Internet censorship is not as tough in South Korea as it is in most Asian countries like Iran, UAE, or China. But that is never to imply there are no restrictions in place or the restriction can be compared to other developed countries in the world. All materials considered harmful by the Korean government are censored.

The first internet censorship law to have ever been passed in the world was the Telecommunications Business Act passed by the government from 1995 to 2002. The introduction of this law led to taking down so many websites and removing several illegal contents.

Why You Need a VPN In Korea

Considering the fact that certain sites are censored by the government in Korea, you most likely will need a VPN to access your favorite sites. For example, sites that involve political or social agitations or indecent activities such as pornography are blocked by the government.

 A good VPN comes in handy in so many ways. It increases your online security by encrypting your data and traffic so that no one, not even the government agency or your Internet Service Provider can spy on your browsing activities.

Additionally, VPNs allows you to access servers outside of your country of residence and grant you a region-dependent IP address. With this IP address, you can access geo-restricted sites or content easily and anonymously. This is especially useful in countries where internet censorship is taken to the extreme.

In this article, we wadded through the market for the best VPNs and narrowed the list down to these 5 top VPNs for South Korea.

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A Quick Overview Of The Best 5 VPNS For Korea

  1. IPVanish: A blazing-fast server that supports up to 10 devices connections at a time.
  2. ExpressVPN: Reputably favored and know for fast connections, security, and privacy. Plus, effective for unblocking blocked major streaming services.  
  3. NordVPN: Reliable security, privacy, and unblocking potential.
  4. CyberGhost: Pocket-friendly for a tight budget with a 45-day money-back guarantee to try it out and know if it feels right for you or not.
  5. Surfshark: Great for fast connections, unblocking potential as well as granting security and privacy.
  6. PrivateVPN: Strictly no-logs policy with

Note: The list is not in any order of ranking.

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Factors To Consider When Choosing A VPN

Considering several VPN options on the market, choosing the right one can be as difficult as walking in the dark without a beacon. You’ll most likely make a wrong buying decision. To buy the right VPNs for South Korea, here are the factors we considered and we deemed you should also take cognizance of:

  • Unblocking Potential – The VPN must be able to get around the South Korean internet restrictions and grant you easy, secure, and private access to blocked content.
  • Reliable Connections – It must have a blazing-fast and reliable connection you can trust anytime.
  • Wide server presence – The VPN’s servers must have a network across major countries such as the US, UK, etc.
  • Strong Encryption – It must offer strong and unbeatable encryption to prevent sensitive data leaks.
  • Strictly No-logs – No personal information must be required to log in to the server. This is important as some service providers collect data and sell it to third parties.
  • Compatibility with major platforms – like Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, etc Plus, it must have a mobile app to allow you to access the service on the go.

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Best VPNs For Korea

#1 IPVanish

IPVanish has one of the strongest supports for multiple devices connection. It allows you to connect up to 10 devices at a time and it ensures protection for all the devices. This VPN provider has 1,600 servers dotted around 60 countries, which allows you to access a wide range of blocked content in South Korea. With a lightning-fast connection, you can have speedy access to different streaming services without any difficulty. 

The VPN uses 256-bit encryption that is capable of granting you total protection from IPv6 and DNS leaks and it’s enabled automatically upon switching on the VPN. Operating on a strictly no-logs policy, IPVanish offers a blend of amazing features like kill switch, dedicated IP, Local Area Network (LAN) traffic blocker, and more.

Pros

  • Works with multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux, Android, macOS, etc.
  • Fast Connections
  • Unlimited devices connections per license
  • Strong encryption and other advanced security features

Cons

  • Absence of anonymous payment methods

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#2 ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN is undoubtedly the best when it comes to a large network of servers around the world. It’s also our top pick for best VPNs with fast connections, and unblocking potential.

Like IPVanish, this VPN maintains a strict no-user logs policy and offers advanced security features such as 256-bits military-grade encryption, IPv6, and DNS leak protection. The benefit of having IPv6 and DNS leak protection is to make sure information relating to your IP address and DNS is protected from the outside world.

Additionally, ExpressVPN supports anonymous payment options in that you can pay with Bitcoin, and this further increases your online security. This is a big plus when compared to IPVanish which doesn’t support anonymous payment options.

Additionally, this VPN offers native apps for Windows, macOS, Amazon Fire, iOS, Linux, Android, Chrome OS, and Android TV devices. And, there are also browser extensions for the Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browser platforms.

ExpressVPN allows up to 5 devices concurrent connections to their servers on a single username. And, you can also use their router protection if you need to connect additional devices.

Pros

  • Fast connections
  • Strictly no-user logs policy
  • Strong security and privacy
  • DNS leak and Kill switch protection
  • High unblocking and video streaming potentials

Cons

  • Pricey when compared to its competitors

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#3 NordVPN

NordVPN offers one the strongest protection and largest networks of servers their users while vacating or traveling in South Korea. With over 5,500 servers dotted around 59 countries including 10 in South Korea, you can enjoy smooth and unrestricted gaming content and streaming services while in the country.

Apart from the strong unblocking potential and strict no-logs policy this VPN maintains, your VPN-protected activities are protected against prying eyes so no one can ever access your online activities for scrutiny.

