Gyeonggi-do, 1,229 Illegal Dump Cars 'Exposed'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province conducted a full investigation on suspected "Daepocha" vehicles?vehicles registered under someone else's name and traded illicitly, often used in hit-and-run and violent crimes?and identified 1,229 such vehicles due to their high risk of involvement in incidents and accidents.

The province announced on the 24th that from June 2018 to December last year, it targeted 42,524 seized vehicles with unpaid automobile taxes for over two years. Starting in March, by verifying whether these vehicles had compulsory insurance coverage through insurance companies, they selected suspected Daepocha vehicles and detected 1,229 of them.

Among the detected vehicles, the province issued operation suspension orders for 439 vehicles and forcibly towed 313 vehicles. Of the towed vehicles, 230 were auctioned publicly. For 477 vehicles that had disappeared, the province decided to suspend tax collection measures and plans to complete follow-up administrative actions based on the investigation results by the end of November.

In one case, Mr. A, living in Seongnam, was found to have a vehicle registered under his name, but the vehicle was a Daepocha with compulsory insurance registered under his brother-in-law living in Busan. The metropolitan delinquent tax task force went down to Busan, forcibly towed the vehicle, and processed it through public auction. The unpaid taxes (13 million KRW) are currently being paid in installments.

Mr. B, residing in Osan, died without paying 15 million KRW in automobile taxes under his name. Subsequently, his father inherited the unpaid taxes and transferred the vehicle registration, but the actual vehicle was never received, and taxes continued to be imposed repeatedly. The father requested an investigation from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, and following the metropolitan delinquent tax task force's investigation, it was confirmed that the vehicle was a Daepocha with compulsory insurance registered under another person living in Incheon. The vehicle was forcibly towed and is currently being auctioned.

Company C, located in Yongin, went out of business without properly transferring vehicle ownership. Despite various fines and operation suspension orders being imposed on the vehicle, they were not enforced. The investigation revealed that another person living in Incheon had even forged the license plates and used the vehicle as a Daepocha. The vehicle was forcibly towed and auctioned.

Choi Won-sam, Director of the Tax Justice Division of the province, emphasized, "Daepocha vehicles, which can be linked to traffic and violent crimes, are a social evil that must be eradicated. Gyeonggi Province and its cities and counties will continue to conduct investigations to ensure this." He added, "We will also strive to provide opportunities for those who unknowingly became delinquent taxpayers due to Daepocha vehicles to recover without economic disadvantages by suspending tax collection enforcement and other measures."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.