Parking Disabled Parking Permit Found, Owner Quickly Adds Own Car Number... Consecutive Prison Sentences Follow

Forgery of Official Documents... Suspended Prison Sentence
60s Man Also Given Suspended Sentence for Using Deceased Father-in-Law's Parking Permit

Individuals who wrote their own vehicle numbers on parking permits for disabled-only parking spaces, which they happened to acquire, were consecutively brought to trial and sentenced to suspended prison terms.

On the 31st, Judge Kim Gil-ho of Criminal Division 11 at the Seoul Central District Court announced that he recently sentenced a woman in her 40s, identified as A, to 4 months in prison with a 1-year suspension for charges of forgery of official documents and use of forged official documents. Additionally, Judge Lee Kyung-sun of Criminal Division 16 at the same court handed down the same sentence to a woman in her 60s, identified as B, who was indicted for forgery and use of forged official documents.

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In December 2022, A found a disabled-only parking permit at a waste separation site and kept it. Then, in October of last year, she altered the permit she had while parking her vehicle in a disabled parking space at a department store parking lot in Seoul for convenience. A wrote her own vehicle number on the permit with a black pen and attached it to the driver's side window, which led to her being caught.

B forged and used a parking permit for a national merit disabled veteran belonging to her late father-in-law. Although the permit became invalid after her father-in-law passed away, B erased his vehicle number in January 2022 and replaced it with her own vehicle number. Later, in March of last year, B was caught parking in a disabled parking space in Gangnam, Seoul, with this permit displayed in front of her vehicle.

Using another person's disabled-only parking permit clearly constitutes the crime of forgery or alteration of official documents. Disabled parking permits are issued by local governments, and national merit disabled veteran parking permits are issued by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, making them official documents created by administrative agencies. Therefore, altering the information on a disabled-only parking permit issued to another person constitutes forgery or alteration of an official document.

Under criminal law, the statutory penalty for forgery or alteration of official documents is imprisonment for up to 10 years, with no fines. Attempted offenses are also punishable. Such crimes related to parking permits generally result in suspended prison sentences. For public officials, this is grounds for mandatory retirement and disqualification from reappointment for a certain period.

In October last year, a man in his 50s who received a disabled vehicle permit from an acquaintance to park in a disabled parking space due to a shortage of parking at his residence was also sentenced to a suspended prison term. On October 21 last year, Judge Song Jong-sun of Criminal Division 1 at Chuncheon District Court sentenced C (52) to 8 months in prison with a 2-year suspension for charges of forgery and use of forged official documents. D (55), who gave the disabled vehicle permit of his deceased father to C, was sentenced to 3 months in prison solely for forgery.

In November 2022, C told D, "There is a shortage of parking at my residence," and "I was allowed by the manager to park in the disabled parking space, and if I attach the disabled vehicle permit to my car, I think I won't be reported," and received the permit. The permit D gave was one that his late father had attached to his vehicle while alive. C erased the vehicle number on the permit and wrote his own vehicle number, then attached it to his BMW passenger car from the 14th of that month until January 3 of the following year, parking in disabled parking spaces while driving.

Judge Song pointed out, "The defendant's crime undermines the credibility of official documents and is of a serious nature." He further explained the sentencing rationale, saying, "The sentence was determined after comprehensively considering the motive, means, results, and frequency of the offense."

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