Koreans to get international driving permit in Vietnam

South Koreans with a valid driver's license can soon be eligible to drive in Vietnam with an international driving permit under a bilateral pact that goes into effect on July 23, police said Sunday.

The Korean National Police Agency expected some 4.3 million Korean travelers to take advantage of the international driving permit to drive in the Southeast Asian country. Vietnamese tourists are already able to drive in Korea with an international driving permit.

Any Korean with a driver's license can apply for the international permit. Once issued at a police station, license examination office, Incheon Airport or Gimhae Airport, the permit is valid for a year.

The new measure was part of an agreement signed on June 23 during Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's recent state visit to Vietnam.

Korea, home to over 33 million driver's license holders, has not ratified the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, so license holders in Korea were not allowed to drive in countries outside the signatories of the 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic.

Vietnam, which ratified the 1968 Vienna Convention and ditched the 1949 Geneva Convention, was among the countries where Koreans were not allowed to drive.