Assemblyman Han Byung-do, Tens of Billions Won in KTX Mileage 'Management Blind Spot'

47 Central Administrative Agencies' Audit Data
"Since Funded by Taxpayer Money, It Must Be Used Publicly" Criticism

Han Byung-do, Member of the National Assembly of the Democratic Party of Korea (Iksan-si Eul, Jeonbuk)

It has been revealed that the mileage accumulated from government officials using KTX for business trips is estimated to be worth billions of won, but it is not managed due to the absence of regulations.

According to data submitted by 47 central administrative agencies for the National Assembly audit, provided by Han Byung-do, a member of the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (Jeonbuk Iksan-si Eul) on the 13th, the government spent about 33.4 billion won on railway fares for official business trips by government officials over the past three years. However, the status of KTX mileage accumulation, expiration, and usage has not been managed.

Korea Railroad Corporation began awarding mileage at a rate of 5-11% of the KTX payment amount starting in 2016, but the mileage automatically expires five years after the month it was accumulated.

In the case of airline mileage accumulated from overseas business trips, private acquisition is restricted, and regulations require it to be used for purchasing airline tickets or donating goods. However, due to the lack of regulations for KTX mileage, not only the scale but even the exact amount of KTX payments is unknown.

It was found that the 47 central administrative agencies spent more than 33.4 billion won on railway fares over the past three years. Although this includes SRT and others, most of it is KTX, so applying a minimum rate of 5% simply estimates the mileage to be about 1.67 billion won.

Assemblyman Han Byung-do pointed out, “Many government officials use KTX when going on business trips, but the Ministry of Personnel Management did not even grasp the scale of the mileage due to the absence of regulations,” and added, “Since mileage is accumulated based on taxpayers’ money, it should be used for public purposes.”

He continued, “The government needs to establish related regulations as soon as possible and prepare measures such as unifying membership accounts.”

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