A group that solicited foreign tourists at convenience stores and transported them in unregistered rental cars while running illegal tourism operations has been caught by the autonomous police.

The Jeju Autonomous Police stated on the 18th that A, in his fifties, has been booked on charges of violating the Tourism Promotion Act for engaging in unqualified tour brokerage activities.

According to the investigation, while working at a convenience store, A is suspected of having recruited tourists since last December through the Chinese social platform ‘Xiaohongshu’ and then illegally brokering them to domestic travel agencies.

He arranged an average of 50 to 80 tourists per day in an organized fashion, and it was found that he disguised the commissions he received as sales at the convenience store where he worked or took them under the guise of wages.

The autonomous police have also booked B, in his thirties, a travel operator who received tourists from A, and are investigating.

B is suspected of selling tour products worth about 258 yuan (55,000 KRW) per person and illegally transporting tourists for a fee using rental cars.

Although B legally established a travel agency, the shortage of vehicles was covered by substituting ordinary rental cars. Paid transport using rental cars is not eligible for insurance benefits in the event of an accident.

Under current law, operating an unregistered travel business is punishable under the Tourism Promotion Act by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million KRW, and illegal paid transport using rental cars is punishable under the Passenger Transport Service Act by up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million KRW.

The autonomous police cracked down on a total of 48 cases last year, including four cases of unregistered travel business and 44 cases of illegal paid transport, and in the first half of this year they have uncovered three cases of unregistered travel business and four cases of paid transport.

An official from the provincial autonomous police said, “With the recent increase in individual tourists, new forms of illegal business that use everyday hubs such as convenience stores are rampant,” adding, “We will operate a constant monitoring system with related agencies to completely root out irregular and illegal practices that undermine trust in Jeju tourism.”