License Plate Damaged Motorcycle... The Lawless Run of 'Biyangsim'

Bending License Plates and Smearing Foreign Substances
to Avoid Identification and Evade Crackdowns
"Constant Enforcement Needed"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Office worker Lee Hyun-jin (34) recently had a frustrating experience while trying to report a delivery motorcycle violating traffic regulations through a smartphone application (app). Not only did the motorcycle run a red light and fail to stop at the stop line, but its rear license plate, which was on the sidewalk, was bent. When he tried to take a photo to report it, the details on the license plate were not clearly visible. Having reported traffic violations by motorcycles several times before, he had no choice but to give up reporting this time.

As of May this year, a total of 456,631 two-wheeled vehicles have been reported in Seoul. With the expansion of contactless consumption due to COVID-19 and the increase in delivery demand, the number of motorcycles has steadily increased. Among them, some make the rear license plates on motorcycles unrecognizable by folding them or applying foreign substances to avoid enforcement. If a passenger car, van, or motorcycle intentionally damages or obscures the license plate, they can face imprisonment of up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won. However, to punish acts that make the registered license plate difficult to recognize, intent must be proven, which is often difficult to determine, so local governments impose fines instead. The fine amounts are 500,000 won for the first and second violations, and 2.5 million won for the third or subsequent violations.

In Gangnam-gu, the number of enforcement cases related to license plates has sharply increased from 16 cases in 2018 and 27 cases in 2019 to 53 cases last year and 120 cases from January 1 to August 6 this year. A district official said, "As deliveries increased due to COVID-19, reports from residents about damaged license plates also increased, leading to a rise in enforcement cases."

Professor Kim Pil-su of the Department of Automotive Studies at Daelim University said, "To prevent damage to motorcycle license plates, apps and other tools should be introduced to make it convenient for residents to actively report violations," adding, "Enforcement should be conducted continuously, not just during specific periods." Professor Kim also suggested that license plates, which are currently only on the rear, should also be installed on the front.

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