Road signs in South Korea are regulated by the Korean Road Traffic Authority (Korean: 도로교통안전공단).Signs indicating dangers are triangular with a red border, yellow background and black pictograms. Mandatory instructions are white on a blue background, prohibitions are black on a white background with a red border, and supplementary information signs are rectangular with black text on a white background. Like other countries, the signs use pictograms to display their meaning. Any text included in signs will normally be in Korean and English. Signs are normally placed 1 to 2.1 meters high.[1]
South Korean road signs depict people with realistic (as opposed to stylized) silhouettes.
Road signs in South Korea closely followed Japanese and European rules on road signs until the 1970s.
South Korea signed the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals on December 29, 1969, but has yet to ratify the Convention.[2]
| Color type ! | Color number ! | Color | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deep red | 7.5R 3/10 | Based on the color of Korean Industrial Standards (KS A 0062, KS M 6020) (within allowable value △ E=1) | |||
| Yellow orange | 10YR 7/14 | ||||
| Dark green | 2.5G 3/6 | ||||
| Black and navy | 7.5PB 2/2 | ||||
| White | N 9.25 | ||||
| Black | N 1.5 |
| Color type ! | Color number ! | Color | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | N 9.25 | Within the allowable value △ E = 1, it is a standard for color paint according to Korean Industrial Standards (KSA 0062, KSM 6080) | |||
| Yellow orange | 10YR 7/14 | ||||
| Bright blue | 10B 6/8 | ||||
| Deep red | 7.5R 3/10 |
Warning signs are triangular with yellow backgrounds, red borders and black pictograms.
Prohibition signs are round with white backgrounds, red borders and black pictograms.
Mandatory instruction signs are round with blue backgrounds and white pictograms.
Supplementary signs are rectangular with white backgrounds and black text. Most of signs are only written in Korean.
Direction and distance signs are rectangular with dark green backgrounds and white text. In urban areas, direction signs have dark blue backgrounds. The signs are normally written in Korean and English. In March 2010, Korea Expressway Corporation introduced a new technique of direction signing for expressways.[3] This new system focuses on providing signs featuring destinations reached from an exit, rather than those reached by remaining on the mainline. Notably, the Korean typeface has changed from Sandol Doropyojipanche (Sandol traffic sign typeface, which can be seen on the distance sign and direction sign below) to Hangilche (Hangil typeface), and the Panno has been introduced for Latin text.
Traffic signs in Korea shall be designated as traffic signs on the traffic sign schedule;[4] [5] the actual design of traffic signs installed is often different.