South Korea Road Classification

This page is being considered for cleanup. Please discuss this page.

이 페이지는 오래되고 최신 합의 사항과 맞지 않는 내용들이 있습니다. 논의를 통해 정리해야 합니다.

This article or section may contain out-of-date information: 이 페이지는 오래되고 최신 합의 사항과 맞지 않는 내용들이 있습니다. 논의를 통해 정리해야 합니다.
If you know about the current state of affairs, please help keep everyone informed by updating this information. (Discussion)

This is a discussion document. It is not yet ready for use!! Please discuss this topic on the talk-ko mailing list.

This page attempts to summarize the types of road that exist in South Korea, and how to tag them in OSM.

Firstly, it is important to note that the roads are already classified by the Korean Road Traffic Authority (도로교통안전공단). A list of road signs for each classification can be found here:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Road_signs_in_South_Korea

They look like this

These can be summarized by the following list:

Korean Highway (red/blue shield)
Korean National Route (blue oval)
Korean Metro Expressway (white hexagon or octagon with red flash)
Korean Metro Route (white hexagon or octagon)
Korean Local Route (yellow rectangle)

There are other classes of road which are very common:

Residential street
Rural road
Access roads (e.g. around rice fields)

From this list we can start assigning OSM tags to each road classification:

My first draft suggestion is as follows:

Symbol	Classification	Tags	Explanation
	Korean Highway	highway=motorway ref=*	It's a motorway. These are toll roads. They are indicated with a blue and red shield with white numbers.
	Korean National Route	highway=trunk ref=*	It's an important road making a national network. They are marked with a blue oval and white numbers. Some sections of these roads have been upgraded to 'motorway' status, but they are not toll roads, and they still retain the blue oval symbol. In this case use highway=trunk motorroad=yes ref=*
	Korean Metro Expressway	highway=primary motorroad=yes ref=*	These are common near major cities. They are marked with a white hexagon with a red stripe and black numbers. We use Motorroad to differentiate this (an Expressway) from the regular Metro route (see below).
	Korean Metro Route	highway=primary bicycle=no ref=*	These are common in and through major cities. They are marked with a white hexagon and black numbers as above, but no red stripe. Bicycles are not permitted.
	Korean Local Route	highway=secondary ref=*	Maintained by local governments. They are marked with a yellow rectangle and black numbers. Some sections of these roads have been upgraded to 'motorway' status, but they are not toll roads, and they still retain the yellow rectangle symbol. In this case use highway=secondary motorroad=yes ref=*
	Other roads	highway=tertiary	Other 'significant' roads which have a painted centreline but do not fit into the above categories.
	Residential street	highway=residential	Streets in towns and villages and residential city areas.
	Rural road	highway=unclassified highway=track	If its main purpose appears to be agricultural in nature- to, through, or around farms or fields it is likely a track. Best explained here
	Access roads	highway=service	Explained later in Unclassified.

Here is a simple flowchart to quickly determine the type of road:

Is it signed with a blue/red shield?
No	Yes	highway=motorway

Is it signed with a blue oval?
No	Yes	Has it been upgraded to motorway status?
		No	Yes	highway=trunk motorroad=yes
		highway=trunk

Is it signed with a white hexagon?
No	Yes	Does the sign have a red flash?
		No	Yes	highway=primary motorroad=yes
		highway=primary

Is it signed with a yellow rectangle?
No	Yes	Has it been upgraded to motorway status?
		No	Yes	highway=secondary motorroad=yes
		highway=secondary

Does it have a painted line down the centre?
No	Yes	highway=tertiary

The next classifications are subjective, but we can still make some easy rules to guide mappers:

Is it a well-used road?
No	Yes	Is it in a residential area?
		No	Yes	highway=residential
		highway=unclassified

Is it a concrete track servicing a farm or a rice field?
No	Yes	Is it well-used?
		No	Yes	highway=service
		highway=track tracktype=grade1 surface=concrete

Is it a driveway?
No	Yes	highway=service service=driveway

Is it an alley?
No	Yes	highway=service service=alley

Is it an unpaved track?
No	Yes	highway=track tracktype=* grade2, 3, 4

It's something else. Use the Wiki or ask on the mailing list.

The Asian Highway Network

Some roads in Korea are part of the Asian Highway Network. These should be tagged with int_ref=* e.g. int_ref=AH6

A Korean roadsign showing the Asian Highway Network ref. AH6.