Gyeonggi-do Investigates 2,047 Suspected Stolen Vehicles

Gyeonggi Province will conduct crackdowns on illegal vehicles suspected to be "ghost cars" causing various social problems in cooperation with 31 cities and counties within the province until September.

On the 26th, Gyeonggi Province announced that this year, it will jointly investigate 2,047 vehicles suspected to be ghost cars with local governments. These vehicles are privately owned (including foreigners) but have discrepancies between the policyholder and the owner on the compulsory insurance contract. The outstanding automobile tax for these vehicles amounts to 1.6 billion KRW.

Privately owned vehicles (including those owned by foreigners) become ghost cars when they are arbitrarily disposed of to private lenders for financing purposes, or when the owner dies and the ownership is not properly transferred or deregistered within six months, resulting in third parties occupying and using the vehicles through abnormal transactions.

In the case of foreign-owned vehicles, there are instances where foreigners who have left the country do not return, and unauthorized possessors acquire and operate these vehicles. Since it is difficult to identify the actual possessor, these vehicles are sometimes exploited as a means to evade legal responsibility.

Gyeonggi Province plans to verify whether vehicles are ghost cars by checking compulsory insurance subscription records and family relationship certificates, then issue orders to suspend operation or deliver the vehicles through the 31 cities and counties.

Additionally, for habitual traffic violators and illegal possessors who refuse to voluntarily surrender their vehicles, the province will cooperate with the relevant police stations to investigate legal violations and pursue criminal penalties.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

For the ghost cars secured in this way, the province plans to collect overdue local taxes and fines through public automobile auctions and ensure that these vehicles can be subject to legitimate transactions.

No Seung-ho, Director of the Tax Justice Division of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "We will collect overdue taxes through crackdowns and strong administrative measures against ghost cars," adding, "We expect not only to secure additional tax revenue (such as acquisition tax) through the legitimate transfer of ownership by possessors but also to achieve the effect of crime prevention and normal vehicle operation."

Meanwhile, last year, Gyeonggi Province identified 144 ghost cars through a comprehensive crackdown on vehicles owned by closed corporations and proceeded with forced towing and public auctions.

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