Interior ministry cracks down on tax-delinquent vehicles nationwide

The interior ministry said Friday that a nationwide joint crackdown on habitual vehicle-tax delinquents caught 2,023 vehicles with 1.38 billion won ($1.02 million) in overdue taxes and fees, and that authorities seized 1,946 license plates in the operation.

The crackdown, carried out with the National Police Agency and the Korea Expressway Corporation, ran from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 15 at nine major highway tollgates, including Guri-Namyangju, Hongcheon and Seocheongju, while local governments also conducted their own operations with police stations in their jurisdictions.

Vehicles that had failed to pay car tax twice or more, or that owed at least 300,000 won ($222) in vehicle-related fines such as parking violations or unpaid mandatory insurance, were targeted. Owners were guided to a safe location and told to pay on the spot, and plates were removed from those who did not. Trucks and vans confirmed as essential to their owners' livelihoods were steered toward installment payments instead of having their plates seized outright.

Police used an artificial intelligence system to analyze the movement routes and types of delinquent vehicles in advance to choose enforcement points, and automatic plate readers identified vehicles with unpaid fines and tolls on site. Vehicles whose owners still failed to pay after their plates were removed, as well as vehicles registered under borrowed names, face seizure, delivery orders, forced towing and public auction to cover the arrears.

The operation marks the start of an intensive collection period running through the end of December. Local governments plan to pursue high-value and habitual delinquents with bank account and wage seizures, tracing of virtual assets and requests to block withdrawals, and will step up night and early-morning plate seizures nationwide, particularly in apartment parking lots and commercial districts.

As of September, unpaid car taxes totaled 617 billion won ($458 million), with 2.95 million vehicles owing money. The 759,000 vehicles with two or more missed payments made up 25.7 percent of that total but accounted for 60.5 percent of the arrears, or 374 billion won ($277 million). From January to September, police seized plates from 137,282 vehicles, up 71 percent from 80,277 in the same period last year, while the overdue amounts involved grew 85.3 percent to 62.8 billion won ($46.6 million).

"Building a society where honest taxpayers are treated with respect is the starting point of tax justice," said Song Kyung-joo, head of the interior ministry's local finance and economy office. He said the ministry will keep working with the police, the expressway corporation and local governments to foster a culture of faithful tax payment, while extending a warm hand to taxpayers who need help because of financial hardship.