VPN is a perfect privacy tool for those who live in South Korea. If you would like to access regionally restricted content, unblock websites or stream blocked multimedia in South Korea, consider subscribing to a VPN.
VPN can help you access websites and services that are blocked or unavailable in South Korea due to government censorship, licensing agreements, or other reasons. For example, you can use a VPN to watch Netflix US, BBC iPlayer, or other streaming platforms in South Korea. You can also use a VPN to access social media platforms, news outlets, or other websites that are banned or restricted in South Korea.
VPN can also improve your internet speed and performance by avoiding bandwidth throttling, which is when your internet service provider deliberately slows down your connection based on your usage or the type of content you are accessing. VPN can reduce latency and ping time by connecting you to a server closer to your destination. This can improve your online gaming, video conferencing, or other real-time applications.
These are some of the main reasons why you would use a VPN in South Korea. However, you should choose a VPN that offers fast and reliable servers, strong encryption and security features, a no-logs policy, and a user-friendly interface. You should also check the legal and ethical implications of using a VPN in South Korea, as some activities may be illegal or frowned upon by the authorities or the society.
The best VPN providers listed below offer reliable and fast VPN connection, convenient customs apps with advanced security features, a great number of servers worldwide and also servers in South Korea.
Get 65% off NordVPN
ANNUAL PRICE: 3.49 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 11.95 USD
Panama based NordVPN is one of the best security oriented VPN companies with amazingly fast infrastructure. NordVPN is a no logs VPN service that was independently audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers AG based in Zurich, Switzerland (one of the Big 4 auditing firms) to back the claims that they don’t log identifiable user information under any circumstances.
NordVPN custom apps have DNS and IP leaks protection and a kill switch that actively monitors your network and shuts down Internet access when your VPN in not running.
NordVPN offers a Double VPN – a privacy feature that sends your Internet traffic through two VPN servers, encrypting it twice.
Onion Over VPN servers is a powerful NordVPN feature that takes your privacy and security to the next level. Using this tech, you first connect to a VPN server and then to the Tor network. Your ISP does not know you are connected to Tor because your entry point in a secure VPN server, while your destination sees an anonymous Tor exit point.
NordVPN obfuscated VPN servers are a perfect choice to use on restrictive networks and to hide the fact that you are using a VPN. These VPN servers are generally recommended for countries that block VPN altogether because the technology can bypass even the most advanced network filtering. Obfsproxy hides OpenVPN and makes your VPN use completely undetectable. Neither your ISP nor the government will know that you are on VPN.
A strict no logs privacy policy, double data encryption, obfuscation tools and a number of advanced security features, makes NordVPN one of the best VPN providers for security and privacy for users with high expectations.
Besides, NordVPN has a Smart Play technology offering an encrypted connection to access geo-restricted content on Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and similar services. If you are a torrenting user, NordVPN has torrenting VPN servers as well.
NordVPN offers over 5,000 high-speed servers in 62 countries, dedicated & shared IP types, 6 simultaneous logins; the infrastructure is built to provide maximum online security, bypass Internet restrictions, online censorship and network firewalls.
To read a full NordVPN review click HERE.
Get 74% off Hide.Me + 3mo FREE
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.59 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 9.95 USD
Based in Malaysia, Hide.me is one the most secure and fastest VPN providers offering ultra fast gigabit VPN servers that deliver the fastest VPN speeds for users on gigabit Internet connection.
Hide.Me is a no logs VPN service with custom VPN apps that include a number of advanced features for maximum security. Hide.Me VPN has a built-in protection against IP and DNS leaks. Kill switch is an excellent tool to shut down Internet access when the connection to a VPN server is dropped.
Stealth Guard takes this even further by blocking access to predetermined apps even when the VPN is OFF. Essentially, you can configure Hide.Me in a way that makes it impossible to use Chrome browser, for instance, when the VPN is not running. This feature is an excellent addition to protect yourself from accidental mistakes.
Hide.Me supports perfect forward secrecy, an advanced security feature that tells OpenVPN to regularly renegotiate private keys. In case the private key of the server is compromised, past session keys will not be compromised. Forward secrecy protects past sessions against future compromises of secret keys, and future sessions against current attacks.
