Police caught 153 people for drunk driving nationwide between midnight Monday and 8 a.m. Tuesday, when the toughened drunk driving law came into effect, according to the National Police Agency.

Of the 153 drunk drivers, 57 had their licenses suspended and 93 had their licenses revoked. Three refused to have their blood-alcohol levels checked, police said.

The revised law stipulates a lower blood-alcohol level limit for drivers and stricter punishments for those driving under the influence.

Previously, those found driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent and above had their licenses suspended, while a level of 0.1 percent and above led to revocation of the license. The corresponding limits are now 0.03 percent and 0.08 percent.

The maximum penalty for drunk driving was also raised from a three-year jail term or 10 million won ($8,650) fine to a five-year term or 20 million won fine.

Starting Tuesday, with the implementation of the revised traffic law, police are conducting a two-month crackdown on drunk driving. The number of drunk driving cases averaged 334.2 per day from January to May, according to the police.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)