The Chinese Embassy owes the highest amount in parking fines among foreign missions in Korea taking advantage of diplomatic immunity, Seoul City data showed Wednesday.
In the first eight months of the year, the city government issued 440 tickets worth around 19 million won ($17,000) to embassies. It has so far collected only some 6.3 million won, or about 33 percent.
China topped the list with fines worth more than 5.3 million won. Trailing next is Russia with about 1.3 million won, followed by Vietnam with 704,000 won, the Czech Republic and Iraq both with 560,000 won, and Iran with 416,000 won.
The Chinese Embassy has yet to pay 95 percent of the fines, recording the highest amount of arrears. Coming next were the Czech Republic and Iraq which paid nothing, followed by Russia, Vietnam, Mongolia and Algeria.
Some embassies have drawn criticism in recent years for taking advantage of their diplomatic immunity enshrined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Under the United Nations-based treaty, local municipalities cannot enforce payment of traffic fines and other penalties by foreign missions.
A growing number of citizens in Korea and elsewhere are calling on diplomats to respect local traffic laws and fulfill civil duties in their host nation.
But the tally of overdue fines has gradually shriveled since 2009 when the Foreign Ministry imposed a ban on transferring the ownership of diplomatic vehicles with unpaid tickets, officials said.
By Shin Hyon-hee (
heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
