Demand Explosion for Driver's Licenses... Police Begin Inspections of Driving Schools

Compliance with COVID-19 Prevention Guidelines
Crackdown on Unregistered Illegal Education
Monitoring of Tuition and Examination Fee Status

Driver's License Test Center. The photo above is not related to the article.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] As the demand for driver's licenses increases with the New Year, the police have launched inspections on illegal driving education crackdowns and whether driving schools are complying with COVID-19 prevention guidelines.

According to the National Police Agency on the 8th, the police plan to conduct "illegal education crackdowns and driving school guidance inspections" related to driver's licenses through each city and provincial police agency until the end of this month. The inspection targets are 371 driving schools nationwide, and considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation, both on-site and non-face-to-face inspections will be conducted. The inspection items first include compliance with COVID-19 prevention guidelines, such as temperature checks, disinfection before and after education, social distancing among examinees, refund of fees, and handling of complaints. Basic operational matters such as management of the student education system will also be reviewed.

As the demand for driver's licenses has recently surged, focused crackdowns will also be conducted on illegal and irregular driving education recruitment activities and similarly named internet sites. In fact, last year, about 720,000 new driver's licenses were issued, an increase of about 60,000 compared to about 660,000 in 2019. This is analyzed to be due to restrictions on outdoor activities caused by COVID-19 and the increased necessity of using private vehicles. The police believe that illegal driving education may resurface taking advantage of this situation. Under current law, unregistered paid driving education is strictly illegal, and special caution from students is required for safety.

Furthermore, the police plan to assess the situation regarding the repeatedly raised controversies over poor education quality at driving schools and the resulting excessive tuition and examination fee disputes. Some driving schools have charged twice as much for their own test examination fees compared to the Road Traffic Authority license test centers, and even within the same region, tuition fees have varied from as little as 10,000 to 20,000 KRW to as much as 100,000 to 200,000 KRW, causing continuous complaints from students. After assessing the situation, the police plan to recommend adjustments if tuition and examination fees are deemed excessive.

Meanwhile, despite the implementation of autonomous police, driver's licenses remain under the jurisdiction of the national police. Although some tasks such as complaint reception are distributed to autonomous police, unified operations are necessary because the same tests must be conducted nationwide. A National Police Agency official explained, "Since related civil affairs such as license renewal can still be handled at police station civil service offices as before, the general public will not feel any difference."

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