Repeat offenders make up 5.7% of all toll-skipping vehicles but account for 42.9% of unpaid amounts
The number of vehicles that have skipped expressway tolls 20 or more times — classified as habitual evaders — has grown every year, surpassing 374,000 last year, according to data obtained from the Korea Expressway Corporation. The unpaid tolls from these vehicles totaled 42.67 billion won ($31.4 million). Although habitual evaders account for just 5.7% of all toll-skipping vehicles, they are responsible for 42.9% of the total unpaid amount.
Rep. Jung Il-young of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, obtained the figures from the Korea Expressway Corporation. The 374,000 vehicles recorded last year represent a 2.2-fold increase from 170,000 in 2021, a rise achieved in just four years.
The Korea Expressway Corporation has imposed surcharges of up to 10 times the original toll on habitual evaders and pursued aggressive collection measures — including vehicle and bank account seizures, on-site enforcement and criminal complaints — but the number of repeat offenders has continued to climb and the surcharge collection rate remains low.
"We need to examine whether the current collection system is working properly and reform the system so that repeated non-payment is reduced and outstanding tolls are actually collected," Jung said.
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