Jung-gu, First Autonomous District in Seoul to Launch Mobile Electronic Notification Service for Vehicle Fines

[Seoul District News] Jung-gu Allows Receiving Car Fine Notices via Mobile Phone... Gangbuk-gu Tops Nationwide as Best District for Recycling Old Banners

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jung-gu, Seoul will provide guidance on automobile-related legal matters such as insurance and inspections through 'mobile electronic notifications' starting in June.

This service is particularly notable as it is the first to be implemented among the autonomous districts of Seoul.

Mobile electronic notifications are a service that sends notices, previously mailed by post regarding delayed vehicle inspections or lack of mandatory insurance, directly to the mobile phones of the payment recipients.

Payment recipients can view the notices or bills by simply completing an identity verification process through the received notification message, without any separate application.

The previous registered mail system had issues such as returns due to recipient absence or unknown addresses, resulting in inaccurate notifications to vehicle owners. Additionally, there were risks of personal information leakage in cases of loss or misdelivery, and inconveniences such as losing opportunities for early payment discounts or missing mandatory insurance and inspection periods.

The district expects that the implementation of this mobile electronic notification service will resolve these issues, reduce registered mail costs, and improve payment convenience for citizens. To minimize confusion during the initial phase, the service will be run in parallel with the existing registered mail system for about three months from the start date.

Gangbuk-gu (District Mayor Park Kyumsu) was selected as the best autonomous district nationwide in the ‘Waste Banner Recycling Project Evaluation’ conducted by the Ministry of Environment this year.

Following the 20th presidential election on March 9, the Ministry of Environment evaluated nationwide local governments from May 2 to 6 on the promotion of separate disposal of waste printed materials and waste banners, as well as sustainability of their utilization. On the 17th, Gangbuk-gu was chosen as the top autonomous district. Only four districts nationwide, including the top winner, received awards. As a result, Gangbuk-gu will also receive a subsidy of 40 million KRW.

Gangbuk-gu has been recycling discarded waste banners by making them into shopping bags or multipurpose sacks. This is to reduce environmental pollution by reusing waste banners that would otherwise be incinerated. Since 2019, the produced shopping bags and sacks have been provided at traditional markets as alternatives to single-use plastic bags.

Last year, 3,250 shopping bags and 2,000 sacks were produced and distributed for promotional purposes to traditional markets, Saemaul Women's Associations, and local community centers. In the first half of this year, 1,000 banners were recycled to make shopping bags, which were distributed to residents participating in the April 19 Revolution National Cultural Festival as promotional items.

In March, Gangbuk-gu was also selected for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s waste banner recycling support project and received a subsidy of 10 million KRW.

The received subsidies will be used for recycling and promoting the increased volume of waste banners generated due to the presidential election in March and the local elections in June.

Additionally, the district is sequentially regulating the use of single-use products to achieve the national environmental policy goal of ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality.’ It is also promoting 26 practical projects and various educational and promotional activities to activate the recycling and reuse of single-use products.

Park Kyumsu, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “A large amount of waste banners is expected due to the presidential election this year and the local elections in June. We will continue to make efforts to practice resource circulation and contribute to carbon neutrality by recycling these waste banners in various forms.”