5 Best VPN for Mac In South Korea 2023
Need access to the Best VPN for Mac in South Korea? Well, the Big Sur, Mojave, High Sierra, El Capitan, and Yosemite are highly stable/secure OS for your laptops (MacBook Air and MacBook Pro) and desktops (Mac mini, iMac, iMac Pro).
However, this does not give them a clean chit from its own privacy/security issues. When connected to the internet, you may also still need protection from unwarranted threats in South Korea. This is where using a VPN service comes in handy.
So, I have come up with a list of recommendations for you. Below you can find details regarding the best and free VPN for Mac in South Korea 2023.
Best VPN for Mac In South Korea: Quick Summary
- ExpressVPN: The best overall VPN for Mac in South Korea with a 3000+ server count and strong security for Mac users.
- NordVPN: The best feature packed VPN for Mac in South Korea with no data retention laws and a strict no-logs policy audited by a third-party firm.
- Surfshark: The best budget VPN for Mac with high-end security and advanced protocols.
- CyberGhost: The most user-friendly Mac VPN in South Korea for beginners with torrenting support.
- IPVanish: The best value VPN for Mac in South Korea with reasonable pricing and strong security aspects.
5 Best VPNs for Mac In South Korea: Detailed Analysis
1. ExpressVPN
ExpressVPN offers an incredibly secure and reliable application for Mac users in South Korea. It is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands; a safe country with virtually zero data retention laws, giving users more confidence to trust the provider.
It has a 4.6 rating on the Apple Store and Trustpilot, both.
Their Mac app never crashes or gives downtime issues, and you can count on it for offering a seamless, optimized experience in South Korea. The provider’s privacy policy is also incredibly strong, with many testing its zero logs policy in South Korea. Users even have an ExpressVPN free trial available for testing. ExpressVPN offers a premium price plan which starts from KRW 9022.42 /mo (US$ 6.67 /mo ) (Get 49% Off + 3 Months FREE on its 12-Month Plan) in South Korea
All the plans are covered by an active 30-day money-back guarantee offer so you can try the VPN risk-free in South Korea. Also, you can pay for the subscription plan with a variety of payment methods including credit cards, PayPal, Bitcoin, and more.
ExpressVPN is one of the few VPN providers that offer a dedicated app for routers and it supports all major routers including some famous ones like Netgear, Linksys, and Asus.
It also has a Smart DNS feature called MediaStreamer that works smoothly on streaming devices like Apple TV, Roku, or Chromecast.
You can even use it on your Xbox or PlayStation game console to bypass geo-restrictions and play games that are not yet released in your region in South Korea. Plus, with ExpressVPN, you can achieve your dream latency and escape malware or DDoS attacks.
If you are a movie geek then you’ll be happy to know that ExpressVPN can unblock nearly 20 Netflix libraries. Moreover, it can unblock other major streaming platforms including Disney+ in South Korea, BBC IPlayer, Hulu in South Korea, and ThreeNow in South Korea etc.
Specifications
- 3000+ servers in 94 countries.
- 160 locations.
- AES 256-bit Encryption.
- 5 simultaneous connections.
- Smart DNS.
- Automatic kill switch.
- Split tunneling.
- Dedicated router app.
- Lightway protocol.
- 24/7 live chat support.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Strict no-logs policy (audited).
- Expensive.
Need more information? Re-direct yourself to this full ExpressVPN review South Korea!
2. NordVPN
Based in Panama, NordVPN is an affordable and highly secure VPN provider for Mac users in South Korea. Holistically, NordVPN‘s experience will leave you desiring for nothing else, as it ticks all boxes of intuitiveness, user-friendliness, and advanced features as far as NordVPN for Mac is concerned in South Korea.
NordVPN has a 4.7 rating on the Apple Store and a 4.4 rating on Trustpilot.
For connectivity, you have access to 5,100+ servers in 100 locations globally, but surprisingly upon testing, I received no server load or speed issues. In fact, the performance was quite impressive. The best part of all: NordVPN is not located in 5, 9, or 14 eyes jurisdiction in South Korea.
