The Best Korea VPN Services (2021)
What is the best Korea VPN service? And why do people in Korea need to use a VPN in the first place?
Internet Laws in Korea
South Korea is in collaboration with the 5 Eyes Alliance; an alliance between Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US, and the UK where they "spy" on the world and agree to share sensitive info of their citizens if any of the countries request it.
South Korea has different bills, acts, and legislations regarding internet laws; legally, the Korean government monitors the internet and has access to people's internet traffic and activity to remove any "harmful" content.
According to FreedomHouse, South Korea has one of the highest internet penetration rates at 90%. And even with this huge number, Korean citizens go under internet censorship and surveillance despite Korea being a "free" country.
In 2014, 476 passengers, including 325 students, went on a school trip to Jeju Island on a ferry. At some point during the trip, the ship started sinking and the staff called for help. Unfortunately, help did not come until it was too late. The Sewol ferry tragedy resulted in 304 deaths; most of the victims were high school students.
Following the catastrophe, the public and the media criticized president Park Gen-Hye for the way she had handled the situation. People believed that if the Koreast Coast Guard had responded quickly, the causalities would have been spared.
A few months later, the president announced that any online content insulting the president would be considered defamation, and people would be punished by the law for it. This included social media platforms, media outlets, and even private messages sent through the IM platform KakaoTalk.
Since then, Korea's freedom of speech and internet freedom became questionable. Defamation of public figures is a criminal offense in Korea.
South Korea censors the internet by filtering it and choosing which content is considered harmful; harmful content is removed and indecent websites are banned. Some banned content in Korea includes pornography, harmful content to minors, and certain books (eBooks in this case).
Korea VPN Laws
Surprisingly, with the heavy censorship in Korea, VPNs are still legal 100%. About 5.43% of Koreans have used VPNs in the first half of 2021, compared to 8.72% in 2020.
People use VPNs for many reasons, including achieving internet privacy, accessing geo-restricted content, and gamers sometimes use a Korean VPN for PUBG and other games.
In Korea, if you download a free VPN for your PC or phone, you will get nothing out of it; free VPNs are easy to detect and accordingly, easy to get banned. Free VPNs also offer a very limited number of servers, which means you won't be able to enjoy global content.
There are multiple features that need to exist in a VPN for it to be considered a good one.
VPN Features
- AES-256-bit Encryption: This is the strongest data encryption; it is so strong that governments, banks, military bases, and other official parties use it to protect their most confidential info.
- Zero-logging Policy: A no-log policy denies third-party apps access to your info, as the VPN itself will never save your login info and internet traffic.
- Servers run on RAM (No data is written on hard drives): This gives you more security by storing your data on RAM servers that get erased every time the server is rebooted.
- Kill-Switch: A kill switch is a feature that severs your internet connection if your VPN connection drops suddenly, preventing your real IP address from being exposed.
- Split Tunneling: This feature will allow you to choose which apps run on the VPN server and which ones stay on the public network.
- Unblocking streaming services, such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, HBO Go, and so on.
So, we have tried different paid VPNs and prepared a list of the best Korea VPN services on the market in 2021.
Korea VPN Recommendations
1. CyberGhost
Cyberghost is a Romania-based VPN, which checks off the problem of it being in a 5 Eyes Alliance country.
Features checklist:
- AES-256-bit Encryption - Available.
- No-log Policy - CyberGhost has a true no-log policy.
- Servers run on RAM - CyberGhost has RAM-based servers.
- Kill-Switch - Cyberghost has a kill-switch.
- Split Tunneling - CyberGhost has this feature for mobiles and desktop/laptop devices.
- Cyberghost unblocks content for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, ESPN, Hulu, Kodi, BBC iPlayer, and HBO Max.
Cyberghost works across Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku. It also has a Firefox and Chrome extension.
Cyberghost supports many languages, including English, Spanish, French, and Italian. It also offers 24/7 customer service through live chat, emails & tickets, FAQs, and the knowledge base.
Cyberghost offers three plans:
- A one-month plan for $12.99.
- A 12-month plan for $47.88/year ($3.99/mo).
- A three-year plan for $87.75/year ($2.25/mo) + three months for free.
The first plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee. The other plans come with a 45-day money-back guarantee.
2. Surfshark
Surfshark is based in the British Virgin Islands, making it a good Korea VPN option.
Features checklist:
- AES-256-bit Encryption - Available.
- No-log Policy - Surfshark has a true no-log policy.
- Servers run on RAM - Surfshark has RAM-based servers.
- Kill-Switch - Surfshark has a kill-switch.
- Split Tunneling - Surfshark has this feature only on Windows and Android.
- Surfshark unblocks content for Netflix, Hulu, SkyTV, Fox Go, BBC iPlayer, DAZN, and Spotify.
Surfshark works across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Fire OS, Routers, Playstation, and Xbox. It also has a Firefox and Chrome extension.
Surfshark supports many languages, including Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese. Surfshark also offers 24/7 customer service through live chat, emails & tickets, blogs, and the knowledge base.
Surfshark offers three plans:
- A one-month plan - $12.95/mo.
- A 6-month plan - $38.94 ($6.49/month), billed every 6 month.
- A 24-month plan - $59.76 ($2.49/month), billed annualy.
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
3. HideMyAss (HMA)
HideMyAss is another good option for a Korea VPN; it is a UK-based company.
Features checklist:
- AES-256-bit Encryption - Available.
- No-log Policy - HMA has a true no-log policy.
- Servers run on RAM - HMA does NOT have RAM-based servers.
- Kill-Switch - HMA has a kill-switch.
- Split Tunneling - HMA has this feature only on Android.
- HMA unblocks content for BBC iPlayer, the US and UK Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, and Disney+.
HMA works across iOS, Windows, Android, macOS, and Linux. It also has a Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Chrome extension.
HMA supports many languages, including English, Arabic, and French. HMA also offers 24/7 customer service through live chat, phone support, emails & tickets, Articles & Guides, and the knowledge base.
HMA offers three plans:
- A one-month plan - $13.34/mo.
- A 12-month plan - $63.94 billed every year ($5.33/mo).
- A 36-month plan - $130.65 billed every 36 months ($3.63/mo).
All plans are available with a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
How to Use a Korea VPN
1. Choose a Korea VPN from the list above.
2. Install the app or download the extension.
3. Choose your username and password and log in.
4. Choose the VPN server address according to your needs and go online.
5. Enjoy surfing the internet safely.