The provider also offers advanced VPN masking tools to bypass strict firewalls, censorship and hide VPN use. Hide.Me masks (obfuscates) OpenVPN traffic with TLS-Crypt so, if your WiFi network blocks VPN by analyzing traffic patterns, this methods can bypass the most advanced firewalls. This setup also encrypts every OpenVPN packet twice, sort of like double VPN encryption.
Additionally, the provider offers a dynamic TCP/UDP port-forwarding (UPnP) with up to 10 TCP/UDP ports, a useful feature on WiFi networks that block VPN ports, or for torrenting. Port forwarding feature is a great addition as it can speed up torrenting or streaming when your ISP throttles select traffic.
More so, you can selectively tunnel only specific traffic via secure servers. Split tunneling feature allows this or, alternatively, SOCKS5 proxy can be setup on your browser/torrenting client and re-route only that traffic.
Hide.Me VPN is extremely reliable and very fast which makes it a perfect choice for security oriented users who would like to enjoy uninterrupted streaming and browsing experience.
To read a full Hide.me review click HERE.
Get 75% off PureVPN
ANNUAL PRICE: 3.33 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 10.95 USD
PureVPN, based in the British Virgin Islands offshore zone, is a no logs certified VPN service that was independently audited by KPMG – a big 4 auditor. Always-On Audit feature allows KPMG to conduct a thorough surprise audit of PureVPN’s processes and servers at any time without prior notice.
PureVPN offers hypersonic VPN speeds with 20 Gbps servers in the US and the UK, adding more locations in the future. Secure high-speed PureVPN infrastructure offers advanced security features for anonymous Internet use. Custom apps have a built-in WebRTC, IP and DNS leak protection. Kill switch is feature that guards the users from unencrypted data leaks when the internet connection drops. PureVPN even has a DDoS protection add-on.
Additionally, the provider considered the importance of uninterrupted streaming by introducing Dedicated Streaming add-on that will boost streaming speed and enhance performance. PureVPN optimized streaming servers are best to get a buffer-free streaming experience.
PureVPN is also one of the few VPN providers that can effectively work with Netflix. For this purpose PureVPN setup dedicated Netflix servers. At the moment the provider can unblock Netflix USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan.
In case you want to limit your VPN use to specific websites/services only, Split Tunneling feature lets you decide which applications to send through unencrypted channel and which one to secure with an encrypted VPN service.
Split tunneling is commonly used in case you need a VPN for torrenting only. More so, PureVPN offers 2,000 high-speed VPN servers in 140 countries with over 60 dedicated torrenting servers and a port forwarding feature to maximize your upload and download speeds.
Overall, PureVPN is a great no logs VPN service for privacy and security, to access geo-restricted streaming content, unblock websites and bypass censorship.
To read a full PureVPN review click HERE.
Get 81% off PIA VPN
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.19 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 11.95 USD
PIA is a leading no logs VPN service with over 3,000 VPN servers that deliver great speeds and a reliable performance.
PIA offers an easy to install VPN app for all devices with security and privacy features that protect VPN connection from unexpected data leaks. PIA was once subpoenaed by the FBI and the only information they could provide is that the cluster of IP addresses being used was from the east coast of the United States. The FBI case confirms that PIA indeed does not log any user activity.
Their NAT firewall does a great job protecting from cyber attacks, built-in kill switch secures from unprotected data leaks. In addition, PIA apps have a DNS and IPv4/IPv6 leak protection.
PIA VPN service provider gives unrestricted and uncensored access to inaccessible or censored websites. PIA also works well with Netflix USA and Netflix UK libraries, BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Amazon Prime.
For faster streaming and torrenting PIA software offers switching between different connection types and ports. The settings have UDP (faster) and TCP connections types that, depending on network, can speed up traffic. UDP is also greatly preferred for torrenting and streaming. Additionally, PIA allows port forwarding to 443, 80, 110, 53, 8080, 9201. Port 443 is the most widespread option because it is used to bypass strict firewalls when all the other ports are blocked. For instance, forwarding traffic through port 443 will likely bypass VPN block on most WiFi networks.
Thus, PIA can bypass strict censorship and firewalls, effectively giving you anonymous browsing experience by hiding your real IP address.
SOCKS5 proxy is another excellent feature that can re-route only certain traffic through VPN tunnel eliminating the need for split tunneling. SOCKS5 is widely used with torrenting software due to its convenience. Once installed on uTorrent, for instance, it works for p2p traffic only.
