And who knows, maybe we will Vamos a Jeju together.
Ed (22:36) Y con eso, solo nos queda decir... ¡Annyeong!
Soraya (22:42) ¡Adiós!
