Government to support early scrapping of 113,000 vehicles… DPF installation program to end
New transition incentives introduced… Aiming to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions
[The Fact | Sejong = Jung Da-un] Support for early retirement of older vehicles with emission grade 5 and diesel particulate filter (DPF) installation will end this year. Instead, the government will strengthen support for converting emission grade 4 vehicles to electric vehicles to encourage a shift to low-emission vehicles.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment has finalized the ‘2026 Early Vehicle Retirement Subsidy Guidelines’ and announced that it will implement this year’s low-emission measures support program in partnership with local governments.
This year’s early retirement support will cover approximately 113,000 vehicles, including 44,000 emission grade 5 vehicles, 64,000 grade 4 diesel vehicles, and 5,000 older construction machines such as forklifts and excavators.
The government will only offer support for early retirement of grade 5 vehicles until the end of this year. The number of registered grade 5 vehicles has decreased by 84% over five years, from about 1 million at the end of 2020 to around 160,000 at the end of last year. As demand for the program has also decreased, the government has decided to focus support on converting grade 4 vehicles. Support for DPF installation on grade 5 diesel vehicles will also conclude this year.
While maintaining support for early retirement of grade 4 diesel vehicles, the government will restructure the support system to focus on transitioning to zero-emission vehicles, such as electric and hydrogen models. Only those who retire their grade 4 vehicles and purchase electric, hydrogen, or HYBErid vehicles will receive the secondary (vehicle purchase) subsidy; those who switch to gasoline or gas vehicles will not be eligible for this incentive.
Starting this year, an additional ‘transition support fund’ will be provided to those who scrap a grade 4 diesel vehicle and purchase an electric vehicle. In Seoul, for example, if a 2010 model grade 4 diesel SUV is retired early and replaced with an electric vehicle, the total support can reach up to 11.81 million KRW (approximately $8,857) when combining the early retirement subsidy, electric vehicle purchase subsidy, and transition support funds. However, if the same vehicle is replaced with an internal combustion engine vehicle, the support amount will only be 2.31 million KRW (about $1,732).
The government aims to reduce the replacement of internal combustion engine vehicles with other ICE models and encourage the transition to zero-emission vehicles to improve air quality and enhance greenhouse gas reduction efforts simultaneously.
Kim Jin-sik, head of the Air Environment Division at the Ministry of Climate, stated, “As this is the last year for support for early retirement of grade 5 vehicles, we hope that vehicle owners don’t miss this opportunity for assistance.” He added that it will serve as a turning point to reduce the burden of converting older internal combustion vehicles to electric and hydrogen vehicles.
Details regarding eligibility and procedures can be found on the vehicle emissions website.
danjung638@tf.co.kr
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