Seoul metropolitan area subway starting fare to increase by 150 won from 1,400 to 1,550 won (South Korea)

In South Korea, the starting subway fare in the capital area will increase from 1,400 won (about 140 yen) to 1,550 won (about 155 yen) from June.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly recently passed a bill to raise rail fares by 150 won (approximately 15 yen) called the Urban Rail Fare Range.
On the 20th, the provincial assembly passed the "Proposal for consultation on adjustments to the fare adjustments." As a result, the provincial assembly will finalize the proposal for the minimum fare for railroads through the Consumer Policy Committee.
Policy discussions are expected to be held between Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon and the Korea Railroad Corporation, and the timing of the increase is expected to be around June, taking into account administrative procedures and system preparation times.
Seoul City is expected to set a minimum subway fare of 30,000 yen in 2023 after going through a process of collecting opinions, including public hearings, hearings by the Seoul City Council, and deliberation by the Price Control Committee.
The government has decided to raise the subway fare by 100 won (about 30 yen) in two instalments of 150 won (about 15 yen) each. As a result, the starting subway fare in the metropolitan area will be 100 won (about 30 yen) from October 7, 2023.
The public utility fee was raised from 1,250 won (about 125 yen) to 1,400 won (about 140 yen). A further increase of 150 won (about 15 yen) was planned after that, but the central government's public utility fee was increased by 1,250 won (about 125 yen).
Due to the policy to freeze tariffs, no tariff hikes were actually implemented. Some had predicted that the early presidential election would postpone the hike until the second half of the year, but Seoul and other cities ultimately decided to raise tariffs in the first half of the year.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government, Gyeonggi Province and other related agencies appear to have decided that it would be difficult to postpone the fare increase any further.
On January 22nd, he explained that "this is an unavoidable measure to eliminate the deficit in subway operations across the country, including Seoul, and to provide stable transportation services." Oh Sehun, Mayor of Seoul
Naga also said, "We had planned to raise the price by 300 won in 2023, but due to the government's urgent request to curb prices, we had to postpone it, and now it has been extended until this year."
The Seoul Metropolitan Transportation Corporation also said at a related forum last month that, "Last year, the number of people riding free of charge was about 17% of the total, or 7.51 million people per day, and the resulting losses
The amount amounts to about 400 billion won (US$380 million) per year," he said. "Increasing unpaid losses without financial measures will cause a structural deficit and lead to problems such as missing opportunities for safety investments."
He said.