"Stop Your Car!" Authorities Target 'Selfish Delinquent Vehicles' at Tollgates

Joint Crackdown by District Offices, Police, and Expressway Corporation
Compulsory Towing for Habitual or High-Amount Delinquent Vehicles

Four agencies, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, will launch crackdowns on so-called "selfish delinquent vehicles" that habitually evade payment of automobile taxes, fines, and highway tolls while continuing to use highways.

On June 9, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that on June 10, it will conduct mobile crackdowns at unspecified tollgates on entry routes into Seoul and throughout the city in cooperation with district offices, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, and Korea Expressway Corporation. A total of approximately 170 personnel and 47 vehicles will be mobilized.

Seoul Metropolitan Government and related agencies are conducting surprise crackdowns on vehicles with unpaid fines on highways. Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Government

The crackdown will target vehicles with two or more unpaid automobile taxes, vehicles with fines of 300,000 won or more for speeding or signal violations, vehicles with 20 or more unpaid highway tolls, as well as so-called "ghost cars" that are likely to be used for criminal activities.

As of the end of April, out of 3.17 million registered vehicles, 147,000 had unpaid automobile taxes. The total amount of unpaid automobile taxes was 39.1 billion won, accounting for 4.0% of Seoul's total local tax arrears. In addition, there were 1.5 billion won in unpaid bus-only lane violation fines, 193.4 billion won in accumulated fines for speeding and signal violations, and 26.8 billion won in unpaid highway tolls over the past five years.

If a delinquent vehicle is detected during a crackdown, the authorities will first encourage payment on the spot. If payment is not made, the license plate will be immediately seized or the vehicle will be towed. For cases involving large or habitual arrears and illegally registered vehicles, the authorities plan to proceed with compulsory towing and public auction in accordance with the Local Tax Collection Act.

Officials participating in the crackdown stated, "For the safety and order of the roads, fines for traffic violations must be paid, and the basic principle is that highway tolls should be properly paid when passing through tollgates. We hope this awareness will become widespread."

Lee Hyekyung, Director of the Finance Bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "Paying taxes is a duty and a social responsibility that every citizen of the Republic of Korea must uphold. To ensure fairness with law-abiding citizens, we will conduct strong crackdowns so that the operation of delinquent vehicles can be restricted."