A bay painted with yellow “fire engines only” lettering inside an apartment complex, and a kerb painted red beside the road. Both are tempting places to stop “just for a minute” in Korea. But different laws protect them, with different amounts: fire-engine bays fall under the Framework Act on Fire-Fighting Services, and the 5 metres around a hydrant under the Road Traffic Act. We read the articles and the annexes of both decrees as written.
1. Parking in a fire-engine bay starts at a 500,000 won fine. It is 500,000 won the first time and 1,000,000 won from the second. Not only parking in the bay but blocking its access or erasing its markings counts as obstruction.
2. A red kerb within 5 metres of a hydrant costs 80,000 won. Parking a car where a hydrant is marked by a safety sign is fined 80,000 won (90,000 won for 2 hours or more), twice the ordinary 40,000 won.
3. Obstructing a fire engine on a call starts at 1,000,000 won. Failing to give way to, cutting in front of or blocking a fire engine running with its siren costs 1,000,000 won the first time, 1,500,000 the second and 2,000,000 from the third.
Fire-engine bays — which apartments have them
Article 21-2(1) of the Act requires builders of certain multi-unit housing to provide a fire-engine-only bay, and paragraph 2 forbids anyone to park there or block access. Decree article 7-12 sets the scope:
- Apartments with 100 or more households
- Dormitories of 3 or more storeys
- Excluding single-block sites directly on a road of two or more lanes each way where stopping is banned, so fire engines can operate from the road
Decree article 7-13 requires at least one bay at the front or back of each block, laid out as in Annex 2-5.
What counts as obstruction — five acts
Decree article 7-14 lists them:
- Stacking things or parking in the bay
- Stacking things or parking in front of, behind or beside the bay (except within a marked space of an attached car park)
- Stacking things or parking on the bay’s access route
- Erasing or damaging the bay’s road markings
- Otherwise preventing a fire engine from parking in or entering the bay
Item 2 is the one to note: even next to the bay, parking outside a marked space counts.
Fines — Decree Annex 3 of the Fire-Fighting Services Act
| Breach | First | Second · third or later |
|---|---|---|
| Parking in or blocking a fire-engine bay (art. 21-2(2)) | 500,000 won | 1,000,000 · 1,000,000 won |
| Obstructing a fire engine running with its siren (art. 21(3)) | 1,000,000 won | 1,500,000 · 2,000,000 won |
| False report of a fire or rescue situation (art. 19(1)) | 2,000,000 won | 4,000,000 · 5,000,000 won |
Individual standards of Annex 3 (amended 7 April 2026). Higher tiers apply to the same breach within the last year. Article 21(3) bans, when a fire engine runs with its siren, failing to give way, cutting in front of or blocking it, or otherwise hindering it; “fire engine” includes command vehicles and rescue and ambulance vehicles (art. 21(1)).
5 metres from a hydrant — the Road Traffic Act
Article 32 item 6 of the Road Traffic Act bans stopping and parking within 5 metres of a fire hydrant, an emergency fire-fighting device or other designated fire equipment. The amount depends on whether a safety sign (such as a red kerb) is in place.
| Within 5 m of a hydrant (car) | Fine (camera) | Penalty charge (police) |
|---|---|---|
| Where a safety sign is installed | 80,000 won (2 hours+: 90,000) | 80,000 won |
| Elsewhere | 40,000 won (2 hours+: 50,000) | 40,000 won |
Road Traffic Act Decree Annex 6 item 6-2 (fines) and Annex 8 items 3-3 and 29 (penalty charges). For vans it is a 90,000 won fine (100,000 won) and a 90,000 won penalty charge. An unmarked hydrant is still a no-stopping zone within 5 metres; only the amount is the ordinary one.
Checklist
- ☐ Yellow “fire engines only” bays in your complex — keep the bay, its sides and its access clear
- ☐ Red kerb by the road — hydrant within 5 m, 80,000 won for a car
- ☐ A fire engine with its siren on — give way; failing to, or cutting in, starts at 1,000,000 won
Questions that remain
Our complex has no fire-engine bay.
The duty falls on the builders of housing within the scope of Decree article 7-12 (apartments of 100+ households, dormitories of 3+ storeys and so on). Check road markings or ask the management office. We did not reproduce the addenda that set when the duty applies.
I only stopped in the bay to unload.
Decree article 7-14 item 1 refers to “stacking things or parking.” It sets no time threshold for stopping, so the call rests with the enforcing authority.
Away from hydrants, ordinary parking fines are 40,000 won for a car (50,000 after 2 hours in the same place), and 5 m from junction corners, 10 m from crossings and 10 m from bus stops ban even stopping (illegal parking).
Sources
- Framework Act on Fire-Fighting Services [in force 3 Sep 2026] [Act No. 21731] — original text (checked 30 September 2026). Source for article 19(1), article 21 (priority passage and no obstruction), article 21-2 (fire-engine bays) and article 56(2) and (3) (up to 2 million and 1 million won).
- Enforcement Decree of the Act [in force 3 Sep 2026] [Presidential Decree No. 36635] — original text. Source for article 7-12 (100 households, 3 storeys), article 7-13 (one per block), article 7-14 (five acts) and Annex 3, standards for fines.
- Road Traffic Act [in force 1 Jul 2026] — original text. Source for article 32 item 6 (5 metres from a hydrant).
- Enforcement Decree of the Road Traffic Act [in force 1 Aug 2026] — Annex 6, fines item 6-2 and Annex 8, penalty charges item 3-3.
Where to check further
- Where your complex’s bay is — the management office.
- Reporting violations — the Safety e-Report (Anjeon Sinmungo) app.
Written on 30 September 2026. Articles and annexes are from the National Law Information Center; the tables are ours. Extinguishers you should keep at home and in the car are covered in fire extinguishers, and school-zone parking amounts in school-zone fines.
