Foreign drivers' uninsured crashes cost state fund almost 5 billion won
Across 1,023 incidents caused by foreign nationals between 2021 and August, the Traffic Accident Compensation Supervisory Service paid almost 5 billion won ($3.7 million) to the victims and has recovered less than 1 percent from offenders.
The scene of an uninsured traffic accident caused by a foreign national in October 2024OFFICE OF REP. KANG DAE-SIK
A state-run agency has paid nearly 5 billion won ($3.7 million) since 2021 to victims of vehicle crashes caused by foreign nationals and has recovered less than 1 percent of that amount from the people responsible.
Across 1,023 incidents caused by foreign offenders between 2021 and August this year, the Traffic Accident Compensation Supervisory Service paid about 4.9 billion won to the victims, according to the agency’s data submitted to Rep. Kang Dae-sik of the People Power Party.
The compensation service, set up in 2018 under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, runs the government’s car accident compensation guarantee program. It pays people injured by hit-and-runs — or their family members if the collision is fatal — or by uninsured drivers when they cannot get compensation anywhere else, then exercises its right to reclaim the money from the driver or owner of the car at fault.
About 4.8 billion won of the 4.9 billion won has not been recovered. Of that amount, around 3.8 billion won, or 80 percent of the total, has not been reclaimed for three years or longer.
The average recovery rate for accidents caused by foreign nationals is 0.9 percent. The rate for Korean offenders runs from 2.8 percent to 4.8 percent.
According to the agency, the low recovery rate is caused by foreign offenders leaving the country, the legal duration of their permitted stay expiring or their vehicle registration being canceled. Seventy-nine claims worth a cumulative 412 million won have been classified as difficult to recover for one or more of those reasons.
In August last year, an uninsured car driven by a Thai national staying in Korea illegally ran over and killed a Korean man lying on a side street. The agency paid 180 million won in compensation and has recovered none of it.
The scene of an uninsured traffic accidentOFFICE OF REP. KANG DAE-SIK
In late 2024, an uninsured motorcycle ridden by a foreigner of unknown nationality struck a person and left them with broken bones. The agency paid the victim 24 million won but cannot recover the amount because the offender has left the country.
The program is financed by a fund built from a set portion of the liability insurance and other premiums paid by vehicle owners. Liability insurance is mandatory by law, and those without it face administrative or traffic fines.
Korea had about 26.7 million registered cars as of June, roughly one for every two people. In effect, half the country’s population could be paying for the program.
The number of accidents has led to calls for the government to find ways to recover money from foreign offenders. Once a driver leaves the country or is deported after an accident, the compensation service finds it all but impossible to reclaim the money. As a result, critics argue that agencies need to share information and that the rules need to change so claims can be secured before an offender leaves Korea.
“The government guarantee program exists to protect victims. It should not become a system that shifts onto the public even the responsibility the offenders should bear,” Kang, a member of the Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, said. “We need measures to recover the payments that protect victims quickly while holding offenders accountable to the end.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
