Gyeonggi drift: Illegal street racers booked for reckless driving, dangerous conduct

Members of an illegal street racing group including foreign nationals have been arrested for engaging in high-speed drag races and dangerous drifting on deserted roads late at night.

A drag racing suspect performs a stunt while hanging from the passenger seat. [GYEONGGI NAMBU PROVINCIAL POLICE]

Members of an illegal street racing group including foreign nationals have been arrested for engaging in high-speed drag races and dangerous drifting on deserted roads late at night.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police said Monday that it handed 42 people over to the prosecution on charges including reckless driving and joint dangerous conduct under the Road Traffic Act. The group includes a 29-year-old individual from Kazakhstan, known as the alleged ringleader, who has been taken into custody — along with 28 other foreign nationals and 13 Koreans who participated in the stunts.

The suspects allegedly organized more than 70 illegal races from March to November last year across intersections in Hwaseong, Ansan, Anseong and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi, as well as Dangjin in South Chungcheong. Their activities included drag racing with three or four cars lined up and drifting.

They promoted the events on Instagram and other social media platforms, recording their exploits with drones and posting the footage online, the investigation found.

The case began after police received reports that foreigners were drifting their vehicles. Authorities launched an investigation and executed a search and seizure warrant to gain information from social media platform Instagram. The warrant, issued by a Korean court, was sent to Instagram’s headquarters in the United States via the Korean National Police Agency, leading to the identification of the account’s IP address.

Based on this information, police traced the address to Dangjin and raided the home of another 30-year-old Kazakh national, securing the identities of other group members. The man had overstayed his visa and was forcibly deported on March 14.

The ringleader, who was taken into custody, was also an undocumented foreigner. Police said he drove without a steering wheel on four occasions, including once at the Munho 1 Intersection in Hwaseong on April 19 last year.

In particular, the ringleader was seen driving while holding the removed steering wheel out of the driver’s side window, a stunt filmed from a neighboring vehicle. Police applied the “Prohibition on Dangerous Collective Conduct” clause of the Road Traffic Act to this behavior, which is punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million won ($3,520). Offenders face a 40-point penalty and a 40-day license suspension if booked, and license revocation if detained.

Further investigations revealed additional violations, including immigration law breaches, driving without a license and operating drones at night in violation of the Aviation Safety Act.

Of the foreign participants, 10 were from Kazakhstan, eight from Uzbekistan, eight from Russia, two from Kyrgyzstan and one from Mongolia.

“In cooperation with local governments, we’ve repaired road surfaces where races occurred and installed regulatory bollards and mobile surveillance boxes to prevent recurrence,” a police official said. “We will continue to monitor reckless driving and other violations that disrupt the public’s safety and respond strictly.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY SON SUNG-BAE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]