The Best VPNs for South Korea

ExpressVPN continues to deliver formidable speeds while connected to its secure RAM-only servers, even on long-distance connections to countries like Australia, the US, and the UK.

Our internet speeds were barely affected while using the VPN, with our long-distance download speed dipping only 15%.

ExpressVPN passed all of our security checks, too. It uses the best available encryption to secure your connection (AES-256 and ChaCha20), and has even developed its own VPN protocol to do this: Lightway.

The company has proven several times to never log any of your activity data, which should give you greater peace of mind that the Korean government won’t see what you do online.

One area where ExpressVPN is head and shoulders above its competitors is streaming.

During our stay in Seoul, we streamed US-only content on Netflix, HBO Max, and Peacock without trouble.

Equally, the VPN’s Canadian IP addresses comfortably unblocked popular streaming services like CBC, fubo, and TSN.

We also used ExpressVPN’s Seoul server to access every popular Korean content platform from outside the country, including Coupang Play, Wavve, and Tving.

As we traveled through Asia, we used the VPN in Japan and Thailand to connect back into Korea and stream our favorite Korean content on Netflix and Crunchyroll.

Out of all the VPNs we’ve reviewed, ExpressVPN offers the widest range of device compatibility.

You can use its service on pretty much every device, thanks to its easy-to-use custom apps for computers, smartphones, and streaming devices like Android TV and Apple TV.

We also tested ExpressVPN’s Chrome and Firefox extensions, which work just like the fully-encrypted applications. They’re useful to quickly change IP address and unblock content directly from your web browser.

And being the only VPN service with its own dedicated router (Aircove), you can use the VPN on all your devices at home simultaneously.

What we love about ExpressVPN’s apps is that they all use a very similar interface, so switching from one to another is almost seamless. They also give you the option to change the language settings to Korean.

NordVPN has massively expanded its server coverage in recent years. It now offers IP addresses from 127 different countries, including 32 in Asia.

When you’re in Korea, you’ll always find a fast server in nearby countries like Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

This easily beats ExpressVPN’s 109 countries, and if maximum global reach is your top priority, the choice is simple: NordVPN is the service you want.

Beyond this incredible coverage, we were really impressed by the speeds and stability connecting to these locations around the world.

On average, we only lost 14% of speed connecting internationally, 9% to the US, 3% to Canada, 11% to Japan, and 8% to Europe.

This minimal impact means you’ll barely notice any difference when NordVPN is on.

Similarly to ExpressVPN, NordVPN also gets around the vast majority of regional restrictions on streaming services.

In our latest tests, the VPN unblocked Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max, and 17 Netflix regions.

Surprisingly, we couldn’t get it to work with Netflix Korea from abroad.

As for streaming Korean content from abroad, NordVPN smoothly accessed favorites like Coupang Play and TVing on desktop and mobile.

Even if you sign up for NordVPN’s basic subscription plan, you’ll get access to a few more security features than ExpressVPN.

Multi-hop (Double VPN) servers, for instance, are designed to give you greater privacy and security by relaying your connection through two VPN servers, rather than just one.

Another interesting tool, ‘Dark Web Monitor’, lets you monitor up to five email addresses for potential exposure in data breaches.

But probably the most unique feature you get with NordVPN is ‘Meshnet,’ a completely-free remote access tool that allows you to connect into your home network from anywhere in the world.

This can be very useful to access local files remotely, or even to bypass password-sharing bans on Disney+ and Netflix.

The issue with all these extra features is that it makes NordVPN’s apps much busier than ExpressVPN’s.

Placing the ‘Dark Web Monitor’ and ‘Threat Protection’ in prime desktop home screen is unnecessary and distracting.

CyberGhost provides access to 24 secure servers in Seoul. While not as extensive as ExpressVPN’s Korean network, it’s more than what NordVPN and Surfshark offer.

That said, CyberGhost’s speeds couldn’t quite keep up with its rivals and generally slowed our internet speed by 19%.

This speed performance is still good enough to stream Korean content buffer-free if you’re on fast internet line, but on slower 4G mobile connections you’ll notice the difference.

Putting the slower speeds to one side, one of CyberGhost’s key advantages is its range of free trials.

