Best Free VPNs for South Korea in 2023 (for Korean IP Address)
The South Korean government allows a fair amount of freedom on internet usage for its citizens, unlike neighboring countries with so many internet restrictions. However, South Koreans living abroad who wish to access home content would find it difficult to do so without a South Korean IP address.
For those without access to a free VPN, South Korea content may not be as easy to reach. Reliable VPNs can grant you access to this content, and can also give you secure and anonymous connections for you to browse the internet without restrictions, no matter where you are.
Premium VPNs have money-back guarantee policies that assure a risk-free trial. As much as premium quality “risk-free” VPNs are the best bet, a few “completely-free” VPNs are doing well for themselves and are decent enough to offer adequate security, privacy, and unblock restricted content. But they come with little drawbacks here and there. This review details the best free VPNs to use to access South Korean content.
Best Risk-free VPN for South Korea
Risk-free VPNs are paid VPNs that usually offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. This guarantees that you can request and receive a refund within the stipulated period if you need to. The best part is that during the period of test-running the service, you get access to all its premium features while you use it risk-free.
With the best ability in unblocking geo-restricted content, these VPNs grant you access to your favorite South Korean streaming content and sites even while you’re away. You can also trust their privacy features to make your streaming and browsing anonymous. To cap it all, they offer the most secure encryption which ensures privacy and freedom.
ExpressVPN
Features
- Number of servers: More than 3,000
- Speeds: Unlimited
- Server locations: 160 in 94 countries
- Maximum devices supported: 5
- 24 live chat: Yes
- 30 day money back guarantee: Yes
Pros/Cons
- Fastest VPN out there
- Strict no logs policy
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Few discounts
ExpressVPN has over 3,000 servers in 94 countries — including South Korea. This VPN supports some protocols that dictate how your device connects to a server and how secure your connection will be. All these 6 protocols are available in South Korea, giving you a wide range of options to choose from. The servers are high-speed, and the software has a speed-test feature that can prove this to you.
ExpressVPN unblocks and gives you free access to K-drama content from anywhere in the world. It is optimized with AES-256 encryption, it’s own private Domain Name System (DNS), and a kill switch, all in a bid to give you the most secure connection possible. It efficiently masks your IP address and does not keep logs of your data. These features help to make you anonymous whenever you’re online.
With a unique split tunneling feature on this VPN, you get to select what traffic to tunnel through the virtual network while your other traffic accesses the web directly. There is a 24/7 live customer service team on ground that attends to your needs and challenges as quickly as possible, 24/7. Its 30-day money-back policy is available to you and can be used anytime during the stipulated period.
- Pros: Fastest VPN out there; Strict no logs policy; 256-bit AES encryption;
- Lowest price: $6.67
NordVPN
Features
- Cryptocurrency accepted? Yes
- Simultaneous connections: 6
- Dedicated IP-addresses? Yes
- Servers: 5342 in 58 countries
Pros/Cons
- Lots of pricing options
- Netflix support kept up to date
- 256-bit AES encryption
- Slow app
Amongst its 5,400+ servers in 59 countries, NordVPN has 10 servers in South Korea alone. These servers are optimised to full speed such that having an ultimately secure connection doesn’t mean slower servers. It can unblock content restricted to South Korea to grant you access from wherever you are. It also doesn’t limit the amount of data you can upload and download. NordVPN comes with unlimited bandwidth.
In terms of security, you have a great defender in NordVPN. It masks your real IP address with a virtual one and it uses the military-grade encryption recommended by the NSA to encrypt your data. Its kill switch feature also makes sure you stay protected at all times — especially if the VPN connection drops. NordVPN abides by a strict no-logs policy to keep your data private always.
The software interface is straightforward to operate and is available on all major operating systems. NordVPN also provides a 30-day money-back guarantee. They also have an all-around active and responsive customer service to answer your questions and solve your challenges.
- Pros: Lots of pricing options; Netflix support kept up to date; 256-bit AES encryption;
- Lowest price: $3.71
Are Free VPN Services Worthwhile?
