Drunk drivers' online community stirs controversy

An online community dealing with information about administrative actions related to drunk driving has sparked debate, with many decrying the forum members for sharing know-how to obtain leniency after being caught in the crime.

The webpage on Naver, South Korea's largest search engine, has well over 80,000 members as of Monday. People in the group are sharing personal experiences related to drunk driving, hit-and-run incidents and other violations of the Road Traffic Act. Categories of the posts range from "before/after police investigation" and "getting a job with drunk driving record" to "settlement" and specifics like "switching drivers," "car theft" and "I've just had my blood tested," each of which shows a number of related entries.

The website does not promote or encourage criminal activities, but it is used as a platform for road law violators to pass on their knowledge to others to evade the law or punishment. The most popular posts are fixed atop the categories as "notices," including: "To those having difficulty with hit-and-run."

"It's a grave crime, that's for sure. But if you could not drive for five years (as a penalty), you will face financial difficulties and get fired. If your livelihood is at risk, you should at least struggle," the post said, with detailed information on possible penalties and personal experience in reducing the punishment by settlement. "For those of you caught for hit-and-run, struggle 'properly.'"

The forum members can be seen encouraging each other regarding their various law violations. "I got part of my claim accepted by the court. Cheer up," one notice says, recalling how the author purportedly managed to have the punishment reduced.

Most members acknowledge that drunk driving is bad. In a post titled, "The reason I don't leave this website," the user says that he or she loves to drink, and looking at the cases of those caught drunk driving allows one to realize how bad it is. In another post related to earlier news coverage on the community, most commenters agree they should reflect on their wrongdoings.

"I'm just a regular person who used to think being treated like a felon for drunk driving was wrong. But I realized that way of thinking is wrong after I was caught drunk driving, and looked at other DUI cases. Drunk driving can lead to death and destroy other's families," the person wrote.

The online community and other similar websites are usually run by licensed administrative agents, who stress that drunk driving is wrong. But they say that people should be punished in accordance to their crime, and the information shared on these websites can save them from excessive penalties.

But some in the public are expressing discomfort with the DUI-related know-how being shared, and the offenders offering comfort to each other going through what they say are their difficulties.

According to the National Police Agency, there were 13,042 drunk driving cases in South Korea in 2023, marking a gradual downward trend from 29,990 in 2006. But there were still 159 deaths and 20,628 people injured last year alone at the hands of those who got behind the wheels while inebriated.

Nearly half of those caught driving drunk were repeat offenders, according to last month's report issued by Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. Analyzing five years of data from 2019 to 2023, the report found an average 43.6 percent of the annual drunk driving cases involved a driver who had previously committed the crime.

South Korea has been looking to curb drunk driving by legislative revisions, such as mandating that repeat offenders install a device that checks the driver's breath and allows the car to start only if the driver's blood alcohol content is within the permitted range. Drivers caught drunk driving at least twice within five years will have to install the device in order to get a new license.