The free trial options available are:

• 1-day free trial on macOS and Windows
• 3-day free trial on Android
• 7-day free trial on iOS

Once your CyberGhost free trial ends, and if you decide to upgrade to a paid plan, a 45-day money-back guarantee period will begin.

This will give you a potential 52 days of free use of one of the cheapest top-tier VPNs you can get. Not bad at all!

In our streaming tests, CyberGhost successfully accessed 85% of Korea-only content platforms, including:

• Kakao TV
• MBC
• SBS
• Wavve
• TV Chosun
• Tving

Despite these strong geo-unblocking results, CyberGhost still can’t access Netflix Korea. On the plus side, its free browser extension still works with US Netflix.

The extension is very basic, though, and it won’t give you access to Korean servers.

And while CyberGhost does have native apps for all popular devices, it doesn’t come close to ExpressVPN’s level of compatibility and user experience.

Of the 61 VPNs we’ve tested, Surfshark stands out as one of the best for mobile gaming — and not just because it hides your IP address.

Its Android, iOS, and iPadOS apps come packed with features that genuinely improve gameplay.

The Android-exclusive ‘Override GPS Location’ function goes beyond standard IP masking and fully spoofed our phone’s physical coordinates to access exclusive content

The ‘Use Small Packets’ (MTU) setting is really helpful, especially for playing over weaker and busier cellular networks like the Seoul Metro.

When activated, it stabilized our shaky mobile connection and significantly reduced jitter.

You can also use the VPN with PUBG to access exclusive anime collaborations and unique weapon skins from abroad, by connecting to one of Surfshark’s 12 Korean servers.

In our experience, Surfshark’s 7-day free trial is one of the most flexible options out there.

You can access it directly through the service’s website or your mobile app store.

To be clear: the trial is only available on the 12- or 24-month plans, and you’ll have to submit your payment details upfront to enroll.

Once you’ve signed up, the free trial starts automatically. You’ll be able to test out all the VPN’s features without being charged a dime.

That being said, you must remember to cancel to avoid getting billed after seven days. We highly recommend turning off auto-renewal in your account immediately so you don’t get caught out.

While most budget VPNs strip out advanced tools, Surfshark comes equipped with free extra features that actually add value to your day-to-day browsing.

On top of the settings we’ve already covered, here are two more we found ourselves using regularly:

• ‘Dynamic MultiHop’: Encrypts your connection twice by routing your traffic through two different VPN servers of your choice.
• ‘Rotating IP’: Keeps your IP address constantly changing in the background while locking in your chosen location. It works like ExpressVPN’s ShuffleIP technology, but you have to manually enable it.

Rest assured, Surfshark isn’t just throwing in flashy tools to distract you. These features are genuinely useful and further support the company’s privacy and security stance.

Windscribe is one of the most private and trustworthy free VPNs you’ll find.

It collects no personally identifiable data, runs a diskless server network, and publishes full transparency reports on every law enforcement request it’s received since 2018.

Those privacy claims were stress-tested in February 2026 when Dutch authorities seized a Windscribe server and found absolutely nothing useful — exactly what you want from a VPN service.

On the security side, all Windscribe apps include the WireGuard protocol to hash your internet data to make it undecipherable, a kill switch that blocks all traffic outside the VPN tunnel so your real IP address never leaks.

Yes, Windscribe is based in privacy-unfriendly Canada, but its no-logs architecture means there’s nothing for authorities to hand over, as the 2026 server seizure proved.

Windscribe’s streaming performance is also worth calling out. All its free apps unblocked British and Canadian Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and the American HBO Max and Prime Video libraries.

We quickly realized that the VPN could bypass most geo-restrictions in the 10 countries it covers — impressive for a free service.

Uniquely, you’ll also get access to a free Hong Kong VPN server for a fast, nearby connection point in Asia, as well as access to Chinese region-locked content.

Speeds are decent too, with just a 13% impact to our standard line. That said, connections can fluctuate due to server overcrowding, which is common on free tiers.

But where things get really frustrating is the 10GB monthly data cap. You’ll burn through it quickly, at which point upgrading to a paid, unlimited VPN service starts to look very appealing.