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South Korea Passport Photo Maker

Upload any photo, the tool removes your existing background, drops in the plain white background required for South Korea passport, and produces a spec-exact 35×45mm image ready to submit.

Drop your photo here
or click anywhere in this box to choose a photo

JPG, PNG, HEIC or WebP · Max 25 MB · Face forward, eyes on the camera.

100% private, deleted after processing No sign-up to preview Spec-exact 35×45mm output

How to make a South Korea passport photo in 3 steps

Upload any photo of yourself, and the tool handles the entire South Korea passport spec pipeline, background removal, colour swap, spec-exact crop, file-size compression, in one pass.

1

Start from a photo you already have

A phone shot against any wall works, because the background gets replaced. South Korea accepts a photo taken within the last 6 months, so an older picture will not pass.

2

Background replaced with plain white

Your outline, including hair and clothing edges, is separated from the original photo and composited onto the plain white that South Korea requires for a passport.

3

Cropped to 35×45mm at 300 DPI

That is 413×531 pixels (1.38×1.77 inches). The head is placed 32-36mm from chin to crown, 71-80% of the frame height. Drag the crop box if you want the face sitting differently in the frame.

Understanding the South Korea passport spec

Korean passport applications require a 35×45mm colour photograph taken within the last six months, with the head 32-36mm from chin to crown on a plain white background. Korea enforces two rules more strictly than most countries: both ears must be visible, with hair tucked back so it does not cross the face or cover the outline of the head, and the photograph must not be retouched. Beautification, skin smoothing, eye enlargement, jaw slimming, tone lifting, is an explicit rejection reason, because the image has to match the face that will be compared against it at a border gate.

Dimensions
35×45 mm
1.38 × 1.77 in
Resolution
300 DPI
Print-ready
Background
plain white
AI-swapped
Head height
32–36 mm
Chin to crown

Requirements at a glance

  • 35x45mm, colour
  • Plain white background
  • Both ears visible, no hair covering the face
  • Neutral expression, no teeth showing
  • Taken within the last 6 months

Where South Korea passport photos are actually used

The no-retouching rule is the one that matters when you are making a photo from a phone picture. Modern phone cameras apply beauty filters by default on the front camera, and a photo that has been smoothed or reshaped can be refused even though the size and background are correct. Turn beauty mode off before you shoot, use the rear camera if you can, and keep the result unedited apart from the crop and background. The 32-36mm head height matches the Schengen and Japanese standards, so a correctly made Korean photo usually works for those applications too.

Applications that accept this photo spec

  • Republic of Korea passport application at a gu or si office
  • Korean passport renewal, including at a consulate abroad
  • Resident registration and civil document applications
  • Korean driver licence applications
  • Visa applications made on a Korean passport

South Korea passport photo FAQ

Why do both ears have to be visible in a Korean passport photo?
The ears give the facial recognition system fixed reference points for the width and angle of the head. Korean guidance therefore asks for hair to be tucked behind both ears and for nothing to obscure the outline of the face. Long hair falling forward over the cheeks is one of the most common reasons a photo is sent back.

Can I use a beauty-filtered or edited photo for a Korean passport?
No. Retouching that changes your features, smoothing skin, enlarging eyes, narrowing the face, altering skin tone, is grounds for rejection. Cropping, resizing and replacing the background do not change your features and are fine; filters that reshape your face are not.

Can I smile in a Korean passport photo?
Keep a neutral expression with your mouth closed. Teeth showing is specifically not accepted. A very slight closed-mouth expression is tolerated, but a full smile is not.

What size is a South Korea passport photo?
35×45mm (1.38×1.77 inches) at 300 DPI, on a plain white background. The head must measure 32-36mm from chin to the top of the head.

What background color does South Korea require for passport photos?
Plain white. A background that does not match, the wrong shade, a gradient, a shadow cast behind you, or any visible texture or pattern, is one of the most common reasons a photo is sent back. This tool replaces whatever is behind you with the one the spec asks for.

Can I take a South Korea passport photo with my phone?
Yes. Modern phone cameras produce more than enough resolution for the 35×45mm output. What matters is even lighting (no harsh shadows on your face), a straight-on angle, and a neutral expression. This tool handles the background and sizing.

What file size does this tool produce?
The output JPEG is kept under 240 KB while preserving the 300 DPI resolution the spec requires. Upload limits vary between government portals and consulates, so check the one you are filing through, if it caps lower, use our Image Compressor to reduce further.

Is my uploaded photo saved on your servers?
No. It is processed in memory and discarded as soon as the result is produced. The background model runs on the server because it is too large to run in a browser; nothing is written to disk or logged.

Can I print the South Korea passport photo at home?
Yes. The output is a 300 DPI JPEG at exactly 35×45mm, so any inkjet or laser printer produces the correct physical size when you print at 100% scale (not "fit to page"). Use the 4×6 print sheet option to get multiple copies on one sheet of photo paper.

Do I need to sign up or pay?
No sign-up. Making the photo and checking it against the spec is free, guests get 5 a day and a free account 0. The finished photo without the watermark is $3, paid once, or included on Pro and Business plans.

What if the background removal is not perfect?
Hair, clothing edges and skin tones come out cleanly in most photos. If an edge looks wrong, re-shoot in indirect daylight, or skip the background swap and use the crop alone.
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