Because the revenue gained from installing illegal advertisements exceeds the enforcement fines, cases continue in which advertisers do not remove them even after being penalized. The Seoul city government asked the government to greatly increase the cap and frequency of enforcement fines, but the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is taking a cautious stance on revising the law.
The Seoul city government said on the 20th that it proposed to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) a policy improvement plan to raise the number of times and the amount of enforcement fines under the Outdoor Advertisements Act.
Under current law, enforcement fines for illegal advertisements can be imposed twice a year, up to a maximum of 5 million won per instance. The Seoul city government proposed raising this to five times a year, with up to 20 million won per instance.
If the Seoul city government's proposal is adopted, the annual maximum charge would increase tenfold from the current 10 million won to 100 million won. The city believes that the current level of enforcement fines makes it difficult to deter repeated installation of illegal advertisements.
For example, even if a building owner receives 20 million won a year from an advertising company in return for installing and operating an advertisement, if the advertisement is illegal because it lacks authorization or filing with the relevant district, the annual enforcement fines top out at 10 million won. After paying the enforcement fines, revenue still remains, creating an incentive to keep the illegal status.
This issue also surfaced in a recent inspection of advertisements at car-wash facilities conducted by the Seoul city government.
From Apr. 13 to 28, over 12 days, the Seoul city government selected three car-wash facilities in each of the 25 districts as samples and inspected a total of 75 locations for advertisement installation status.
The inspection found violations at 38 locations, more than half. Most cases involved installing advertisements without authorization or filing with the relevant district. Although the amounts vary by district, they did not pay the expense required for the authorization and filing procedures for advertisements.
Of the facilities caught, 17 did not voluntarily remove or fix the advertisements even after the inspection. The relevant districts issued corrective orders to these facilities and began preliminary notification procedures to impose enforcement fines.
Some facilities reportedly continue to keep illegal advertisements even as they are fined every year. They may have judged that paying enforcement fines is economically more advantageous than taking down the advertisements.
A Seoul city official said, "There are limits to deterring repeated violations with penalties under current law alone," and added, "To enhance the effectiveness of enforcement fines, it is necessary to increase the frequency and the amount."
The Seoul city government also requested the same kind of policy improvement from the government in the first half of this year.
However, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) is cautious. It says raising enforcement fines requires revising the Outdoor Advertisements Act and that it also needs to review business burdens and side effects stemming from tighter regulations.
An official at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) said, "We have reviewed the proposal related to the Outdoor Advertisements Act submitted by the Seoul city government," but added, "We are not reviewing any separate measures at this time."