[Parking War] Avoided 3,500 Surveillance Cameras and Hid in Alleys

[South Korea's Parking War Continues]<3> Illegal Parking Persists Despite Increased Surveillance Cameras

Complaints Doubled in 5 Years
But Illegal Parking Enforcement Cases Decreased

Seoul Public Parking Lot Occupancy Rate 120%
Higher Prices Than Provinces Lead to Avoidance
District Office Enforcement Officers Also Severely Short-Staffed

A scene of cracking down on illegally parked vehicles in a school zone. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporters Donghoon Jeong and Byeongdon Yoo] The chaos caused by a lack of parking spaces has led to illegal parking and stopping. Although the number of enforcement cameras has significantly increased, traffic flow has slowed due to illegal parking, and disputes continue in residential and commercial areas.

According to the police and Seoul city on the 17th, there are 3,502 cameras in Seoul that monitor illegal parking and stopping. While the number of enforcement cameras has increased, especially in no-parking zones such as school zones, expanding the scope of enforcement, illegal activities have spread like a balloon effect into blind spots such as residential alleyways and private properties.

Complaints related to illegal parking and stopping received by Seoul city have been on the rise: 551,606 cases in 2016, 608,342 in 2017, 762,120 in 2018, and 993,747 in 2019. Up to September last year, there were 787,172 cases. Over the past five years, complaints related to illegal parking and stopping have nearly doubled. During the same period, the number of illegal parking enforcement cases in Seoul decreased from 2,978,638 in 2017 to 2,315,658 last year. This indicates that as vehicles cluster in ambiguous enforcement areas, the number of enforcement cases is actually declining.

Despite the implementation of the “Road Traffic Act Amendment (commonly known as the Min-sik Act)” to prevent child traffic accidents, an average of about 8,300 illegal parking reports per month were recorded nationwide in school zones. As of the end of last year, the installation rate of unmanned illegal parking enforcement equipment in 16,896 school zones nationwide was only 12%.

A vehicle illegally parked in a residential alleyway

The nationwide public parking lot availability rate is close to 100%, and Seoul exceeds 120%. However, in areas with high demand, parking lots are scarce and parking fees are expensive. In small local cities in Gangwon, Yeongnam, Chungcheong, and Honam regions, many public parking lots offer free service. Where fees are charged, the average is 500 to 1,000 KRW per 30 minutes. Additional fees are about 500 KRW per 30 minutes, so parking for one hour costs about 1,000 to 1,500 KRW. In contrast, Seoul divides public parking lots into grades: Grade 1 charges 500 KRW per 5 minutes, Grade 2 charges 250 KRW, and Grade 3 charges 150 KRW. Using Grade 2 as an average, the average hourly fee for public parking lots in Seoul is 3,000 KRW. Additionally, individual parking lot fees are calculated based on the official land price of the parking lot site as a weighting factor, with some places charging over 8,400 KRW per hour. Only 11 out of 132 public parking lots in Seoul offer free access during daytime hours.

Enforcement is also challenging due to unclear legal regulations. Private properties are not subject to the Road Traffic Act, so even if illegal parking is reported for one or two days, it is difficult to use coercive measures. After reporting to the local district office, warning notices can be sent to vehicle owners, but towing can only be done 2 to 3 weeks after the warning. Administrative resources to enforce in blind spots are severely lacking. In reality, fewer than 10 personnel are assigned to enforce illegal parking in a single Seoul district with populations ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions. A transportation enforcement official from a district office said, “It is impossible for about 10 people to patrol every corner of the neighborhood and enforce all illegal parking in no-parking zones. Since there are no coercive measures other than fines, illegal parking is repeatedly occurring in specific areas.”

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