There’s nothing wrong with looking out for free things when they are available. But you should always consider how relatively free it is, compared to the services it renders. With some free VPNs, you might eventually have to pay without actually giving them money. Available servers, connection speed, encryption, anonymity, or data usage will be tweaked by these free VPN services to make you pay. Sometimes, the VPN might not be able to unblock geo-restricted sites consistently.
You can’t trust many free VPNs services, 100%. Some of them go as far as giving false information about the services they render. On the other hand, risk-free VPNs are optimized to satisfaction and are true to the details they put out. Thus, we recommend that you opt for risk-free VPNs as they offer better security, speed, anonymity, bandwidth, and advanced features. There is a free VPN to connect to South Korea out there, in fact, there may be a few, but it may never be truly free.
Best Free VPN South Korea Options
If you plan to hop on just any plan or service with free VPN South Korea servers, you should be ready to make some sacrifices. A lot of free VPNs make you pay in kind by restricting your access to all the best features of a paid VPN. Instead, you may experience some or all of the following — limited server locations, low-grade encryption, slow server connection, data logging, and limited bandwidth. Some might not even be able to unblock geo-restricted content.
To your advantage, we have compiled and reviewed the best completely-free VPNs for South Korea in this article as follows:
TunnelBear
Features
- Cryptocurrency accepted? Yes, bitcoin
- Dedicated IP-adresses? Yes
- Simultaneous connections: 5
- Locations: 28 countries
Pros/Cons
- Unlimited browsing
- Account manager
- Military grade encryption
- Free version allows only 500MB data
TunnelBear has over 1,800 servers in 20+ server locations. It is available for free in South Korea and has high-speed and secure servers, which give it a high ranking in this review. This VPN masks your IP address, giving you the freedom to surf the web with absolute anonymity. It can also help you bypass local censorship, so you can covertly access content that is usually not allowed in South Korea. For South Koreans living abroad, you can also gain access to South Korean content from outside the country.
Also, TunnelBear offers AES-256 military-grade encryption. This encryption ensures that your data is protected from hackers, government agencies, and even your Internet Service Provider. This VPN operates a no-logs policy, which means that you are the only one privy to your web activities at all times.
For free, you get a limited bandwidth of 500MB daily. That means you indirectly get 15GB every month. If you tweet about the company, you get a bonus 1GB. That’s how much they appreciate referrals. Hotspot Shield has a user-friendly interface and easily supports iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and even browsers.
- Pros: Unlimited browsing; Account manager; Military grade encryption;
- Lowest price: $3.33
Hide.me
Features
- Number of servers: 2000+
- Server locations: 75 locations
- Maximum devices supported: 10
- 24 live chat: Yes
- 30 day money back guarantee: Yes
Pros/Cons
- Has free option
- No log policy
- Secure connection
- Not very cheap
Finally, you can also try using Hide.me free for South Korea. Although it doesn’t rank too high, Hide.me still has pretty impressive features. For example, it has over 2,000 servers in 75+ locations worldwide. These VPN servers are available for users in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. In fact, Hide.me has a server in South Korea’s capital – Seoul.
Therefore, you can quickly connect to these fast servers and freely browse safely and privately within. Sadly, though, Hide.me free users cannot access this entire server structure. Instead, if you’re using this VPN free for South Korea, you only get five server locations. These include servers in the US, Canada, and Germany. So, you can only unblock content from these regions.
Fortunately, though, while connected to these free servers, you’ll still enjoy Hide.me’s AES 256-bit encryption. In addition, if you’re using this VPN free for South Korea, your internet connection logs will remain safe. This is because Hide.me’s no-log policy ensures that they don’t store or share users’ connection data. There are some other advantages to using Hide.me free for South Korea.
For example, its free servers are p2p-enabled. In addition, this VPN will protect you from ads, malware, and malicious website trackers. What’s more? You only need to sign up for free with your email address. But, unfortunately, Hide.me has a 10GB monthly data cap. And, the free account will only protect one personal device.
