Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Conduct Nationwide Crackdown on Illegal Vehicles Starting from the 23rd

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 19th that it will conduct a one-month nationwide crackdown on illegal vehicles starting from the 23rd to ensure public safety and establish order in vehicle operation. This crackdown will be jointly carried out by 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, the National Police Agency, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, and other related organizations.

Illegal vehicles have adversely affected public life by habitually violating traffic laws, undermining traffic safety, and being used as tools for various crimes. Accordingly, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has implemented strong enforcement measures such as operation suspension orders, license plate confiscation, and administrative cancellation against illegal vehicles.

Last year, through a joint nationwide crackdown with related agencies, the Ministry detected a total of 268,000 illegal vehicles and completed actions including prosecution, fines, and license plate confiscation.

Due to social distancing measures for COVID-19 last year, the number of illegal vehicle detections decreased slightly by 19.1% compared to 2019; however, due to increased demand for delivery food, the number of crackdowns on illegally operated two-wheeled vehicles increased significantly by 81.7% compared to the previous year.

Key enforcement results include ▲ license plate confiscation due to violations of vehicle-related laws (111,000 cases) ▲ crackdown on abandoned vehicles (52,000 cases) ▲ unregistered vehicles (6,000 cases) ▲ illegally operated two-wheeled vehicles such as unreported vehicles (21,000 cases) ▲ illegally registered vehicles (6,700 cases) ▲ vehicles with illegal tuning and violations of safety standards (70,000 cases).

During this intensive crackdown period on illegal vehicles, the Ministry plans to focus on unregistered vehicles operating with canceled registration, vehicles registered under names of permanently departed or deceased persons (so-called "Daepocha"), illegal tuning, two-wheeled vehicles without license plates or with deliberately damaged or concealed license plates, in order to create a safer driving environment and alleviate citizen inconvenience caused by two-wheeled vehicles.

Park Ji-hong, Director of Vehicle Policy, stated, "We will continue to conduct strong enforcement in cooperation with related agencies and pursue institutional improvements to eradicate illegal vehicle operation. We ask the public to actively report any matters related to illegal vehicles to nearby local governments or internet reporting sites."