Arc card leaving Korea

Has anyone taken their arc card with them and not turned it in to immigration before leaving Korea ?   I wanted to keep it as a souvenir.   I’m wondering if anyone has kept it and did they have any problems returning back to Korea ?   I plan on coming back as a tourist someday

You're technically supposed to surrender it, but they won't always ask for it, and I haven't heard of a case where they held it against someone who decided to keep it. There's always a chance, though.

If you really want to play it safe, I know of someone who had reported their ARC as lost to immigration and paid for a new card (I think it's only 5k won for a replacement card if reported lost?), then turned in the new card when it was time to leave so that she could keep the old one as a souvenir.

If you really want to play it safe, I know of someone who had reported their ARC as lost to immigration and paid for a new card (I think it's only 5k won for a replacement card if reported lost?), then turned in the new card when it was time to leave so that she could keep the old one as a souvenir.

i did this exact thing.

I think my replacement was 30k when I paid it last year?

Just keep it. Airport staff aren't going to rummage through your pockets or strip search you. Nothing bad will happen.

Heh, you guys don't know about the ARC sniffing dogs at the airport, do you? I never got why this question is so prevalent, what a non-issue to worry about.

I mean, I know the Arc fell flat compared to Lovelace and RDNA3, but I wouldn't just dump it...