South Korean car number plates

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In South Korea, the Surface Transportation Bureau of the Ministry of Construction and Transportation (MOCT) oversees the design and issue of car number plates (Korean: 번호판) for motor vehicles.

Contents

[edit] Appearance

[edit] Pre-1973

Few examples of designs prior to 1973 remain in existence; they are no longer valid. The most recent design is similar to the ones that followed, but the positions of some elements are different. These early plates are typically white with blue lettering, a color scheme still used today for motorcycle plates.

[edit] 1973-2003

Upon initial inspection, plates issued during this era seem to closely resemble those used in Japan (see Japanese license plates for examples). The plates are approximately the same width and height as North American or Japanese number plates. The text is arranged into two lines.

The first line, occupying the upper third of the plate, identifies the province or special city that issued the plate and the vehicle class.

The province/city name is written in full in hangeul, minus the -do (도) or -si (시) suffix. Provinces and cities issuing plates include (in South Korean jamo order):

The vehicle classes are as follows:

The second line, occupying the lower two-thirds of the plate, uniquely identifies the vehicle. It contains a hangeul syllable prefix on the left, and a serial number on the right.

Only a small range of hangeul syllables are valid for each type of vehicle. Some of them identify more specific vehicle types; e.g., heo (허) is only used for rental cars. Some special plates have the hangeul prefix replaced by a circled hangeul word.

  • Diplomat's cars: "diplomat" (외교)
  • Construction vehicles: "commerce" (상품) - These will have the province name/vehicle class replaced by an organization name.
  • National government vehicles: "nation" (국) - These have no province name.

The serial number is always four digits, 0-9. Leading zeros are included in the serial number.

When installed on a vehicle, the rear plate features an official seal over one of the retaining screws to deter tampering or theft.

These plates are always issued embossed; flat plates are unofficial replicas. Dies varied slightly over time. Starting in 1997, the four-digit serial number was repeated on the plate, spelled out in small stamped hangeul type on the lower left.

[edit] Colors

  • Private cars, government cars - green with white; or white with black (some cities)
  • Taxis, cars for hire - yellow with blue
  • Construction vehicles - orange/red with white
  • Diplomat's cars - blue with white

[edit] 2004-2006

These plates are similar in appearance to the 1973-2003 series, with some changes to the information presented. The province name is omitted. The hangeul on the bottom line is moved to the top line - right of the class number for regular series, and left of the class number for the circled special series (diplomat, construction, etc). The serial number is printed larger to fill the entire bottom line, but still four digits for most plates, except for special series plates, which have six.

[edit] Future

A new system has been proposed with plates that are very European in appearance. The dimensions of the plates will be the same as plates issued in the European Union, with American/Japanese-sized plates available for older or imported vehicles. The typeface for numerals may be similar to the German "FE-Schrift". The numbering follows the pattern of the existing plates, but all on one line. From left to right, the plate has the vehicle class, hangeul prefix, and four-digit serial number.

Some already-issued government plates are a simple black-on-white design.

Plates for private vehicles will have a blue band resembling a wave on the left side (top for the American-sized plates). They will also feature an official seal between the hangeul prefix and the serial number, and a bar code identification on the lower right.

[edit] External links

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