- Pros: Has free option; No log policy; Secure connection;
- Lowest price: €4.99
HideMyAss
Features
- Speeds: 20 Gbps
- Money-back guarantee: Yes
- Activity logs? No
- Locations: 190+ countries
Pros/Cons
- Best server database on the market
- No-logs and kill switch policy
- Multiple device protection
- Expensive short term plan
HMA gives you unrestricted access to over 1,100 servers in 190+ countries. In South Korea alone, it has 7 servers and 43 IP addresses. This gives you the luxury of having multiple options to choose from. This VPN is effectively optimized for speed and security to get you past hackers, snoopers, and geo-restrictions safely.
This VPN is an audited no-logs VPN. So, to ensure that you always remain anonymous, it doesn’t keep logs of your traffic data. It doesn’t even know how much you transmit, much more the content. Also, it has advanced split tunneling and IP shuffling features. The shuffling function randomizes your IP address regularly. This will keep intruders guessing and lead them off your trail.
HMA uses military-grade AES-256 encryption and kill switch all in the bid to keep your connection as secure as possible. HMA supports the connection of 5 devices at the same time.
- Pros: Best server database on the market; No-logs and kill switch policy; Multiple device protection;
- Lowest price $2.99
Features to look out for in a free VPN
- Server availability – The number of servers and their locations determines what geo-restricted content a VPN can unblock.
- Privacy and Security – What’s a Virtual Private Network without security and anonymity?
- Server speed – Snail-speed servers are terrible. There’s no use having a secure connection when it’s going to be slow after all.
- Monthly data limit – How much data a free VPN allows you to upload and download per month suggests what the VPN can be used for. High-bandwidth VPN can allow video streaming, while low-bandwidth VPNs can only be enjoyed by browsing.
- Platforms supported and Number of Connections Allowed – How many devices the VPN allows to be connected at once is essential so that you can consider sharing with your family. It’s also safe to be sure if the VPN has software for your devices’ operating systems.
Conclusion
To wrap it all up, if you must bypass restrictions and geo-blocked content from South Korea, you’re going to need a Virtual Private Network. As discussed in this review, it is better to opt for a premium VPN providers rather than a completely free one based on some variable factors. However, if you still decide to stick to a completely free VPN, we have highlighted the best free VPNs available on the market, and the factors you need to consider to help you select a good one from our list.
Frequently Asked Questions on the Best Free VPNs for South Korea
Is it legal to use VPNs in South Korea?
Yes, the South Korean government allows its citizens to use VPNs for several purposes freely. This may be shocking considering South Korea’s internet censorship laws. Notably, though, using VPNs for illegal activities may land you into trouble. For example, committing cyber crimes with a VPN is still illegal. It’ll thus be best to ensure that you aren’t committing any crimes with your South Korean VPN.
Can I freely watch porn in South Korea?
No, you cannot freely access pornographic content in South Korea. This is because the country has a very strong conservative stance. However, pornography isn’t all that the government censors. Also, you cannot also access gambling sites, pro-North Korean platforms, and those supporting dissenting political opinions. This censorship means that you need a VPN if you want to enjoy any of these restricted objects.
Can I watch South Korean Netflix abroad with a VPN?
Yes, a good VPN can allow you to stay connected to your favorite South Korean Netflix titles. With the way Netflix Kdrama took the world by storm, this desire is understandable. Thankfully, all you need to do is get a South Korean IP address. This would mean signing up for a VPN with servers in South Korea. With your South Korean IP address, you can watch great shows like Vincenzo, Crash Landing On You, and Squid Game abroad.
Do you need a VPN with a kill switch?
Yes, VPNs with kill switches are very necessary. An internet kill switch stops your internet connection whenever your VPN connection fails. This way, your actual location doesn’t leak to the website. Consequently, your browsing activity cannot be traced back to you. This feature is very crucial for South Korean netizens. With a kill switch, you can avoid detection by the government, surveillance agencies, and your ISP.