Introduction to Class 1 Small Vehicle License Confusion in Community
Focus on Three-Wheelers Included in License Types
Disappeared After Kia Three-Wheelers Discontinued in 1970s
Only 7 Holders Nationwide Including Seoul Currently
The Samryun cargo truck 'Kia Master T600 (Light 3-wheel truck for transporting Lotte Confectionery products)' registered as a cultural heritage in 2022 [Photo by National Heritage Administration]
Among more than 34 million licensed drivers, there is a driver’s license held by only seven people. It is the Class 1 Small Vehicle license.
On the 18th, an online community post titled “A driver’s license that has been impossible to obtain for 40 years” was uploaded. The author introduced that although this license type exists legally, it is practically impossible to acquire now; this is the Class 1 Small Vehicle license, specifically for three-wheeled vehicles.
According to the author, three-wheeled vehicles were the main type of small passenger cars and trucks in Korea until the 1960s. Early automobiles faced technical difficulties in steering two parallel wheels simultaneously, which led to the spread of three-wheeled vehicles. However, three-wheelers had significantly lower driving stability and began to decline in the 1970s.
The Samryun cargo truck 'Kia Master T600 (Light 3-wheel truck for transporting Lotte Confectionery products)' registered as a cultural heritage in 2022 [Photo by National Heritage Administration]
A representative three-wheeled vehicle is the ‘T-600’ produced by Kia Industries (now Kia). It was manufactured in 1969 through technical cooperation with Toyo (Dongyang) Industries (now Mazda) in Japan. The vehicle was small and light, making it useful for delivering coal briquettes and rice in narrow alleys or hillside neighborhoods, and it was also called ‘Sambari’ (three-legged) due to its three wheels. Notably, the T-600 was a stepping stone for Kia’s growth from bicycle production to becoming an automobile manufacturer. It is highly valued in the history of the domestic automobile industry and was registered as a national cultural heritage in 2008. In 2022, the Cultural Heritage Administration (now the National Heritage Administration) registered the 1972-produced three-wheeled cargo vehicle ‘Kia Master T600 (a light three-wheeled truck used for transporting Lotte Confectionery products)’ as a cultural asset. This vehicle was used by a Lotte Confectionery dealership for about 50 years, and a cargo compartment was installed in 1976.
With the discontinuation of the Kia T-600 in 1974, domestically produced three-wheeled vehicles disappeared. The author stated, “After 1984, when even the last T-600 disappeared, all three-wheeled test vehicles were retired from driver’s license testing centers nationwide, making it impossible to obtain the Class 1 Small Vehicle license for three-wheelers in Korea.” He added, “Currently, it is impossible to acquire all existing driver’s licenses in Korea because there is no way to obtain the Class 1 Small Vehicle license.”
The author explained that motorcycles seen in rural areas are treated as other two-wheeled vehicles under the Automobile Management Act, so they can be driven with a Class 2 Small Vehicle license or a Class 1 or 2 Regular license if under 125cc. He also mentioned that as of 2022, eight people still exclusively hold this license.
Among the types of driver's licenses introduced by the National Police Agency, there is a Class 1 Small Vehicle License, but obtaining it is practically impossible.
According to the National Police Agency’s statistics as of June 2024, there are seven holders of the Class 1 Small Vehicle license nationwide. All are male, with one in Seoul, two in Busan, two in Incheon, and one each in southern and northern Gyeonggi Province. The decrease of one person in two years could be due to death, license surrender or cancellation, immigration, or other reasons.
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