South Korea's registered motor vehicles surpassed 17 million as of the end of June, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said Tuesday.
This marks the first time that the country's vehicles figure has exceeded 17 million.
Car registration in South Korea reached the landmark 10 million mark in 1997 and the figure rose to 15 million in 2005 and 16 million in 2006.
In terms of the number of registered cars, South Korea ranked 14th. The United States was the undisputed leader with 249 million units, followed by Japan with 75.7 million and Germany with 44 million. These figures are based on the 2007 survey.
Passenger cars accounted for a lion's share of the total registration with 72 percent being passenger vehicles, while trucks and other vehicles made up the remainder.
As of the end of June, 390,918 imported vehicles were registered in South Korea, accounting for 2.29 percent of the total, up from 0.97 percent recorded at the end of 2004.
Germany is the largest car exporter for South Korea, followed by Japan, which outpaced the United States in terms of car sales in the local market.