In terms of pricing, NordVPN offers a premium plan which starts at KRW 5397.22 /mo (US$ 3.99 /mo ) (Get 57% Off + 3 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan) You can even get a 7-day NordVPN Free Trial in South Korea on iOS and Android devices, along with a 30-day refund.
Keep in mind that you’ll need to pay for the subscription plan upfront and you can use a variety of payment options including credit cards, cryptocurrency, AmazonPay, Sofort, PayPal, or prepaid cards. And even if you’re not satisfied with the services, you can get a refund if you generate a request in under 30 days.
NordVPN has a strict no-logs policy because of its non US jurisdiction and it has been audited by PwC, an independent third-party auditing firm in South Korea.
And as you know NordVPN has a rich server pool of 5000+ servers, you can easily watch your favorite shows and movies on major streaming platforms like Netflix South Korea, Hulu, BBC IPlayer, Disney+ in South Korea, and more.
NordVPN even offers a dedicated IP address if you’re willing to throw in some more bucks.
Specifications
- 5,100+ servers in 59 countries.
- AES 256-bit Encryption.
- Automatic kill switch.
- Smart DNS.
- DoubleVPN.
- Split tunneling.
- DNS leak protection.
- Onion over VPN.
- 6 simultaneous connections.
- Dedicated IP address.
- CyberSec.
- Threat Protection feature.
- 7-day free trial on Android and iOS.
- 24/7 live chat support.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Strict no-logs policy.
- Headquartered in Panama.
- Torrenting is supported on some servers.
Need more information? Re-direct yourself to this full NordVPN review South Korea!
3. Surfshark
Powerful and strong, Surfshark comes third as the best VPN for Mac in South Korea. Based in the British Virgin Islands, the provider offers 3,200+ servers in 65+ countries worldwide. Clean, uncomplicated, and feature-rich. This is what sums up the experience on Mac in South Korea.
Its app uses the industry-standard OpenVPN protocol, which implements the AES-256-GCM cipher on the data channel, so no additional authentication is required. For the control channel, it uses the same AES-256-GCM cipher with the TLS key exchange secured using RSA-2048.
In terms of pricing, the VPN offers price plan which starts from KRW 3368.19 /mo (US$ 2.49 /mo ) (Get 84% + 2 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan). Users even have a 7-day Surfshark free trial in South Korea only on Mac, iOS, and Android devices, along with a 30-day refund guarantee.
Surfshark enjoys a 4.7 rating on Apple Store and a 4.2 rating on Trustpilot.
However, the amazing thing about Surfshark is that you don’t have to worry about the limits on simultaneous connections in South Korea.
Surfshark offers unlimited simultaneous connections, which means you can connect as many devices as you want with a single subscription plan in South Korea.
It’s the best feature that Surfshark offers as you can cover all the devices of your household with one subscription plan. And if you’re worrying that you’ll have limited bandwidth, then there is no such case.
With Multi-Hop, you can encrypt your traffic twice and apply a second layer of security to all the shady work you do on the internet.
Surfshark’s server pool is decent enough that it can unblock major streaming platforms including Netflix South Korea, Hulu, BBC IPlayer, Disney+ in South Korea, and many more.
Not only this, Surfshark has even more features like an automatic kill switch, CleanWeb, Whitelister, and whatnot.
Specifications
- 3200+ servers in 65+ countries.
- Kill switch.
- AES 256-bit Encryption.
- Smart DNS.
- Multi-Hop.
- Bypasser.
- Unlimited simultaneous connections.
- CleanWeb.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
- 24/7 live chat support.
- Strict no-logs policy (audited).
- Advanced protocols.
- Limited servers for P2P.
Need more information? Re-direct yourself to this full Surfshark review South Korea!
4. CyberGhost
CyberGhost has taken immense strides in the recent past to break into the top-tier VPN category and can easily be trusted for your Mac in South Korea. Headquartered in Romania, CyberGhost offers a user-friendly Mac app that boasts a black and yellow theme.
It has an Apple Store rating of 4.1 while the rating on Trustpilot is 4.7.
