E-scooters in Seoul: who rents them, the licence you need, where to ride and what gets towed

E-scooters in Seoul: Beam, Kickgoing, Xingxing and Swing

The map shows four companies’ scooters in Seoul:

• Beam, with about 5,300.
• Kickgoing, with about 4,900.
• Xingxing (씽씽), with about 4,900. Kickgoing and Xingxing are run by the same company, PUMP, their websites show.
• Swing, with about 560, nearly all in Geumcheon-gu.

That made about 15,700 on the Seoul map at 02:41 on Monday 26 October 2026, Seoul time: a snapshot, not a fleet size. Matched to Statistics Korea’s district boundaries between 04:00 and 04:15, most stood in Gangnam (about 3,900), Songpa (2,900), Mapo (2,400), Seocho (1,500) and Gangdong (1,200); the map showed next to none in Jongno, Jung, Yongsan and Seongdong, and few in the north-east.

The areas the map reads leave some scooters out: Beam’s north of about Gwanghwamun, in the far west and along the southern edge; Kickgoing’s in Gangdong and most of Songpa; Xingxing’s in most of Gangseo; and every company’s in the far north of Dobong and Nowon. Battery levels show for Beam, Kickgoing and Xingxing; Swing gives only a rough band.

ScootRadar shows standing e-scooters only, not Seoul’s Ttareungyi (따릉이) bikes or the e-bikes Swing and others rent. The newest official count we found is from June 2021: 14 companies and 55,499 shared e-scooters. Any other company’s scooters are only in its own app.

New to shared scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.

Can you ride one? The licence, the age and the app

A rental e-scooter is a personal mobility device (개인형 이동장치, PM) in Korean law: a motorised bicycle whose motor stops at 25 km/h and that weighs under 30 kg. The Road Traffic Act lets you ride one only with:

• a Korean driving licence valid for motorised bicycles (원동기장치자전거), which you can take from 16; any Korean car or motorcycle licence covers them (not a learner’s), or
• an International Driving Permit under the 1949 Geneva or 1968 Vienna convention, or a foreign licence that Korea recognises by treaty. It counts for a year from your arrival, and only for the classes written on it.

We found no official word on which permit class covers a PM, so check with the operator before you ride: riding without a valid licence costs ₩100,000. Children under 13 may not ride, and a parent or guardian who lets them can be fined ₩100,000.

The operators check too. Kickgoing’s terms (in force since 1 September 2024) ask for a licence check and a mobile number and payment card in your own name; Beam’s Korean terms ask under-19s for a parent’s consent. Xingxing’s and Swing’s conditions are in their apps.

How much does an e-scooter cost in Seoul?

None of the four publishes a Seoul price on an open web page we could read on 25 or 26 October 2026 (Swing’s site didn’t answer; Beam’s terms leave prices to the app). The app shows the unlock fee and per-minute rate before you start.

Bad parking can cost more than the ride: Seoul’s districts charge the operator ₩40,000 to tow a scooter plus ₩700 per 30 minutes in storage, and Kickgoing’s terms pass such fees, and any fine, on to you.

Where can you ride in Seoul? Cycle paths, kickboard-free streets and the Han River

On the road. Use the cycle path where there is one; where there is none, keep to the right-hand edge of the road. The pavement is for pedestrians unless a sign lets bicycles on it: riding there otherwise costs ₩30,000. Don’t ride two abreast, and get off and walk the scooter over a pedestrian crossing; the law sets no fine for either.

Kickboard-free streets (킥보드 없는 거리). Seoul and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency ban e-scooters, self-balancing boards and throttle-only e-bikes from five crowded streets, signed with the section and hours. Riding through costs ₩30,000 and 15 penalty points (₩60,000 and 30 points in a children’s protection zone), though officers may just warn you, and scooters left nearby where parking is banned are towed:

• Hongdae Red Road (Mapo-gu, 1.3 km) and the Banpo academy street (Seocho-gu, 2.3 km), every day from 12:00 to 23:00: Korea’s first, on trial from 16 May 2025 and permanent since 30 September 2026.
• The Daechi-dong academy street around Dogok Elementary School (Gangnam-gu, 1.6 km), every day from 12:00 to 23:00, since 30 September 2026.
• Since the same day, Yeonsinnae Rodeo street (Eunpyeong-gu, 200 m) from 10:00 to 22:00, and the Wirye Transit Mall walkway (Songpa-gu, 800 m) all day.

The Han River parks (한강공원). Seoul’s ordinance allows e-scooters and e-bikes only on the parks’ roads and cycle paths: riding on footpaths, lawns or plazas can bring a ₩50,000 fine from the city.

Where to park an e-scooter in Seoul, and what gets towed

Leave the scooter in a PM parking zone, shown on the city’s Smart Seoul Map, or in a side street where parking is allowed. In Seoul’s words, a scooter left on the pavement or where stopping and parking are banned is illegally parked under the Road Traffic Act and can be towed as soon as it is reported; since December 2024 the city has towed every reported scooter with no grace period.

Seoul’s open data counts 33,045 towing reports from July to December 2025, 7,255 of them in Gangnam-gu. Most scooters stood on the carriageway (14,601), within 3 m of a pedestrian crossing (5,893), on other pavements (4,928) or in a protection zone for children, the elderly or disabled people (4,310); the rest by bus stops, taxi ranks and subway exits, on cycle paths or tactile paving, or on traffic islands.

Korea’s e-scooter rules in 2026

The national Road Traffic Act (도로교통법) sets the riding rules, and its Enforcement Decree the on-the-spot penalties (범칙금) and fines (과태료), as in force on 26 October 2026. Rental companies need no national permit: a 2024 bill that would make them register with their local authority had not become law by then.

No licence, no ride. Korean law treats an e-scooter like a moped: without a licence or permit that covers one you can’t ride it legally, however short the trip.

We found no night ban or season for e-scooters in Seoul, from the city, a district or an operator.

The subway, the palaces and the airports

Seoul Metro. Its terms for lines 1 to 8, amended on 7 March 2026, bar any lithium-battery vehicle except mobility aids from stations and trains from 1 July 2026, with a ₩10,000 surcharge; riding a PM there is banned too. We couldn’t check Korail’s rules for its lines.

The royal palaces (Gyeongbokgung and the others, and Jongmyo). The Korea Heritage Service’s visiting rules name no e-scooter, but let staff turn away anyone carrying sports or play equipment or anything that could disturb other visitors, hold the item or end the visit.

Incheon Airport bans riding bicycles, skateboards, kickboards and other personal mobility devices inside its passenger terminals. Gimpo Airport’s pages said nothing on scooters on 25 October 2026.

Universities published no campus rule we could find on 25 October 2026: follow the signs on campus.

Goyang, Seongnam, Bucheon and Hanam

The towns around Seoul belong to Gyeonggi Province and are counted apart. At 02:41 on 26 October the map showed about 4,900 scooters in Goyang, 4,000 in Seongnam, 3,600 in Bucheon and 2,500 in Hanam. The same national law applies there; Seoul’s towing rules and kickboard-free streets stop at the city limits.

Did you know?

• Seoul opened Korea’s first kickboard-free streets on 16 May 2025. That August, 98.4% of 500 people surveyed around them wanted more.
• In a city poll of 1,000 residents in September 2024, 75.6% backed a ban on rental e-scooters in Seoul. That November the city announced towing without a grace period and plans for kickboard-free streets.
• Seoul has no e-scooter night ban or season, unlike Helsinki, where rental scooters stop on Friday and Saturday nights and run, in principle, from 1 April to 30 November.