Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, is in trouble again after becoming the first city in the country to charge parking fees to owners of the so-called “campers parked overnight,” who leave their vehicles in public parking lots for long periods of time. The balloon effect is having a side effect of increasing parking difficulties in various parts of the city as campers move their camping cars to nearby side roads and residential areas.

An official from Sangdang-gu district office in Cheongju, said on January 8, "Since November last year, complaints have been received from Bosalsa Temple that road traffic is inconvenient due to camping cars," adding, "When we checked the site, we found camping cars that are believed to be from the public parking lot in Myeongam-dong were occupying the road for a long time."

The official added, “Two to three campers are also occupying the roads and residential areas of Cheongju.” There are a total of 1,141 campers and camping trailers registered in Cheongju.

In fact, on the afternoon of the 7th, several large camper trailers were seen standing in various parts of a housing complex in Bangseo-dong, Sangdang-gu. In the housing complex, which has just started to be developed, there were five to six large camping trailers dotted around buildings. As large vehicles occupied both sides of the one-lane road, it narrowed to the point where only one car could come and go.

There are more than 20 camper trailers parked in the area. There were various types of trailers, including those carrying boats and small trailers.

Last month, there was also a case of several campers parked on the side of the road leading to the entrance of Bosalsa Temple in Yongam-dong. To prevent long-term parking of camping cars, Cheongju carried out a project to change the type of some 300-meter sections of the road from a solid white line that is allowed to park all vehicles to a solid yellow line where all vehicles are prohibited from parking.

It is estimated that the number of campers increased noticeably throughout the region around early November last year. This is when Cheongju enacted the “Ordinance for Charging for Overnight Vehicles in Public Parking Lots” and implemented a policy to charge vehicles parked in public parking lots in Myeongam-dong, Sangdang-gu for a long time. At that time, the city charged cars parked for more than 48 hours, which was highly effective. Cheongju even received an award from the Ministry of Government Legislation for its excellent local legislation.

However, it has created a balloon effect as the owners of campers are avoiding public parking lots and parking their cars on local residential streets and side roads.

If the owners of campers park their cars for a long time on the roads with white solid lines where parking is allowed, the city plans to change the color of the roads to yellow solid lines and completely ban parking on those roads. It also plans to expand parking enforcement.

However, Cheongju said that it is difficult to eradicate overnight parking of campers due to the lack of relevant laws. Under the current law, camper trailers can only be registered by submitting a “garage certificate” that proves where the vehicle is parked. However, there are no penalties for not leaving the vehicle in a designated garage, so owners are parking their trailers for a long time in places other than the garage.

Cheongju has set up a total of 30 camping car parking lots in Hyeondo-myeon, Seowon-gu. The fee is around 50,000 won per month, but only about 10 campers can use it. Vehicle owners are reportedly reluctant to use the parking lot because it is difficult to park their vehicles due to the steep slope.

“In addition to public parking lots, there are more than five private camper parking lots in the city, but we know that some owners do not use them due to the burden of parking fees,” said Cho Sung-jae, the head of the parking facility team of Cheongju City Government. “The city plans to take various measures, but vehicle owners’ awareness of illegal free parking needs to be improved.”