Wanted Vehicle License Plate Looks Strange... Fake Sold for 20,000 Won on Ali

160 Manwon Unpaid, License Plate Seized
Eventually Caught Driving with Fake Ali License Plate
Two Bangladeshi International Students Detected

A foreign international student was caught by the police for driving a car with a fake license plate purchased from a Chinese online shopping mall.

According to Yonhap News on the 11th, "Jeju Western Police Station booked a Bangladeshi national in his 20s, student A, on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act (driving without a license)." The police also arrested and are investigating another Bangladeshi national in his 20s, student B, on charges of violating the Automobile Management Act.

An international student caught driving without a license with a fake license plate on the 10th.
[Image provided by Jeju Western Police Station]

Student A is suspected of driving without a license a passenger car owned by student B, which had a fake license plate attached, on a road in Nohyeong-dong, Jeju City, at around 10:55 p.m. on the 7th. At the time, police patrolling the Nohyeong district police station identified the vehicle as one wanted for unpaid fines and apprehended it.

During the investigation, the police noticed the front license plate lacked a three-dimensional engraving, raising suspicion. They compared it with the rear license plate and confirmed that the front plate was intricately forged.

According to the investigation, student B had unpaid fines totaling 1.6 million KRW for speeding and other violations. After the front license plate was confiscated on February 27, B ordered an identical license plate for 20,000 KRW from the AliExpress shopping mall and had been driving the vehicle with the forged plate attached since March 24.

Meanwhile, forging automobile license plates is among the most severely punished illegal acts related to vehicles because it can be exploited for crimes and cause significant harm. The Automobile Management Act stipulates a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment or a fine of up to 100 million KRW.

However, actual punishment levels are minimal. In December 2022, a man in his 60s in Daegu was tried for driving with a paper license plate after his vehicle’s license plate was confiscated due to unpaid fines. The punishment was limited to six months imprisonment with a one-year probation. The reason was that all unpaid fines were paid once the fake license plate was detected.

Previously, in Ulsan, a man in his 40s received an eight-month prison sentence for attaching a paper license plate again during his probation period. Despite committing the same crime twice during the probation, the punishment was lenient.