Pusan National University (PNU) has been enhancing enforcement against illegal parking and speeding on campus for over a year now. While speeding violations have decreased by nearly half compared to 2024, the chronic problem of illegal parking and temporary stopping remains unresolved.

On May 23rd, PNU announced that the number of on-campus speeding violations had decreased by approximately 54% in March 2025 compared to May 2024. While 1,005 vehicles were caught speeding in May 2024, only 466 were recorded in March 2025.

PNU strengthened enforcement in March 2024 to reduce illegal parking, stopping, and speeding of vehicles on campus. Regulations were amended to enable substantial sanctions including warnings, cautions, and one-month ban on regular vehicle registration for vehicles that illegally park/stop or exceed the designated speed limit (20 km/h), as evidenced in a report by “Channel PNU” on March 1st, 2024. The Head Offices installed five speed display devices on the Busan campus and raised speed bumps in some sections. Park Seok-Gi (Manager, Division of General Affairs) said, “By focusing on improving awareness rather than regulation and encouraging drivers to self-monitor their speeds, we seem to have brought about positive changes.”

The extensive “safety guard” system also appears to largely contribute to pedestrian safety. The Division of General Affairs additionally hired six safety guards in 2025. They manage electric scooter parking from 7am on weekdays and control vehicle traffic at the Main Gate and the North Gate (Near Jayoo Dormitory) where vehicles and pedestrians concentrate during student commuting hours. During lunch hours, they also direct traffic at Moonchang Hall, Saebyeokbeol Library, the Humanities Building and other locations. They are responsible for traffic safety management for about five hours a day. When “Channel PNU” visited the North Gate at 8:45am on weekdays when vehicles and pedestrians are most concentrated, five safety guards were managing traffic around Saebyeokbeol Library.

Students passing through the area embrace the idea of having safety guards. PNU Student A (School of Mechanical Engineering, 21), who said they travel from the North Gate to the Engineering Building, said, “Previously, pedestrians and vehicles got tangled up and traffic during commuting hours were nearly paralyzed. So, at least with management personnel present, it’s become much more convenient than before as managing vehicle traffic order and implementing road control for pedestrians have become easier.” PNU Student B (Dept. of Psychology, 22) said, “I had to commute by weaving through vehicles. Although it takes a little more time than before, it seems safer.”

While on-campus speeding and traffic congestion have shown improvement, the illegal parking/stopping problem remains serious. While touring the campus, “Channel PNU” reporters discovered multiple vehicles illegally parked on campus roads on the recent campus tours on April 14th and 15th, 2025. Areas with high accident risk such as beside the Human Ecology Building and the Pharmaceutical Research Building were relatively well-managed, but near the Construction Building, the Mechanical Engineering Building, the Arts Building, the Humanities Building, the Central Library, and the Student Union Building, passing vehicles sometimes had to cross into the second lane due to illegal parking/stopping. PNU Student C said, “So many vehicles are parked in non-parking spaces that they often block visibility for pedestrians crossing the street, creating dangerous situations.”

Illegal parking/stopping is rampant because parking spaces are insufficient compared to vehicle entry/exit. Manager Park explained, “The Busan campus has parking spaces for about 2,900 vehicles, but around 8,000 vehicles enter and exit the campus each day. With regular registered vehicles reaching 8,500, parking demand is about three times greater than the supply of parking spaces.” Indeed, as confirmed by the reporters , major public parking lots including Induck Hall, Jayoo Dormitory, and the Tennis Court’s steel-frame parking lot were nearly full as of 2pm on weekdays. Consequently, vehicles denied access to public parking lots frequently resort to illegal roadside parking on campus.

The Head Offices also recognizes the problem but finds itself challenged with no clear solution in sight. According to the Division of General Affairs, several measures have already gone through trials and errors. Attempts to raise parking fees to suppress parking demand face strong opposition from campus community members, and efforts to increase parking spaces run into land shortage. Manager Park said, “Creating new parking lots would require cutting down trees, which is environmentally undesirable, and constructing additional underground parking lots is challenging due to solid bedrock layers.”

It is a constraint that enforcement applies only to regular registered vehicles. Under current regulations, campus enforcement is limited to regular registered vehicles, preventing the imposition of effective penalties on external or unregistered vehicles. The best options are attaching notices or contacting vehicle owners to request relocation. However, when vehicle owners do not answer calls or refuse to cooperate , there is no way to take further action. Regarding this issue, Manager Park said, “We are currently proceeding with commissioned services for new parking lot construction and expansion of parking spaces in idle areas. Also, we are internally coordinating various opinions including pedestrian path maintenance, parking lot expansion, and a reorganized traffic system.”

Meanwhile, following the pedestrian fatality at the crosswalk outside the Humanities Building in June 2024—details of which is found in Channel PNU’s June 19th, 2024 report— PNU has commissioned an external professional service company to establish a long-term master plan for campus traffic environment improvement. This service project is scheduled to be completed around July-August 2025.

Reporter Lee Bo-Young

Translated by Thadar-Soe