Please help!! Biking in Korea
 

I want to take my VMax to Korea. I am going to be there for over 12 months.

Shipping is not a problem. Got that one sorted. But what about duty at customs in Korea? Are they likely to want a cut?

And insurance?! I think UK insurers will only insure for a limited period. But will a Korean insurer cover a UK registered bike?

Oh my God! Does anyone have an answer?!!

Any help would be fantastic guys!!

Duty - The international travel basics -

The important thing to understand is the difference between a visitor passing through and a resident. If you're a visitor there is no import duty, if you're a resident then you have to pay the full import duties and make sure the bike complies with local regs.

so, NO need to pay duty in ANY country ANYWHERE if:

Your stay is within their max duration for a visitor - and you're not going to be RESIDENT.

However,
If you're a visitor they WILL want either a carnet, or they may have a standard visitors form you have to fill out which usually has a very small fee. I don't know which - IF they want a carnet you'll have to get one, if not, you'll need to find out what their standard VISITOR procedure is.

Carnet information is on the Paperwork page under Planning on left menu - read that, then Contact Paul Gowen at the RAC - contact details on the links page, link on left - for details on carnet for Korea.

Insurance - that's a whole different game - good luck - let us know what you find out! Your UK insurer will NOT cover you there.

I know in Japan, if you import a vehicle as a temporary resident, it needs to be registered with the Land Transportation Office. They issue special plates denoting "Import Tax not Paid" in this instance. Obviously you have to remove your vehicle when you leave the country or else pay the import tax. Of course nobody in practise does this because bikes are plentiful in Japan, there would be no reason at all to bring in your own unless you are really in love with your bike and you can't find that model in Japan.

I would ask the Korean LTO if they have something similar. Or at least see if they will accept a vehicle with UK plates in their country for 12 months. You will need to find someone who can speak Korean.

try this
 

Scrumpy.
We came through Korea last year.
Deal as a tourist is . . . . . . . .
90 days maximum entry for you and vehicle.
Need to pay 'deposit' to ensure vehicle exits country. (this is based on replacement NEW value of vehicle, but it is negotiable, they wanted $2000 from us we settled at $1000. This was fully refunded upon exit)
You need to purchase Korean insurance at point of entry, cost based upon vehicle, we had to pay approximately $100 per month (expensive!).
Carnet is not recognised in South Korea.

A very ( VERY ) good contact is Wendy Choi, she works for the shipping agent we used, speaks excellent English, very nice lady, friendly and ever helpful in any way. Good (and low price) shipping agent.
I am sure if you contact Wendy, tell her you a friend of Philip & Angela she will make further enquiries for you and help if she can.

her personal email is : WendyChoi2 'at' Gmail.com

Korea is an easy country to get extended visits to, I do not think you will have a problem for that. But, they do not get many tourist vehicles and so that maybe more difficult to arrange and probably expensive.
Perhaps, store on sell bike and just buy another in Korea for the duration of your stay??? may work out cheaper.

Phil.

www.travel.uklinux.net

I was in South Korea Nov 2007. I simply bought insurance for the bike at my port of entry (Sokchow). It was painless. I did have to sign a document promising to take my bike out of Korea within a certain time period. I believe I used a credit card to make the guarantee. The insurance was fairly expensive, something like 15usd per day. There was other paperwork involved, it took several hours to complete everything. Fantastic people there, glad I went. H.

Korea-import duty-insurance
 

Hi Scrumpy Jack,

I will also be shipping my bike to Korea in March for the second leg of RTW trip. :scooter:
Looking at HUBB many guys got their bikes temporarily imported with refundable deposit and insured without too much hassle. You may look up recent posts (last 2 years)from Lars, Brett Dean, Phil Flanagan, MarkCh, Roadmason to name just a few.
I'm trying to find out if it's possible to leave the country with my bike left behind during the temporary import period becuse i need to fly out during the 90 days.

Any informations / suggestions appreciated...

Biking in Korea...THANKS!!
 

Many thanks for all your replies guys!

All of the info was very helpfull and confirmed my suspitions that it may be easier to search for a decent bike when there. So now just got to find a dealer for Japanese bikes and not Hyosung!

Just logged on after several weeks, so sorry for the lack of response.

As the weeks progress I will let you know how I get on.

All the best to you!
S. Jack