Some of the amazing security measures NordVPN offers include kill switch and DNS leak protection, connection obfuscation, 256-bit military-grade encryption, and double VPN protection, among others. Also, this provider allows you to pay with an anonymous payment option such as Bitcoin thereby keeping your identity or payment information completely anonymous.   

As with most advanced VPNs, NordVPN offers apps for the Windows, iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and Android TV platforms. You can also use their extension options which are available for Chrome and Firefox browser.

Most importantly, NordVPN supports up to 6 simultaneous connections using a single username, with router support if you ever need to connect additional devices.

Pros

  • Large server networks
  • Fast speed suitable for streaming and gaming content
  • Peer-to-peer file sharing
  • Strictly no-logs policy
  • Anonymous payment method

Cons

  • Sluggish desktop app speed

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#4 CyberGhost

CyberGhost This is one of the most versatile and inexpensive VPN providers that you can use for accessing blocked content and streaming services while in South Korea. It offers one of the strongest security and privacy, and if you’re looking for a VPN with a dedicated server for streaming, CyberGhost has it all for you. The good thing about this provider is that they offer a 45-day money-back guarantee policy, which means if you don’t like what you got, you can ask for your full refund – no question asked.

With over 7,400 server networks spanning 91 countries including 28 servers dedicated to Manila, you can easily access servers from almost anywhere in the world. Whether you need it for live HD streaming or for the torrenting task, you have got a wide range of dedicated and suitable servers to select from.

Also, CyberGhost doesn’t compromise value for the cheap price you’re paying for the service. In that, it comes with lots of advanced security features such as 256-bit encryption, port forwarding, Kill switch and DNS leak protection, WebRTC and IPv6 protection, and more. Apart from the security features, you can also rely on their seamless and strong unblocking potential, which comes in handy for streaming on various platforms. For example, you can select a suitable server to stream Netflix and other streaming platforms of your choice. This is a great advantage CyberGhost has over other VPNs.

Most interestingly, this provider allows up to 7 devices simultaneous connections. And they have extensions for major browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, etc. So you can choose to just install the app via these free browser extensions and you’ll be up and running with unrestricted internet browsing in no time.  

You can choose to get started now and you don’t have anything to lose as they have a longer day money-back guarantee policy.

Pros

  • Task-specific servers. For example, there is a dedicated server for streaming your favorite streaming services like Netflix, among others.
  • Less pricey when compared to other providers.
  • 45-day money-back guarantee
  • Seamless unblocking potential
  • Excellent speed for downloading
  • Dedicated server in Manila

Cons    

  • Weak for countries with high internet censorship like the UAE, etc.

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#5 Surfshark

Surfshark is one of the most affordable VPNs available for people under a tight budget. With 3,200 servers spanning around over 65 countries including South Korea, it has all the essential features and advanced security you’ll ever need for a secure and enhanced browsing experience. From fast internet connection to 256-bit military-grade protection, DNS leak and kill switch protection, and from unlimited bandwidth to excellent unblocking potential, you can rest assured all your devices are protected using a single username.   

Most interestingly, this provider has apps for PC, Mac, iOS, Linux, and Android. The good thing about the provider is that they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. So you can try the VPN out to see if it’s right for you or not. You can get started now by paying with any form of Cryptocurrency payment. Again, this is another good thing about this provider as this payment method will keep your personal information completely anonymous.    

Pros

  • Affordable VPN
  • Multi-hop server connections
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Strong unblocking potential
  • Lots of advanced security features

Cons

  • Slow in terms of downloading

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#6 PrivateVPN

Although this provider hasn’t been around for as long as most providers, it’s moving at a very fast pace in terms of internet security and privacy. PrivateVPN demonstrates in terms of strict no-user logs policy, excellent torrenting support, formidable security, and reliable connections, among others. On top of this, they offer one of the dedicated streaming servers for streaming services like Netflix, ABC, Hulu, etc., and the internet connection speed has so far been excellent.

We chose PrivateVPN as one of the best VPNs for Korea because of its easy-to-use interfaces. With this, you can customize your settings as you like.

However, PrivateVPN still has a long way to some aspects of their services such as the server networks and live customer support. As of the time of this writing, PrivateVPN only has 86+ servers dotted around 63 countries and there have been in the past many complaints about their live customer support not being effective.

On torrenting, this provider is one of the most user-friendly we have ever seen in that they support unlimited peer-to-peer file sharing. Plus they maintain a strict no-logs policy with other amazing features such as unlimited bandwidth, and port forwarding, which is available on dedicated servers.

 Additionally, this provider is at par when it comes to internet security and privacy in that they offer high-security measures such as 256-bit AES encryption, IPv6 and DNS leak protection, as well as an automatic kill switch. However, a kill switch feature is only available on the Windows app. The provider adds more security features especially for open VPN and these include measures like IPsec, L2TP, PPTP, among others.

Pros

  • Lots of advanced security features
  • Strictly no-logs policy
  • User-friendly interface
  • Reasonable price options with discounts on longer plans
  • Reliable services
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Up to 6 devices simultaneous connections

Cons 

  • Small server networks
  • Kill switch only available on the Windows app.

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