"Your license will be suspended."
At 8 a.m. on March 4, police officers lined up along the crosswalk near Shinga Elementary School in Songpa-gu, Seoul, stopping vehicles one by one. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency conducted a concentrated drunk driving crackdown in school zones to mark the new semester. A total of 27 officers, including 11 from the traffic enforcement unit, were deployed. Police blocked one of three lanes heading toward Yangjae-daero and inspected every passing vehicle.
Officers held breathalyzers to car windows, instructing drivers to blow. Those showing abnormal readings were asked to exit their vehicles for retesting. Most drivers were cleared after gargling and allowed to proceed.
However, some drivers were caught operating vehicles near schools while intoxicated. Two drivers at Shinga Elementary registered blood alcohol levels of 0.035% and 0.034%, both above the 0.03% threshold for license suspension. Both claimed they were experiencing hangovers from drinking the previous day.
A female driver in her 30s, stopped around 8:50 a.m., initially appeared flustered, insisting she had not been drinking. When police offered a blood test, she hesitated before admitting she had drunk alcohol with lunch the previous day. "I never expected this," she said. "I was on my way to work. I'm shocked."
As school start time approached, the area in front of the main gate grew crowded. Students flooded the sidewalks and crosswalks around 8:30 a.m. Lower-grade students holding hands with parents or grandparents mixed with groups of older students walking together. Police continued their crackdown while waving batons to stop traffic and help students cross safely.
Jeong Beom-seok, 47, father of a sixth-grader at Shinga Elementary, said: "On our way to school, my son and I said, 'Surely no one would be drunk driving in the morning.' We were surprised to see people actually getting caught. It reminded me that hungover driving is dangerous too."
The crackdown took place simultaneously at four elementary schools across Seoul. During the one-hour operation from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., police recorded 97 violations and warnings. Four drunk driving cases were detected, including one license revocation and three suspensions. Officers issued 22 citations for major traffic violations including signal violations, and 71 warnings for infractions such as failure to yield to pedestrians. Near Younghee Elementary School in Gangnam-gu, a truck driver was caught with a blood alcohol level of 0.084%, exceeding the 0.08% threshold for license revocation.
Son Young-ju, traffic safety section chief at Songpa Police Station, said: "Even light drinking the night before can lead to hungover driving. We will continue to strengthen drunk driving crackdowns in school zones to protect children's traffic safety."