Jeju Autonomous Police Warns: "No Tolerance for Illegal Unregistered Tourism Operations Based at Convenience Stores"

Laundering Profits by Recruiting Tourists via Chinese Social Media and Disguising Sales at Convenience Stores
Operating Under a Legitimate Agency Name While Arranging Illegal Commercial Transportation with Rental Cars
No Insurance Coverage in Accidents... Direct Threat to Tourist Safety

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Autonomous Police Unit, in cooperation with the Jeju City Tourism Promotion Division and the Jeju Tourism Association, recently discovered an unlicensed group of tourism brokers who covertly recruited foreign tourists through Chinese social network platforms, met them at convenience stores, and transported them using regular rental cars for profit in violation of regulations. This crackdown has issued a warning about a new type of illegal business that exploits recent trends in individual tourism.

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Autonomous Police Agency is cracking down on unlicensed paid transport operators who have been recruiting tourists through Chinese social platforms, serving them at convenience stores, and transporting them using regular rental cars for business purposes. Photo by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Autonomous Police Agency

According to the Autonomous Police Unit, a man surnamed Han (58), who works at a convenience store in Jeju City, is suspected of promoting tourism packages on the Chinese social network platform Xiaohongshu and systematically arranging tours for an average of 50 to 80 tourists per day since December of last year via WeChat open chat rooms. In particular, it was revealed that Han disguised the commissions he received for arranging tours as sales revenue for the convenience store where he worked or took them as salary, demonstrating sophisticated money laundering methods.

Meanwhile, a Chinese national travel agent surnamed Park (37), who received tourists from Han and sold packages worth approximately 258 yuan (about 55,000 won) per person, had previously established a legitimate travel agency to avoid crackdowns. However, when he ran out of vehicles, he resorted to using regular rental cars for illegal commercial transportation and is expected to be reported to the national police on these charges.

Under current law, the use of unregistered regular rental cars for commercial transportation creates a serious safety blind spot, as passengers are not eligible for comprehensive insurance coverage in the event of an accident—leaving no remedies in cases of major casualties. This practice not only damages the external credibility of Jeju tourism but is also cited as a main cause of severe disruption to the market order for the region's legally operating small-scale travel businesses.

According to the law, unregistered travel agencies may be punished by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won, while illegal commercial transportation using rental cars may result in up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.

The Autonomous Police Unit, which cracked down on a total of 48 cases last year involving unregistered travel agencies and illegal commercial transportation, is continuing its crackdown in the first half of this year as well. An official from the Autonomous Police Unit emphasized that, by operating a real-time monitoring system in cooperation with relevant agencies, they are determined to completely eradicate irregular and illegal activities.

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