Vietnamese group nabbed in driver's license fraud

By Bahk Eun-ji

A group of Vietnamese people have been apprehended for making fake Vietnamese driver's licenses for their countrymen here to help them get Korean driver's licenses more easily, police said Wednesday.

Busan Police Agency said they detained a 28-year-old Vietnamese man and booked four others without physical detention for interfering with public duty and private document forgery.

They also booked 26 other Vietnamese people who obtained Korean driver's licenses illegally from the group in return for money.

A group of Vietnamese people were caught for helping fellow Vietnamese get Korean driver's licenses illegally. Korea Times file

The five uploaded advertisements on social media, saying they would help Vietnamese residents in Korea to get a Korean driver's license even if they did not have a Vietnamese driver's license or who had difficulty acquiring a Korean one.

Under the current regulations, Vietnam is one of 136 countries with which Korea has made an agreement that people in possession of a driver's license from those countries can have their license exchanged for a Korean one without additional tests or procedures.

The 26 Vietnamese people sent their passport and alien registration information as well as ID pictures to the group, and 700,000 won ($58.6) to 1 million won per person. The group then made fake Vietnamese driver's licenses, and sent them to the clients.

The clients then visited driving test centers here where they left the fake Vietnamese licenses and had Korean licenses issued.

The group also made fake airline tickets to Vietnam, which the clients presented to the test centers in order to get their fake Vietnamese licenses back, immediately scrapping the fake licenses to destroy evidence, police said.

The centers did not collect the Korean licenses when returning the Vietnamese one, so the 26 people could keep driving with the Korean one.

Police registered a request with Interpol for the investigation of more accomplices staying in Vietnam. They also advised the Road Traffic Authority, in charge of license management, to adjust flaws in the foreign license exchange program.