"Because of COVID-19, they probably won't do drunk driving checks"... 57 cases caught in one night

Highway Interchanges and Tollgates
Enforcement at 76 Locations in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon
Despite Nationwide Crackdown Warning, Drivers Still Behind the Wheel
Police Agency Announces "Round-the-Clock Continuous Enforcement Plan"

On the night of the 25th, police conducted a drunk driving crackdown at the entrance to the Busan-bound lane of Seocho IC in Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] "Beep - Detection! Detection! Move to the side of the vehicle and get out."

At 10:29 PM on the 25th at Seocho IC (interchange) in Seoul, a man in his 50s driving a white mid-sized vehicle was caught in a police drunk driving crackdown. It was confirmed that this man had been drinking with acquaintances at a restaurant in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, and drove for more than 3 km. The measurement showed his blood alcohol concentration level was 0.099%, far exceeding the license cancellation threshold. The man admitted frankly, "I drank about one bottle of soju, but since it was very hard to find a designated driver, I drove under the influence for the first time."

The police conducted a simultaneous drunk driving crackdown on highways from 10 PM to midnight at Seocho IC, Osan TG in Gyeonggi, and Jungdong IC in Bucheon. This crackdown was based on the judgment that drunk driving is increasing in the form of people drinking in local areas and then using highways to return home, as social distancing measures were eased differently by region (Level 2 in the metropolitan area, Level 1.5 in non-metropolitan areas).

During the day, 57 cases were caught out of 76 locations where drunk driving was cracked down on, resulting in license cancellations (41 cases) and suspensions (16 cases). By region, Seoul had 16 cancellations and 3 suspensions; southern Gyeonggi had 7 cancellations and 6 suspensions; northern Gyeonggi had 9 cancellations and 5 suspensions; and Incheon had 9 cancellations and 2 suspensions.

On the night of the 25th, police conducted a drunk driving crackdown at the entrance to the Busan-bound lane of Seocho IC in Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Despite the police announcing a simultaneous drunk driving crackdown at metropolitan area highway ICs, the numbers are considerable. The National Police Agency had announced the day before that 655 available police officers would be fully mobilized to conduct late-night drunk driving crackdowns at 76 locations including Seoul, southern Gyeonggi, northern Gyeonggi, and Incheon. Even considering that the crackdown proceeded somewhat smoothly, the numbers are high. On this day, the police operated flexibly by temporarily allowing vehicles to pass when traffic congestion worsened during the crackdown, then resuming the crackdown once the congestion eased.

There is also a mistaken perception that drunk driving crackdowns have loosened due to COVID-19. In fact, drunk driving accidents last year numbered about 17,000, increasing by nearly 10% in one year. The number of people hospitalized or unjustly injured due to drunk driving also rose by about 8% to around 28,000.

A National Police Agency official said, "To dispel the mistaken belief that drunk driving crackdowns would decrease due to COVID-19, we plan to conduct continuous drunk driving crackdowns day and night. We have also modernized equipment to suit the COVID-19 situation and are continuing these efforts, so drunk driving must never be done."

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