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Seoul area subway fares to rise by 150 won in June

Published: 20 Apr. 2025, 14:20

A citizen pays their subway fare with a metro card on April 20 in Seoul. [NEWS1]

The base fare for subway rides in the greater Seoul area is set to increase by 150 won (11 cents), rising from 1,400 won to 1,550 won in June.

The Gyeonggido Assembly passed a motion during a special session on Tuesday to approve a 150 won fare hike as part of a review of adjusting urban rail fare ranges, industry sources said Sunday.

Once the measure passes, the Gyeonggi Province Consumer Policy Committee — the final administrative step — the fare increase will be finalized. Gyeonggi officials also reportedly support the price adjustment, and the committee’s approval is expected to proceed without difficulty.

After that, Tmoney, the company that operates the fare collection system, will spend about two months updating the system to reflect the new pricing.

Seoul, which operates the largest number of subway lines and effectively holds the decision-making authority, plans to implement the new fare in June as soon as the administrative process is complete and the system is ready.

The exact date of the fare increase will be finalized later this month through a policy consultation involving Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon and Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail). Given the social sensitivity of public fare hikes and the time needed to prepare the system, the increase is likely to take effect in late June, after the presidential election.

Earlier speculation suggested the increase might be delayed until the second half of the year due to the early presidential election. However, officials say the worsening financial condition of Seoul Metro, the operator, makes further delays unfeasible, especially since the fare hike was originally scheduled for March.

Citizens use the subway in Seoul on April 20. [NEWS1]

In October 2023, Seoul raised the base fare by 150 won (from 1,250 won to 1,400 won) and signaled plans to raise it by another 150 won in 2024. However, the second increase was postponed due to the central government’s emphasis on stabilizing consumer prices.

With more than a year passed, the fare hike is now set to move forward.

Seoul Metro posted a net loss of 724.1 billion won last year, up 40 percent from the previous year. Its cumulative deficit has reached 18.9 trillion won, and it holds 7.35 trillion won in debt — with daily interest payments exceeding 300 million won.

Both the city and the operator maintain that fare hikes alone are not enough and that central government support is necessary to cover losses from free rides, which account for a significant portion of the deficit.

The city argues that free subway rides were introduced by presidential order and are available to all citizens nationwide, regardless of residency. Therefore, the losses should be considered a state responsibility and fall under public service obligation (PSO) compensation, the same system that currently applies to Korail, which is reimbursed for about 70 percent of its free-ride losses.

The central government, however, maintains that subway operations fall under local government jurisdiction and has rejected calls for PSO subsidies.

“As of last year, free rides accounted for about 17 percent of total riders, or roughly 7.51 million people per day. The resulting losses reached 400 billion won annually,” a Seoul Metro official said at a forum last month. “The continued rise in losses from free rides without a funding plan leads to structural deficits and results in missed opportunities for safety investments.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]