The provider offers the largest network infrastructure of 6,100 servers in 90+ countries. The best part of all, their app unblocks all popular platforms and even works on Android TVs, along with Nvidia Shield TV and Firestick devices in South Korea. The GUI is incredibly impressive on all.
As far as pricing is concerned, CyberGhost VPN’s pricing plan start from KRW 3097.65 /mo (US$ 2.29 /mo ) 79% Discount, giving users quite a few options in subscriptions.
Although keep in mind that the one-month plan has only a 14-day money-back guarantee in South Korea. So if you want to enjoy a longer period to test the VPN provider, go for the 1-year or 2-year plan as they have an active 45-day money-back guarantee offer which is the longest duration any VPN provider is offering.
CyberGhost offers AES 256-bit Standard Encryption System which encrypts and hides your online traffic from your ISP and government authorities while you’re surfing the internet in South Korea. And as it is covered by a strict no-logs policy, your data will never be compromised.
You can easily use CyberGhost on 7 devices with simultaneous connections.
Specifications
- 6,100 servers in 90 countries.
- AES 256-bit Encryption.
- Internet & app kill switch.
- P2P sharing.
- 7 simultaneous connections.
- DNS and IP leak protection.
- Split tunneling.
- Smart DNS.
- 45-day money-back guarantee.
- 24/7 live chat support.
- Strict no-logs policy.
- Dedicated IP address.
- Limited payment options.
Need more information? Re-direct yourself to this full CyberGhost review in South Korea!
5. IPVanish
IPVanish is a US-based VPN service that offers great value for money in South Korea. It has a strong security protocol with AES-256 encryption and provides good speeds.
The company does not keep any logs of user activity. IPVanish has a clear and concise privacy policy. The service supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and L2TP/IPsec protocols.
It has a 4.6 rating on Trustpilot and a 4.5 rating on Apple Store.
IPVanish offers a basic monthly plan costing KRW 5397.22 /mo (US$ 3.99 /mo ) 69% Off. The one-year plan is covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee in South Korea offer so you can try it risk-free.
Moreover, IPVanish is a decent choice for security and privacy. It lacks optimized servers for streaming platforms but so far some servers of IPVanish can unblock Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and others in South Korea.
IPVanish doesn’t have a limit on simultaneous connections so you can use as many devices as you want with a single subscription plan.
Specifications
- 1900+ servers in 75+ countries.
- AES 256-bit Encryption.
- Shared IP addresses.
- Unlimited simultaneous connections.
- Split tunneling.
- DNS leak protection.
- VPN kill switch.
- SOCKS5 proxy.
- 30-day money-back guarantee.
- 24/7 customer support.
- Strict no-logs policy.
- No publicly released audits.
For more information, read the detailed IPVanish review in South Korea!
How to choose your Mac VPN In South Korea
Here are some factors that you should keep in mind while choosing a VPN for Mac in South Korea:
Firstly, make sure that the VPN service offers a native app for Mac. This will make it easier to set up and use the VPN on your device. ExpressVPN and NordVPN are at the top of the list that offers a native VPN app for Mac users in South Korea.
Secondly, check the server count and locations offered by the VPN. A large server count will give you more options to choose from while a wide range of locations will ensure that you can access geo-restricted content in South Korea. NordVPN has a decent server pool of 5000+ servers that can unblock major streaming platforms in South Korea.
The third thing you should check is the security and privacy features offered by the VPN. A good VPN for Mac will offer military-grade encryption in South Korea, a strict no-logs policy, and DNS leak protection. Looking at these, ExpressVPN is the best fit as it offers AES 256-bit encryption with a strict no-log policy and prevention from WebRTC/DNS/IP leaks.
Fourth, make sure that the VPN has a good customer support team in case you run into any problems while using the service in South Korea. ExpressVPN wins in this category as it has an agile team of customer support that operates 24/7 through live chat and email.
If we consider all the factors above then ExpressVPN wins the race. NordVPN and Surfshark are the close seconds that you can sign up to choose the best VPN Mac in South Korea.
