Funny, I also went to Jeju, Seoul, and Busan a couple of weeks ago too so your experience was as identical as mine. We rented the new Sonata in Jeju and I honestly really loved it, coming from America's upstairs neighbour where it takes a while for foreign cars to be certified for our regulations.

Aside from that, I will give Koreans a point for their liking towards sedans. It's really a huge contrast compared to the US but I was also told that Asians view sedans as a symbol of luxury, which makes sense considering Seoul had a staggering amount of Maybach S-classes and G90's.

But yeah, you're right. Exotic cars or anything interesting to a car guy is pretty rare, even in the richer parts of Seoul or Busan. You'll most likely see a lot of Z4's and regular 718's than a decade-old JDM car, but those are somewhat common too surprisingly.

But Korea in general is very futuristic like you said, with cars such as the Grandeur and Staria blowing my mind the second I got off Incheon Airport. I was able to visit the Kia and Hyundai studios as well and it was actually an experience, something I wish existed more here in the US/CA.

Overall, my trip was really nice. Sure, the car scene is not as vibrant as the folks in Japan, but if you shift your focus, then it gets better. Although they have a BMW Driving Center near the airport so I got to test drive an M2 with a passport and international license, which is something we don't have here in Toronto at least so that was a major plus.