'Mobile Driver's License' Issuance Taking 4 Hours... Police Service Improvement

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] As applicants flocked to the mobile driver's license, which began pilot operation on the 27th of last month, causing issuance waiting times to extend up to 4 hours and resulting in inconvenience, the police have taken steps to improve the service by expanding issuance counters.

According to the National Police Agency on the 16th, from the 27th of last month to the 14th of this month, a total of 16,940 people, averaging about 1,200 applicants per day, applied for the mobile driver's license issuance. The police stated, "Since this is the first time the mobile ID has been introduced, initial demand was high, and combined with the vacation period when new driver's license acquisition demand increases, the number of applicants seems to have further increased."

As applicants surged, the waiting time for issuance lengthened. There were cases where people waited up to 4 hours. In particular, in Seoul, the average daily number of applications was 821, more than twice the expected 400, which the police explained caused longer waiting times.

Starting from the 11th, the police increased personnel and expanded the mobile driver's license issuance counters. They also added dedicated counters for online applicants. The Western Driver's License Examination Office increased counters from 7 to 13, and the Daejeon License Examination Office from 6 to 7. A police official said, "As a result, the maximum waiting time for mobile driver's license issuance was reduced to within 1 hour (an average of 30 minutes) as of the 15th."

The police plan to analyze the issuance status during the one-month pilot operation and, after consulting with related agencies, will consider various measures such as the need to expand pilot operation testing centers and early additional procurement of IC driver's licenses.

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