How to Use a VPN with MacOS In South Korea
If you want to use a VPN on your macOS, follow the same installing process for any other software in South Korea. Once signed up with any of the above-recommended providers, follow these simple steps:
- Download the Mac application from the VPN website
- Install the file after downloading and confirm any prompts
- Launch the VPN application from the dock at the bottom or App Menu
- Enter your login credentials and activate the product (if needed).
- Select a VPN server from the list of countries/locations available
- Hit the “connect” button and enjoy using a VPN on your Mac.
How to Setup a VPN on Mac (Manually) In South Korea?
For those providers that do not have a native app for Mac in South Korea, or if you prefer not to use a third-party application, there are a few ways to manually configure a VPN. Basically, there are three types of VPN setups that are most popular in South Korea. I will provide instructions for each:
How to Set Up an L2TP VPN Connection on macOS in South Korea
- Click on “System Preferences” in the Apple Menu.
- Double-click the “Network Icon” and press the “+” button.
- Click the interface drop-down list and select “VPN”.
- Choose L2TP over IPSec in the VPN Type drop-down list.
- Type a name for the VPN connection in the “Service Name”.
- Click “Create” and the VPN settings will appear automatically.
- Fill out the VPN server address, Account Name, And Password Fields.
- Type the Pre-Shared Key, if you are using a Shared Secret connection.
- Click on “Apply” to save changes and wait for the VPN to set up.
- Go back to System Preferences > Network Icon > Choose the VPN you created!
How to Set Up a VPN with Tunnelblick on a Mac in South Korea
- Launch the TunnelBlick Application and click on “I have Configuration Files”.
- Load the downloaded .ovpn files from your provider by double-clicking them.
- You will receive a prompt to install the configurations. Select the relevant option.
- Click the “TunnelBlick” icon in the top right corner of your screen and hit “Connect”
- Enter your username and password for the VPN, if prompted.
- Enjoy using your VPN manually via Tunnelblick!
How to Set Up a VPN with Viscosity on macOS in South Korea
- Open the Viscosity application and then choose “Preferences”
- Click the “+” sign at the bottom left of the Window.
- Choose the “Import Connection” option.
- Load the downloaded .ovpn configuration files.
- Click the “Viscosity” icon in the app menu and hit “Connect”
- Enter your username and password for the VPN, if prompted.
Factors to Look for When Choosing the Best VPN Mac In South Korea
Our testing criteria for choosing a VPN software for Mac is based on analyzing critical security, privacy, and device-related important issues in South Korea.
Through this testing criteria, we came up with these 8 factors that we weighed providers upon when choosing our 5 best VPNs for Mac in South Korea:
Compatible Apps
The provider should have a functioning, well-designed, easy-to-use, and reliable Mac app that can allow the user to begin using the service within just a few steps in South Korea.
Budget-Friendly Pricing
Our top recommended VPN, Surfshark is priced at KRW 3368.19 /mo (US$ 2.49 /mo ) (Get 84% + 2 Months FREE on 2-Year Plan) despite offering the highest server park and some of the most premium security features in the industry.
The provider which can make it as affordable for the user to subscribe to its services is the one that we went for when making this list.
Unblock Streaming Sites
Streaming is now a popular activity, even on Macs, so if a user is going for a provider, it needs to be powerful enough to unblock major streaming sites in South Korea for it like Netflix US and Hulu.
Good Server Infrastructure
Usually, the top providers have anywhere from 700 to 2000 servers, but some even go above that and offer 3000-5000 servers worldwide.
We didn’t opt for a provider that doesn’t offer more than 500 servers because a smaller server park means overloading and atrociously slow speeds in South Korea.
No DNS or WebRTC leaks
All the encryption and protocols mean nothing if your VPN leaks your IP through a DNS or a WebRTC leak.
Our selected VPNs don’t do so as they passed all of these strict, independent DNS and WebRTC leak tests without leaking our real IP even once.
Zero Logging Policy
We don’t accept any provider to be safe enough for users unless they have an explicit zero-logging policy clearly mentioned in their privacy policy.
