How to get rid of a car on Jeju

(and NOT by selling it to someone else)

With the active expat community on Jeju, it can be fairly easy to buy and sell a car. From the public hagwons and local schools to the increasing number of international schools in Global Education City (GEC), there are a number of people coming and going. It's easy enough to find a car through a friend, one of the active Facebook Groups (Jeju GEC Schools Social Committee Facebook Group,Jeju Marketplace Facebook Group) or through seeking help from "the Queen of Jeju," a Korean translation service for foreigners.

But, what do you do when you want to get rid of a car? Maybe it's dead (or dying). Maybe it's just old and at risk. Or maybe, like me, you don't think it will pass the next mandatory inspection. Whatever the case, I wanted to share what I had to do to "get rid" of my car, since I found it impossible to find English sources. Any searches with "Jeju" and "Car" pointed me toward rental agencies.

Luckily, with the help of one of my Korean friends, she pointed me in the direction of a couple of junkyards.

What you can say:

폐차를 해주세요
(pyeh-cha-reul hay-ju-say-yo)
(Roughly: Please scrap my car)

The first one is on the east side of Hallasan in Jeju:
Korean Address: 제주 제주시 저찬읍 종인내길 281
Address: (Roughly) Jeju-si JeoChan-eup, Jonginnae road 281
Hours: Open 24 Hours--not sure about weekends.
Unfortunately, this scrap yard is about 2km from the nearest bus stop and the forecast called for rain when I went. So I did not go here.

The second one she found is on the west side in Daejeong near the GEC (a lot more convenient for me!):
Korean Address: 제주 서귀포시 대정읍 영락사독로90번길 41
Address: (Roughly) Seogwipo-si Daejeong-eup, Yeongraksadok-ro 90 road 41
Korean Name: 안전자동차해체재활용산업
Phone Number: 064-792-4500
Hours: Open until 4pm on weekdays according to our phone inquiry
I ended up going here after first trying a scrap yard in Hallim (which had unfortunately closed the week before and was no longer accepting cars). As I rounded the last couple of meters of the small, weaving roads, and pulled my car to a stop near the office, I left my car to the sound of a hissing tire. I guess that was as far as Robin wanted to go. Luckily I did not have to drive away.

Unluckily, the lady didn't give me any money for my car and didn't tell me why (I was only expecting between 20-30,000 KRW, but still). I recommend bringing someone who can speak Korean so you're not taken advantage of.

It was definitely a weird feeling taking my car to the junkyard. It was a year of ups and downs, yes, but Robin took me on many adventures and I was sad that this marked the end.

Robin's last cruise along the coast. RIP

Hope this post helps someone else!

Love and Hugs