Jeju Autonomous Police Conduct Special Crackdown on Unregistered Travel Agencies and Illegal Paid Transportation

Illegal Operations Targeting Greater China Tourists Detected
Strong Penalties Including Up to Three Years in Prison

Jeju Autonomous Police Agency Building

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Autonomous Police Agency (Chief Park Kinam) will conduct a special crackdown on unregistered travel agencies and illegal paid transportation targeting the increasing number of tourists from Greater China, as well as other acts disrupting tourism order.

The Jeju Autonomous Police Agency recently caught Ms. A (47, female) operating an unregistered travel business and Mr. B (57) engaging in illegal paid transportation in succession.

On the 18th, Ms. A was caught at a hotel in Jeju City while operating an unregistered travel business by transporting four Chinese tourists in a large van to major tourist destinations such as Seongsan and Udo.

On the 19th, Mr. B was caught illegally providing paid transportation to a family of eight tourists from Taiwan in his van, taking them around Udo and Seopjikoji from another hotel in Jeju City. At the time of the crackdown, Mr. B claimed that he had received the tourists through "C Travel Agency," but an investigation revealed this statement to be false.

According to the Tourism Promotion Act, operating an unregistered travel agency without registering with the relevant authorities is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won. Illegal paid transportation is punishable under the Passenger Transport Service Act by up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.

Lee Chulwoo, head of the Tourism Police Division, stated, "With the increase in foreign tourists, illegal tourism operations are expected to become more prevalent, so we will carry out strong crackdowns," adding, "Recently, we have detected unregistered travel agency operations through Chinese brokers and will focus our enforcement efforts accordingly."

He further emphasized, "When using unregistered travel agencies, it is difficult to provide legal protection for tourists, and legitimate businesses also suffer damages," and added, "We will conduct joint crackdowns with related agencies during the peak tourism season."

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