Some VPNs, however, do keep some negligible logs like those of your connection timestamps and bandwidth usage, but they are harmless as they can’t be used to identify you in South Korea.
All of the Mac VPNs that are recommended by us don’t keep any kind of user activity logs whatsoever and can be completely trusted for keeping your data safe and anonymous in South Korea.
Strong Encryption Levels
The safest form of encryption is the AES-256 military-grade level encryption, which can’t be deciphered even by brute force computing or by hundreds of supercomputers working at once in South Korea.
Anything below that and we need to give that VPN a pass. Our top 5 VPNs are all offering this level of encryption and can guarantee that your data cannot be hacked in transit ever.
Based on a Safe Jurisdiction
Data retention laws of the country where the VPN is based are crucial to how secure a user’s data is with the provider in South Korea. For e.g. a provider based in a country that is a member of the 14 Eyes Alliance shouldn’t be opted for.
The top 5 Mac VPNs recommended above are all based in safer locations/data-friendly countries like the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, etc.
5 Reasons Why Free VPNs are a Bad Option for Macs In South Korea
Free VPNs might be enticing considering the considerable cost that subscribing to a paid provider can incur, but we never recommend you to go for free providers. Here’s why:
- Free VPNs don’t often offer Compatible apps for Macs, making it a hassle to use the service on your device in the first place in South Korea.
- Speeds are often quite slow on services offered by free providers on top of daily/monthly bandwidth limits, making them unsuitable for modern-day browsing habits in South Korea.
- Free VPNs have been known to sell user data and conduct other problematic activities because they need to make money and if you are not paying them through subscription fees, then they need to go somewhere to cover up their bottom lines.
- You won’t ever get premium features like Double VPN or Split Tunnelling in Free VPNs.
- Free VPNs are mostly not Torrenting friendly and neither are they good at unblocking geo-restricted streaming sites like Netflix or BBC iPlayer.
FAQ: Best VPN for Mac In South Korea
What’s the best free VPN for Mac in South Korea?
Free VPNs tend to be a risky option, as they suffer from a restricted server network, poor security, slow speeds, and usually, limited bandwidth and data in South Korea.
How to change VPN on Mac in South Korea?
If you want to use a different VPN application on Mac in South Korea, you will first have to uninstall any other software, so as to not create a conflict and eventually additional network-related issues.
Do I need a VPN with a Mac in South Korea?
Yes, you need a VPN for your Mac in South Korea, if you want to boost your privacy and security or want to unlock a whole new world of entertainment on streaming platforms in South Korea like Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and more.
Are Mac VPNs different from other VPNs in South Korea?
Mac VPNs are not different from other VPNs. All VPNs work in a similar way in South Korea. The only difference can be in the operating or unavailability of some features. For suppose, ExpressVPN’s kill switch feature for Mac can be enabled or disabled from the settings while ExpressVPN’s Android version has a default kill switch that is always on.
Does Mac have a built-in VPN in South Korea?
Mac does not have a built-in VPN application in South Korea, but they do offer tremendous support for setting up manual connections for most common types of VPNs.
Are there free VPNs for Mac in South Korea?
Yes, there are plenty of free VPNs for Mac in South Korea, but since most of them indulge in shady practices, it is advised to opt for a premium provider.
How do I set up a VPN on my Mac at home in South Korea?
Open the Apple menu and click on “System Preferences”. Open “Network” and click on “add. Choose VPN and select the protocol from the VPN type drop-down list that appears in South Korea.
How do I get a VPN on my Macbook in South Korea?
There are two options for getting a VPN on your MacBook in South Korea. Get a provider with a native application for the operating system or set up a VPN manually.
Wrapping Things Up
The 5 Recommended Mac VPNs listed above are all primed to meet your expectations on all accounts and no other service can bring the perfect combination of privacy and reliability.
ExpressVPN is our most highly recommended and the best VPN for Mac in South Korea.
The other options; NordVPN, Surfshark, CyberGhost, and IPVanish are equally good on all VPN important factors and you can go for either of them for your Mac too.