To read a full PIA review click HERE.
Get 10% off TorGuard Lifetime Deal
ANNUAL PRICE: 4.49 USD/mo [promocode]
MONTHLY PRICE: 8.99 USD
Offering over 3,000 servers in 55 countries, all mainstream protocols and top-notch security, TorGuard rightfully earned its place as a top VPN provider.
No logging TorGuard VPN is a reliable, fast and secure service for privacy oriented users. TorGuard desktop apps have a kill switch feature that actively monitors your Internet connection to protect you from accidental IP leaks when your WiFi is unstable.
Stealth VPN is a technology that TorGuard uses to bypass Deep Packet Inspection firewalls, such as those typically used at the hotels, airports, restaurants and other public WiFi hotspots to restrict online access. Consequently, TorGuard is a highly recommended VPN service for users who live in the regions with particularly restrictive governments.
Besides a great number of security features and ability to unblock VPN on restrictive WiFi, TorGuard is also an ultra fast VPN service with gigabit servers (actually, 10 Gbps). This infrastructure allows the fastest VPN speeds with a reliable streaming and browsing experience.
Unlike most VPN providers, TorGuard VPN can bypass Netflix proxy error with their Netflix streaming IPs. TorGuard servers work with a number of Netflix regions (USA, UK, Canada, Italy, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and Singapore), Hulu, BBC iPlayer, Spotify and virtually any streaming or social media service.
TorGuard is not only one of the best VPN services, it also offers OpenPGP encrypted email service with 2 factor authentication and up to 10Mb free storage.
To read a full TorGuard review click HERE.
Get 80% off CyberGhost VPN
ANNUAL PRICE: 2.45 USD/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 12.99 USD
Romania based CyberGhost is a secure no logs VPN provider with over 6,500 ultra high speed VPN servers in 90 countries.
The provider has a number of advanced security and privacy features that are not offered by competitors. CyberGhost desktop apps have DNS & IP leaks protection, as well as an automatic kill switch that guards your connection if VPN disconnects.
Anti-fingerprinting and tracking protection blocks websites from storing personally identifiable data. A built-in ad-blocker and anti-malware blocks annoying ads along with malicious websites. Automated HTTPS redirect forces unsecured websites to go to HTTPS, ensuring that you browse the most secure version of it.
Data compression is another interesting feature that compresses data to reduce your Internet usage.
CyberGhost, additionally, offers dedicated high-speed streaming servers to stream Netflix, Hulu, BBC iPlayer and other multimedia services. You can also choose to connect to dedicated VPN servers optimized for torrenting.
Split tunneling is a feature that excludes specific websites from passing through the VPN tunnel. CyberGhost split tunneling only works to bypass predetermined websites, like Netflix.com, and cannot be used for other apps, like torrenting.
For faster streaming and torrenting, CyberGhost VPN allows switching between TCP/UDP protocols (UDP may be faster comparing to TCP).
If you are on a restrictive WiFi network that block VPN connection altogether by closing common VPN ports, typically found at hotels, restaurants and the like, desktop VPN apps can automatically test a wide range of ports and connect to the random VPN port that works. For this reason, the provider is a great choice to unblock VPN, bypass online censorship and unblock restricted content.
To read a full CyberGhost review click HERE.
Go to Perfect Privacy Website
ANNUAL PRICE: 9.99 EUR/mo
MONTHLY PRICE: 12.99 EUR
Germany based Perfect Privacy is an ultra fast (gigabit servers) VPN provider with a heavy focus on advanced online security. As the name suggests, Perfect Privacy VPN has some of the most secure VPN features for maximum security, privacy and complete anonymity.
Perfect Privacy dedicated VPN servers run on RAM, not the hard drive, to secure your anonymity and privacy. This setup ensures that the data is automatically wiped during reboot or server shut down so the government cannot access sensitive user data in case they seize the server.
More so, the provider has one of the best and most advanced kill switch implementations. Their integrated firewall enforces all traffic to be sent through secure tunnels thereby protecting their users from all known IP leaks not only when the app is running, but also after OS reboot. Essentially, it prevents unsecured online access after you restart your device unless you connect to a VPN server.
In addition, Perfect Privacy offers a unique Multi-Hop VPN feature that allows cascading over up to 4 OpenVPN servers (multi-layer end-to-end encryption) at the same time along with SOCKS5 and Squid proxies. So you can create a chain of 6 VPN locations at the same time which basically eliminates any possibility of tracking you down. While this setup surely provides more anonymity, it will dramatically slow you down, which may be an issue for some VPN users.
