Motorcycle Parking Crackdown Draws Backlash: “Create Parking Space and Practical Rules Before Punishing Riders”

South Korea is moving to fill a legal gap on illegal motorcycle parking, but delivery workers say the government is starting with punishment before providing somewhere practical to park.

The National Police Agency announced on June 19 that it had proposed revisions to the Road Traffic Act enforcement ordinance. The plan would set a 30,000-won fine for illegal motorcycle parking in general areas. The fine would rise to 60,000 won near fire facilities with safety signs and in zones protecting older people and people with disabilities, and to 90,000 won in school zones. A further 10,000 won would apply when the violation continued for at least two hours in the same place.

Motorcycles already fall under the road law’s parking restrictions, but the enforcement ordinance had not specified fine amounts for them. The proposed changes would establish a system at levels matching existing penalties. The parking rules also define motorcycle-only spaces as at least 1 meter wide and 2.3 meters long. They do not, however, require every public or private parking facility to install them. Some facilities reportedly restrict motorcycles because of barriers, license-plate recognition systems or management issues.

That shortage is especially difficult for delivery riders, who often stop briefly and repeatedly in commercial districts while collecting food and taking it to customers. The debate is not about allowing dangerous parking, but about distinguishing hazardous violations from short stops made where no pickup area exists. A rider who must find a distant car park for every delivery faces additional travel time and costs.

A policy meeting at the National Assembly on August 6 discussed expanding motorcycle parking, creating delivery pickup zones and allowing limited short-term stops. Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik later said more than 4,000 comments had been received after the police proposal, including complaints that enforcement was being strengthened without parking facilities. A police meeting with delivery workers also raised the need for more spaces and possible enforcement exemptions. The proposed alternatives include converting parts of existing car parks, charging reasonable fees for legal motorcycle parking, and setting time limits for loading and unloading in busy restaurant areas.

“

The most natural thing to do would have been to strictly crack down on illegal parking in dangerous locations while also providing parking spaces and realistic stopping rules.