An Average of 200 Illegal Parking Violations per Month... Japan Says "Russia Is Too Much"

Japan FujiTV Reports on Diplomatic Vehicle Parking Violations
Russia 2,338 Cases 60% of Total... China 246 Cases 2nd Place
Japanese Authorities "Russian Embassy Says They Try but Cannot Pay Fines"
In Korea, 2022 Data Shows US, Russia, Saudi Arabia in Order

Among 10 diplomatic vehicles caught for illegal parking enforcement in Japan, 6 were found to be Russian.

Reference photo of a Japanese parking violation ticket

Recently, Japan's Fuji TV reported, "We obtained the status of parking violations of diplomatic vehicles through an information disclosure request." According to the report, the total number of parking violations by diplomatic vehicles last year was 3,950. Among them, Russia accounted for an overwhelming first place with 2,338 cases, or 59.1%. This averages about 200 times per month. The second place was China with 246 cases. In 2021, there were 3,900 enforcement cases in a year, with Russia ranking first at 1,825 cases (46.8%). At that time, China was second with 638 cases (16.2%).

Over two years, China’s number of cases decreased by about 400, while Russia’s increased by about 500. Besides these two countries, Egypt, Iran, and Ukraine followed in order. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) once ranked but recorded zero cases for the first time last year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained at the 2023 National Assembly, "The (Russian) embassy says it is trying to eliminate parking violations but maintains the position that it cannot pay fines." The media analyzed, "This result reflects the idea that Russia does not care about the international community’s attention as it marks three years since invading Ukraine."

Diplomatic vehicles cannot avoid illegal parking enforcement, but there is little consequence even if fines are not paid. Police or local governments cannot enforce compulsory measures such as seizure. Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations states, "Diplomatic agents shall enjoy immunity from the criminal jurisdiction of the receiving State. They shall also enjoy immunity from its civil and administrative jurisdiction, except in the case of..."

What about South Korea? According to data submitted by then lawmaker Kim Hong-gul of the Democratic Party to the National Police Agency in 2023, 1,057 diplomatic vehicles in South Korea were caught violating traffic laws in 2022. This is about six times higher than in 2018 (187 cases). The imposed fines amounted to 62,862,800 KRW. By country, based on the number of cases, the United States had the most with 317 cases (16,748,240 KRW), followed by Russia (171 cases, 10,066,000 KRW), Saudi Arabia (107 cases, 4,946,240 KRW), China (91 cases, 5,017,440 KRW), and Vietnam (77 cases, 5,288,900 KRW).