Are There Unqualified Drivers Around Us? Lax Oversight of Transportation Workers

Assemblyman Moon Jinseok Reports on Administrative Actions
Against Transportation Workers by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority

Nearly 3,000 bus, taxi, and freight truck drivers were found to be unqualified for their jobs over the past two years. Since this figure only includes those who were identified and subjected to administrative action following investigations, the actual number of unqualified drivers is estimated to be much higher.

According to data submitted by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority to Assemblyman Moon Jinseok of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, a total of 2,764 individuals were subjected to administrative action between January of last year and June of this year. These cases involved bus, taxi, and freight truck drivers who either lacked the required qualifications, had their driver’s licenses revoked, or failed to undergo mandatory precision examinations.

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority uses the Transportation Worker Management System to identify unqualified drivers and requests administrative action from the relevant local governments, which have the authority to impose such penalties. If the outcome of the administrative action is not registered after the first notification, the case is reported to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which then notifies the local government again. Local governments verify whether the notified individuals are actually working in the transportation sector and impose administrative sanctions on transportation companies that employ unqualified drivers.

Buses are parked at a public bus depot in downtown Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Over the past two years, the Authority and the Ministry have requested investigations into a total of 42,243 individuals from local governments. Of these, 33,536 were suspected of failing to undergo the required precision examinations, 7,417 were suspected of having their driver’s licenses revoked, and 1,290 were suspected of not having obtained a driver’s license at all. Ultimately, local governments confirmed 2,764 cases as unqualified and imposed administrative action.

Among those notified for investigation, only about 4-5% of suspected precision examination evaders and just over 10% of those lacking proper qualifications actually received administrative action. For those suspected of license revocation, the rate was around 18%. For example, in South Gyeongsang Province, 269 out of 483 suspected license revocation cases were investigated, completing more than half of the cases, while in Seoul, only 213 out of 1,583 cases were investigated and sanctioned, resulting in a sanction rate of just 13%. The number of unqualified drivers is expected to rise as further investigations are conducted.

Assemblyman Moon stated, "Transportation companies must not hire unqualified personnel, and local governments, as the managing authorities, should promptly identify and report suspected unqualified cases to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport." He added, "The supervision system needs to be improved, for example, by having transportation companies share information on habitual unqualified workers."

Provided by Moon Jinseok, Democratic Party of Korea Office

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