South Korea is well-known for its high percentage of internet users per population. Over 80 percent of its population has access to the internet. It is also known for its extremely high broadband speeds. Sadly this advancement came with a complication. As much as South Korea is considered a democratic nation, yet it has extremely high online censorship compared to other democratic nations. It is so annoying to have such advanced internet connections but cannot utilize it. This was a big problem for the South Korean Citizens until the introduction of VPNs. However not all VPNs are able to bypass these online restrictions. In order for a VPN to be considered one of the good VPNs for South Korea, it has to have strength in some of its features more than others. First we need to understand which features in any VPN are responsible for bypassing geo-restrictions. In the case of South Korea, geo-restriction doesn’t mean trying to access certain websites that can only be accessed from certain countries (for example, Netflix or BBC iplayer), but sites that are restricted to be accessed from South Korea in specific. The features of a VPN that are responsible for solving this issue are; number of servers and their displacement, level of security (encryption), and logs policy. After looking through numerous VPNs, we were able to shortlist the most suitable VPNs for South Korea and with further research, were able to filter out the best 3 VPNs for South Korea.
Best VPNs for South Korea
IronSocket
IronSocket is a Hong Kong based VPN service provider that is not as big a name as its top competitors in this list, yet when it comes to South Korea it definitely has the strong features needed to be ranked one of the best VPNs for South Korea. Let’s take a look at our main focus points.
Network of Servers
IronSocket might not have a large network of servers compared to other VPN service providers, yet their servers are displaced very strategically as if this VPN is made for South Korea. The network consists of over 50 servers spread across 36 countries around the world including servers in Hong Kong, Japan, the US, the UK and Canada. This means that once users are connected to any servers outside of South Korea, they will be able to access any restricted sites and with the servers in the US, they will be able to access sites restricted only to the US.
Level of Security
It is clear that IronSocket take their security measures very seriously. First of all the entire network is secured with a 256-bit AES encryption. Second of all the app supports the most advanced security protocols (OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, HTTP, and SOCKS5). This means users within South Korea are completely secure from being monitored or their online information falling into the wrong hands.
Logs Policy
In their privacy policy, IronSocket clearly state exactly which information is kept and which is not. They only keep the information required to maintain your account, but they do not keep records of any internet activity logs what so ever. This means that users in South Korea and all users around the world can surf the web in complete privacy.
IronSocket has definitely strived in the correct path and in a very powerful manner to prove its place in the VPN market and especially among VPNs for South Korea.
VPNArea
VPNArea is one of the VPN providers that show great potential and a promising future in the VPN world as their features are extremely advanced and they are continuously expanding. When it came to VPNs for South Korea they did not show any weakness and strongly proved their place as one of the best VPNs in this challenge. This is due to the following key features:
Network of Servers
VPNArea have a network of over 200 servers spread across 68 countries all over the world which, for South Koreans, gives them the ability to bypass any geo-restrictions what so ever and also to hide their true online identity with a shared IP.
Level of Security
When it came to security measures, VPNArea didn’t back down as all the information on their servers are secured with a military grade 256-bit AES encryption. In addition to that, the security protocols supported in their app are the most advanced protocols available (OpenVPN, PPTP, etc.). A few additional security features include; Anti-DNS Leak system, Anti IPv6 and WebRTC, and a Kill switch system.
Logs Policy
VPNArea are based in Bulgaria and their hosting is in Switzerland, which means they don’t fall under any data retention laws. This gives them the advantage to confidently have a very strong no logs policy. In other words, they keep no logs of internet activity what so ever.
We were pretty impressed with how dedicated VPNArea to their users’ privacy and security and this exact dedication is what made them one of the best VPNs for South Korea.
PureVPN
When we were looking for the best VPNs for South Korea and came across PureVPN, we weren’t surprised. This is due to many reasons; from how big a name it is in the market to its awesome security measures and state of the art features. However, we need to focus on the key points when it comes to South Korea.
Network of Servers
PureVPN is known to have one of the biggest, most advanced server networks in the market. This network consists of over 750 servers spread strategically across 141 countries around the world. This means that the users in South Korea can easily bypass any geo-restrictions placed by their government. This also provides the users with over 88,000 shared IP’s in order to hide their true online identity within.
Level of Security
Big names come with high levels of security in the field of VPNs. That being said, PureVPN secures all the information on their servers with a military grade 256-bit AES encryption. If that is not enough, their app supports the latest security protocols (OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, SSTP, and IKEv2). A few additional security features include DDoS protection, NAT firewall, and an internet kill switch. This definitely shows how dedicated they are to online security.
Logs Policy
Regarding their privacy policy, PureVPN state that they do keep only the very basic information needed for the sake of creating an account with them (name, email address, etc.). This might sound a little scary, however, this information is not enough to give away the online identity of their users plus all this information is kept highly encrypted. Other than that, they do not keep or record any online activity logs.
There is not much more to say about PureVPN except that it is definitely one of the highest considerable choices when choosing among VPNs for South Korea.
Conclusion
South Korea might be a very strict nation when it comes to internet freedom, however thanks to these VPNs for South Korea, this is not a challenge anymore. For those people living in South Korea, just choose the most suitable one for you and enjoy the full online freedom .
