Recovery Trend of Seoul Subway Riders: Will It Signal Management Improvement for Seoul Metro?

Recent COVID-19 cases stabilize around 300-400, subway ridership recovers to 20% from worst 40%, construction management situation under watch... However, Seoul Metro faces worst management with 720 billion KRW corporate bonds issued this year... Post Seoul mayoral election, rising public calls for subway fare hikes and internal restructuring at Seoul Metro expected to grow.

Kim Sang-beom, President of Seoul Metro (far right), is visiting Gunja Vehicle Depot after his inauguration as president, engaging in conversations with related personnel.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seoul Metro Corporation (President Kim Sang-beom) is attracting attention as transportation revenue is gradually recovering with the COVID-19 situation stabilizing.

According to Seoul Metro Corporation on the 20th, after the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, the number of subway users dropped by up to 40% compared to before, causing transportation revenue to decrease by 27% last year, resulting in a net loss of 1 trillion won.

Accordingly, President Kim Sang-beom requested a subway fare increase from the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim In-ho), but it was not approved as the council expressed reluctance ahead of the April 7 Seoul mayoral by-election.

As a result, the corporation issued corporate bonds (CP) worth 400 billion won on January 11, and issued another 320 billion won worth last month, totaling 720 billion won issued this year alone.

Along with this, President Kim Sang-beom and other executives are running around the National Assembly persuading to obtain approval from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to issue 500 billion won worth of public bonds.

Meanwhile, the number of Seoul subway passengers has recently increased significantly compared to the worst period of COVID-19, reportedly approaching the 20% level.

A corporation official stated, “As the spread of COVID-19 nationwide stabilizes at around 300 to 400 cases, there is a growing atmosphere of increasing subway passengers.”

It is also known that seniors aged 65 and over who have not paid subway fares are still hesitant to use the subway due to concerns about COVID-19 infection.

Accordingly, as the domestic COVID-19 vaccination rate increases and the number of confirmed cases stabilizes, the number of Seoul subway users is expected to gradually increase.

However, voices calling for internal innovation within Seoul Metro Corporation are also expected to rise.

A Seoul Metropolitan Council official said, “After the Seoul mayoral election ends, the issue of raising Seoul subway fares is expected to be raised,” adding, “In this process, opinions on internal restructuring of Seoul Metro Corporation are also likely to be raised.”

This is interpreted as due to the quiet nature of President Kim Sang-beom, who has hardly carried out any noticeable reform work since taking office.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.