Increasing foreign drivers in Korea hit the road without a valid Korean license, most of whom are also uninsured. A scene from "Taxi" (1998)



By Ko Dong-hwan

A few minutes after midnight on Jan. 31, police forced a Kazakh man driving a Sonata sedan to stop near a three-way junction in the city of Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

They were pursuing him for allegedly crashing into the rear of a Malibu sedan waiting at a traffic light and fleeing the scene, according to Gimhae Jungbu Police Station early this month.

Police said the man, 27, was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.165 percent ― enough for license revocation ― and fled because he was unlicensed.

Around 1 a.m. on Jan. 19, an Uzbek man, 30, in an Equus sedan drove the wrong way on Dongsea-daero Street in Jeonha-dong, Gimhae, and hit an oncoming Sonata sedan. The crash killed the Sonata's Korean driver and seriously injured the Uzbek, who had no license, and a passenger.

Police say more foreigners in Korea are hitting the road without a valid Korean license. And most also are uninsured, raising concerns for the victims of the illegal drivers.

In South Gyeongsang Province, among 1,108 road accidents reported in 2014 caused by foreigners, 520, or 47 percent, of the drivers did not have a license, according to Gimhae police.

The figure has been rising nationwide ― from 7,175 accidents involving foreigners in 2014 to 9,882 in 2015 and 11,698 last year. Illegal drivers account for about half the figures.

Compensation is difficult for victims because most culprits are uninsured. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation pays a maximum 150 million won ($131,000) for a fatality and 30 million won for an injury caused by an uninsured driver. But the payouts are considered inadequate.

More foreign drivers do not ― or cannot ― acquire a Korean driver's license because of the language barrier and do not know how to get one.

Although police stations and other municipal authorities in South Gyeongsang Province run classes to help foreigners get a license, the sessions' limited time and manpower have not been able to meet the high demand.

A police official said they are "aware of the problems caused by unlicensed foreign drivers" and are "trying to introduce more ways for them to get their licenses, including investing more in drivers' school classes for them."