Gyeonggi-do Tracks 362 Suspected Stolen Cars... 24 Caught

Gyeonggi Provincial Government

Gyeonggi Province investigated the compulsory insurance subscription status of 2,047 delinquent vehicles owned by individuals (including foreigners) this year and identified 362 vehicles where the owner, contract holder, and insured party were different. These vehicles are suspected to be ghost cars, and their locations are currently being tracked and investigated.

Vehicles should have their ownership transferred through legitimate used car transactions and liquidation procedures (such as auctions and public sales), but through abnormal transactions, third parties occupy and operate the vehicles while accumulating various fines and taxes, turning them into illegally operated ghost cars. Ghost cars are often exploited as a means to evade various legal responsibilities because it is difficult to identify the actual occupant.

Accordingly, from March to June, Gyeonggi Province tracked 106 out of the 362 suspected ghost cars, apprehended 24 vehicles, and took measures such as public auction and filing complaints.

In a major case, Mr. A, a resident of Pyeongtaek who owed 3.64 million KRW in vehicle taxes, handed over his vehicle to his acquaintance Mr. B as collateral after failing to repay a debt from a financial transaction. Mr. A believed that Mr. B was storing his vehicle, but as parking violation and speeding fine notices continued to be sent to him, he applied for a driving suspension order at the relevant authority in August 2022. This was registered in the vehicle registration records. A driving suspension order can be issued when a vehicle owner allows another person to operate the vehicle while continuously violating various laws related to the vehicle (such as failing inspections, not having insurance, unpaid vehicle taxes, and unpaid fines leading to seizure). Despite Mr. A’s driving suspension order, the vehicle continued to be operated and was caught in Jeolla Province in January 2023. Gyeonggi Province confiscated the license plate due to tax delinquency.

Mr. D, a delinquent taxpayer residing in Gwangmyeong and a foreigner who owed 3.12 million KRW in vehicle taxes, left the country in 2016 and handed over the vehicle to a third party without transferring ownership. Gyeonggi Province cracked down on this vehicle, which was illegally occupied and operated while owing taxes and various fines, as part of a targeted search for ghost cars, and took measures such as towing and public auction.

Mr. F, who was caught illegally operating a vehicle owned by the deceased Mr. E, who owed 1.61 million KRW in vehicle taxes, was found to have not paid any of the 39 cases of vehicle taxes and other fines over the past five years. Gyeonggi Province immediately towed the vehicle and proceeded with a public auction.

Gyeonggi Province plans to continue investigations, tracking, and forced towing of 260 suspected ghost cars, including those not tracked in the first half of the year and those targeted for investigation in the second half, through joint inspections with city and county authorities until October.

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