Yoon says government will slow increase of public utility bills

Social Affairs

Published: 15 Feb. 2023, 11:03 Updated: 15 Feb. 2023, 15:56

Yoon says government will slow increase of public utility bills

President Yoon Suk Yeol in an emergency government meeting on Wednesday in Yongsan, Seoul. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

The Seoul city government announced Wednesday that it will delay the increase of public transportation fares in the first half.

The city government initially planned to raise bus and subway fares between 300 and 400 won in April.

The city government said it will continue to take steps toward raising the fares for public transportation as planned, including hearings at the city’s council.

Telecommunication companies — SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ — also announced they would contribute to lowering the burden of essential services on households.

SK Telecom and KT said they will provide 300 gigabytes of data for free to users that are 19 years old or older in March. It is enough to allow users to watch five full high-definition (FHD) movies, 18 hours of YouTube or stream music for 15 consecutive days.

LG U+ will provide data coupons equivalent to the basic data provided to customers according to the services that they are subscribing to.

The city government and the telecommunication companies' decisions came after President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier in the day requested the participation of local governments and the private sector in the central government’s efforts to ease household burden on public services including utility bills.

President Yoon during a government emergency economic meeting said the government will slow the increase of public utility bills, including electricity and gas, in the first half in the efforts to ease the burden on households.

“[The government] will slow the pace on raising electricity and gas bills as well as the level of increase,” President Yoon said during the meeting.

“Telecommunication and finance, which are government’s authorized oligopoly should participate in sharing the burden,” Yoon added.

He stressed that the burden of increase of public utility bills that many households face today is the result of populist policies of the previous administration.

“The central, local governments and the private sectors have to come together to overcome such difficult times,” Yoon said.

The country’s inflation has been stabilized in recent months since peaking in July last year when it grew 6.3 percent year-on-year.

Consumer price has grown under 6 percent for six consecutive months.

However, public fares that are essential to everyday life including electricity, gas, water and even transportation have been on the rise.

The government earlier was forced to raise utility bills as state-owned energy companies including Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco) and Korea Gas Corp. (Kogas) have been drowning in losses.

Kogas alone reported a record accounts receivable totaling 8.8 trillion won at the end of last year, a jump of 1.8 trillion won in 2021.

According to Statistics Korea, in January utility bills – electricity, gas and water – rose 28.3 percent year-on-year.

The government was initially planning to raise gas bills along with electricity bills as early as this month. But as public frustration soared over sharp increases in gas bills, the government has been hinting that it would delay its decision on additional hikes on utility bills.

The government has also increased its efforts in providing energy vouchers and discounts on energy bills for low-income households.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]