According to a report on the status of daepocha in the city of Seoul over the past five years released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on July 28, a total of 2,013 illegally-driven vehicles were reported from the year 2012 to the end of last year. (Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Jul. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — It has recently come to light that the number of illegally-driven vehicles – so called daepocha – in the city of Seoul alone has exceeded 2,000 over the past five years.
According to a report on the status of daepocha in the city of Seoul over the past five years released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on July 28, a total of 2,013 illegally-driven vehicles were reported from the year 2012 to the end of last year.
The number of disclosures has steadily increased, with 313 in 2012, 355 in 2013, 374 in 2014 and 370 in 2015, before almost doubling to 601 in 2016.
Among the owners of the illegal vehicles, 1,171 had defaulted on automobile taxes, 264 did not have liability insurance, and 240 had not passed a car inspection.
The license plates of 1,635 daepocha, representing 81.2 percent of the total, were confiscated, and 166 were liquidated to recoup taxes in default.
As for each autonomous district, Eunpyeong-gu was most active in disclosing daepocha, having uncovered 406 over the past five years, followed by Yeongdeungpo-gu with 324, Gangnam-gu with 243, and Gangseo-gu with 149.
“Since daepocha are not insured vehicles, it is very difficult to obtain compensation in an accident with such cars. Relevant penal provisions should be reinforced so as to prevent wrongly-victimized sufferers,” said Kim Tae-su, who authored the report.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