NeuroRouting is an AI based dynamic routing that determines the most secure and fastest route through the Internet. The algorithm dynamically changes VPN servers when taking a secure route to different destinations. Since NeuroRouting automatically assigns you a new IP address for different exit points, government tracking becomes very challenging, if impossible.
Additionally, Perfect Privacy regularly updates a Warrant Canary page as an insurance that the provider has not received any subpoenas.
Another interesting feature is the provider’s ability to resolve .onion (TOR) addresses without the need for the Tor Browser. Perfect Privacy SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies are setup to resolve Tor addresses by default.
Perfect Privacy also can bypass strict firewalls by obfuscating OpenVPN to look like normal HTTPS traffic with Stealth VPN or OpenVPN over SSH feature. For additional firewall penetration Perfect Privacy allows 5 custom port forwardings or 3 default random ports. Basically, if your WiFi network completely blocks VPN, Perfect Privacy can bypass firewall and unblock VPN on virtually any network.
Overall, Perfect Privacy VPN is the most secure VPN service to avoid mass surveillance, bypass internet restrictions, access blocked websites, and securely stream multimedia content.
To read a full Perfect Privacy review click HERE.
Online Censorship in South Korea
South Korea is known for having one of the most advanced internet infrastructures in the world, but also for having strict censorship laws that block access to certain websites. The government claims that these measures are necessary to protect national security, public order, and morality, but critics argue that they violate freedom of expression and human rights. Some of the websites that are blocked in South Korea are done by the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), which has the authority to order internet service providers (ISPs) to block or delete any content that violates the law or its own guidelines.
Online censorship in South Korea affects the freedom of expression and access to information of its citizens. The government of South Korea has been criticized by international organizations and human rights groups for blocking or deleting online content that is deemed illegal, harmful, or offensive, such as pornography, gambling, defamation, national security threats, or pro-North Korean propaganda.
The government also requires internet service providers and online platforms to monitor and report users who violate these regulations, which can result in fines, imprisonment, or loss of licenses. Some critics argue that online censorship in South Korea is excessive, arbitrary, and inconsistent, and that it violates the constitutional rights of the people and the democratic principles of the country. They also claim that online censorship can have negative impacts on the social, economic, and cultural development of South Korea, as well as its international reputation and competitiveness.
On the other hand, some supporters of online censorship in South Korea defend it as a necessary and legitimate measure to protect the public order, morality, and national security of the country. They also contend that online censorship can have positive effects on the quality, diversity, and reliability of online information, as well as the prevention of cybercrimes and social problems. They also point out that online censorship in South Korea is based on legal frameworks and democratic procedures, and that it is subject to judicial review and public oversight.
The KCSC also operates a hotline where citizens can report illegal or harmful content online. However, the KCSC’s decisions are often arbitrary and lack transparency, and there is no effective judicial review or appeal process for those who are affected by the blocking. Many internet users in South Korea have resorted to using VPNs, proxies, or other tools to bypass the censorship and access the blocked websites. However, these methods are not always reliable or secure, and some of them may also be illegal under the law. Therefore, internet users in South Korea face a dilemma between complying with the censorship or risking legal consequences for accessing the information they want.
Geo-restrictions in South Korea
Georestricted websites are websites that are only accessible from certain locations or regions. For example, some streaming services, online games, or e-commerce platforms may limit their content or features to specific countries or areas. Georestriction can be implemented for various reasons, such as licensing agreements, legal regulations, censorship, or marketing strategies.
In South Korea, georestriction is not very common, but there are some cases where it may apply. For instance, some Korean websites may block access from North Korea, China, or other countries that are considered hostile or risky. Additionally, some foreign websites may restrict access from South Korea due to copyright issues, trade disputes, or political tensions.
To access geo-restricted websites in South Korea, one may need to use a VPN that can mask user real IP address and appear as if they are browsing from the server’s location. This way, the user can bypass the georestriction and access the website as normal.
However, using a VPN may also have some drawbacks or risks. For example, some may also violate the terms of service of some websites or applications, which could result in account suspension or legal action. Therefore, users should be careful and selective when choosing a VPN service and only use it for legitimate purposes.