Illegal taxi carrying tourists causes fatal accident, Chinese nationals arrested in South Korea

Police have arrested a group including Chinese nationals for operating illegal taxis using their own cars and even causing a fatal traffic accident.
The Traffic Division of Mapo Police Station in Seoul, South Korea, has filed a lawsuit against the Passenger Car Transportation Business Act.
On the 9th, it was revealed that 63 people, including the travel agency's president, Mr. A, and driver, Mr. B, had been arrested on various charges and that after questioning they had been referred to the prosecutor's office.
Mr. A, the representative of a travel agency, will start offering private car parking services through social media used by foreigners from April 2023.
The suspect is accused of recruiting around 60 people with financial interests, paying them around 60,000 won (around 5,870 yen) each, and arranging paid transportation for foreign tourists from the airport to their accommodations on 418 occasions.
Under current law, it is prohibited to use private cars that are not for business use for paid transportation. The 61 drivers, including Mr. B, received 60,000 won per trip and transported foreign tourists.
The total amount of transportation fees they received was reported to be 24.56 million won (about 2.4 million yen). Of the 61 drivers, 53 were Chinese nationals,
The investigation revealed that seven of the people were naturalized and the majority were foreign nationals. On December 27, 2023, while transporting tourists, Mr. B was driving a shovel slowly on the Mapo Bridge due to inattention to the road ahead.
They are also suspected of causing an accident in which one Filipino passenger was killed and other passengers and the excavator driver sustained minor injuries.
They established an organized system and continued their illegal transportation activities. Mr. A gathered customers, mainly foreign tourists, and
The travel agency recruited foreign tourists through social media, and played a role in connecting Mr. A with 61 illegal private car drivers. Through this system, foreign tourists were able to get taxi fares for half the normal fare.
In most cases, these illegal paid transportation operations do not have commercial automobile insurance, and there is a lack of supervision and management, exposing the operator to crime risks.
Furthermore, in the event of an accident, passengers may not be covered by insurance, and passengers often suffer financial losses. If passengers try to cover an accident with regular insurance while concealing the fact that they are paid transportation, it can be a crime of insurance fraud.
"Through continued investigations into illegal paid transportation, we will work to create an environment in which foreign tourists can travel safely and ensure the peaceful daily lives of local residents," the police said.
"We will do our best to achieve this goal," he said.