{"id":2200121,"date":"2023-02-20T00:26:42","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T00:26:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nknews.org\/koreapro\/?p=2200121"},"modified":"2023-04-05T16:09:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T07:09:42","slug":"debate-about-free-subway-rides-for-senior-citizens-rises-amid-aging-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/debate-about-free-subway-rides-for-senior-citizens-rises-amid-aging-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Debate about free subway rides for senior citizens rises amid aging society"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s <\/span>announcement<\/span><\/a> last week that the government will freeze public utility fees for the first half of the year forced the Seoul city government to <\/span>postpone<\/span><\/a> its plan to raise metro fares by the end of April, public debate about the possibility of the fares rising has not abated. The policy of providing free subway rides to senior citizens was <\/span>introduced<\/span><\/a> in 1984 when only 4% of the country\u2019s population was 65 years or older.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, South Korea is one of the fastest-aging societies in the world, with its senior citizens comprising about <\/span>17.5%<\/span><\/a> of the population in 2022. That figure is forecast to reach <\/span>30%<\/span><\/a> by 2035 and <\/span>46.4%<\/span><\/a> by 2070. Seoul Metro has <\/span>recorded<\/span><\/a> a net loss of around $771 million (1 trillion won) annually since 2020. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said one of the plans under discussion to reduce Seoul Metro\u2019s deficit was the possibility of cutting the free-ride benefit for seniors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/b><\/p>\n

Plans to cut the free-ride benefit for senior citizens are controversial, as South Korea\u2019s seniors have one of the highest relative poverty rates among OECD countries. The relative poverty rate of South Korean seniors came to <\/span>40.4%<\/span><\/a> in 2020. The <\/span>difficulty<\/span><\/a> seniors face in finding employment led to the emergence of a relatively new industry:<\/span> the <\/span>silver subway courier service<\/span><\/a>. As senior citizens don\u2019t have to pay metro fares, a growing number of retired seniors have found employment delivering packages while using the metro system as their mode of transportation. Cutting free-ride benefits for seniors could eliminate a vital source of income.<\/span><\/p>\n

The move could also lead to a clash between the central and municipal governments. Municipal governments, such as the Seoul city government, have demanded the central government provide support to compensate for their losses. But the latter has <\/span>stated<\/span><\/a> that local governments should handle the problem independently. Further, the Yoon administration is unlikely to support ending the benefit, as elderly voters are a crucial voting bloc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Business & Economy<\/span><\/a>Culture & Society<\/span><\/a>Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s announcement last week that the government will freeze public utility fees for the first half of the year forced the Seoul city government to postpone its plan to raise metro fares by the end of April, public debate about the possibility of the fares rising has not abated. The policy of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2200122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[24,25,27],"yoast_head":"\nDebate about free subway rides for senior citizens rises amid aging society - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/02\/debate-about-free-subway-rides-for-senior-citizens-rises-amid-aging-society\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Debate about free subway rides for senior citizens rises amid aging society - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although President Yoon Suk-yeol\u2019s announcement last week that the government will freeze public utility fees for the first half of the year forced the Seoul city government to postpone its plan to raise metro fares by the end of April, public debate about the possibility of the fares rising has not abated. 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