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dairyairy
Joined: 17 May 2012
Location: South Korea
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 Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 3:24 am Post subject: Chinese invade S. Korea for driver's licences |
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http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Features/2014/04/04/Hotter-than-KPop-Chinese-invade-S-Korea-for-drivers-licences/
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Chinese shoppers already have a seemingly insatiable appetite for South Korean pop music, TV dramas, cosmetics and fashion. Now they’re after another must-have item: a driver’s licence.
In China, would-be drivers can wait up to a year for a licence and pay double the US$420 (RM1,377) that one costs in South Korea. That has fuelled a boom in Chinese visitors taking South Korean driving tests and converting the licences when they get home.
At a driving school in the suburbs of Seoul, a buzzing operation which sees some 200 Chinese applicants a month, half of the class listens to a Korean-speaking teacher while the Chinese visitors fix their eyes on a TV screen showing sample questions for written tests in Mandarin.
“It is easy to get a driver’s licence in South Korea. Although I feel nervous, it is fast and easy to convert into a Chinese one,” said Wang Yingfang, a 46-year-old Chinese applicant on her first drive in Korea.
South Korea has eased rules for licences, cutting the hours of training to 13, including six hours of driving time. That has led nearly 70,000 Chinese nationals to become holders of South Korean driving licences in the past three years.
It takes only a week to get a licence at state-appointed driving schools. Applicants can even do their driving tests on rooftop tracks, meaning they have little experience in dealing with actual traffic.
Wang travelled to South Korea by ferry with four other hopefuls. If she gets her licence, she can convert it to a Chinese one by sitting a written test back at home.
On her first day behind the wheel, the school’s part-time translator was absent and the driving instructor had to communicate using body language. But these are minor obstacles for Chinese applicants who are determined to get a South Korean licence.
“I will tell my friends to come here,” Gao Yiai, a 35-year-old housewife from China’s Shandong province, said as she proudly held up her new licence. – Reuters
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 4:27 am Post subject: |
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| Many Koreans used to get their drivers licence in America or Canada and have it converted into a Korean one for the same reasons the Chinese are getting theirs in Korea. |
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Squire
Joined: 26 Sep 2010
Location: Jeollanam-do
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 4:54 am Post subject: Re: Chinese invade S. Korea for driver's licences |
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| dairyairy wrote: |
South Korea has eased rules for licences, cutting the hours of training to 13, including six hours of driving time. |
Just what this country needs |
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Hokie21
Joined: 01 Mar 2011
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 5:05 am Post subject: |
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"Applicants can even do their driving tests on rooftop tracks, meaning they have little experience in dealing with actual traffic. "
That explains so much. |
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GoldMember
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:31 am Post subject: |
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| I thought most people here got their drivers licence from the bottom of a box of cereal. |
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nora
Joined: 14 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:44 am Post subject: |
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couple of questions…
Since when does it cost 420 USD? I got my license in Korea for about 50 USD. Didn't trade it in; went in, took the tests, and earned it.
Why would a Korean fly to the US/Canada to get a license? I had to take a safety class over 6 weeks OR drive for 50 hours with an adult in the car just to obtain a provisional license when I was 16. As an adult, you have to take the tests and it would still cost more and take more time than Korea. Granted, that's just in my state and other states are more lax, but at the same time, with the REALID Act, you have to be a citizen or in the country for some time, i.e. not a tourist, to get a license. Canada, I know nothing about. But still, why??? |
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PEIGUY
Joined: 28 Mar 2004
Location: Omokgyo
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| nora wrote: |
couple of questions…
Since when does it cost 420 USD? I got my license in Korea for about 50 USD. Didn't trade it in; went in, took the tests, and earned it.
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You misread the article. The 420 USD is how much it costs in China, not Korea. It says " In China, would-be drivers can wait up to a year for a licence and pay double the US$420 (RM1,377) that one costs in South Korea" |
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andrewchon
Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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| I agree with nora, it's written in a confusing manner. |
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nora
Joined: 14 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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| PEIGUY wrote: |
| nora wrote: |
couple of questions…
Since when does it cost 420 USD? I got my license in Korea for about 50 USD. Didn't trade it in; went in, took the tests, and earned it.
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You misread the article. The 420 USD is how much it costs in China, not Korea. It says " In China, would-be drivers can wait up to a year for a licence and pay double the US$420 (RM1,377) that one costs in South Korea" |
I don't think so.
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| In China, would-be drivers can wait up to a year for a licence and pay double the US$420 (RM1,377) that one costs in South Korea. |
The Chinese pay double what it costs in South Korea, which is $420. Even so, who paid $210 for a license in Korea? |
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andrewchon
Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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That's the driving school fee. Over here, we go to hagwon for everything, and there's a (well many) textbooks for EVERYTHING.  |
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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 5:34 pm Post subject: |
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it doesn't surprise me people are exploiting the weak, korean driving test system. Its money well spent because its very easy to pass.
I started my test last year.
The first part ( computer test ) I did as part of my motorbike test and transferred it over. I didn't revise and just guessed at the answers. I got the minimum score - so i passed.
The next part, I sat in a car and was given a lot of instructions in korean by a computer (my Korean is awful btw) and i guessed at half of what it was telling me - and i passed.
It was a revolving door and they must have done 200 students in the hour I was there.
I still have to arrange the third part. I think Ill pass though because I got the impression the instructors just dont want to talk to me in English.
My gf took the alternative route and did the one week hagwqn. At the end of the week she was a completely incompetent driver - but she passed. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Given the bad drivers there and all the pollution, a licence should cost double that price. A billion people all driving cars? Can you imagine what it'll do to the demand for oil? Cars are only necessary for sparely populated areas, where public transit doesn't make economic sense. But large crowded areas. Even in North America, in New York, folks use public transport. Just got to make sure it's safe is all. (Security and cops to beat gangbangers over the head, then more folks would use it back home too.) |
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radcon
Joined: 23 May 2011
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| Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| Many Koreans used to get their drivers licence in America or Canada and have it converted into a Korean one for the same reasons the Chinese are getting theirs in Korea. |
Are you saying that it was cheaper and/or easier to pass the test in order to get a license in the US than in Korea? Because I don't see how either one is or was true. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:20 am Post subject: |
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| radcon wrote: |
| Stan Rogers wrote: |
| Many Koreans used to get their drivers licence in America or Canada and have it converted into a Korean one for the same reasons the Chinese are getting theirs in Korea. |
Are you saying that it was cheaper and/or easier to pass the test in order to get a license in the US than in Korea? Because I don't see how either one is or was true. |
It was cheaper. When I first got my license way back in 1992 it was like $20 total for the test and the license. So it probably was sub-$10 in the 80's. The last time I renewed my license in Canada it cost $80. I'm expecting it to cost over $100 for my renewal next year. |
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