DP to Halve the Minimum Threshold for K-Pass Everyone Card in Supplementary Budget Review

Direction of the 2026 Supplementary Budget Review
Closing Gaps in High Oil Price Support
Expanding the Adoption of Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicles to Reduce Fossil Fuel Dependence

Han Jung-ae, Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, announced on the 6th, "Although the government proposal includes a significant increase in the basic K-Pass refund rate, at the same time, the minimum spending requirement for the K-Pass Modeuie Card will also be reduced by half."

On this day, Policy Committee Chair Han posted on social media about the direction of this year's supplementary budget review, stating, "To promote public transportation use, we will significantly expand support for public transportation fares."

Han Jung-ae, Policy Committee Chair of the Democratic Party of Korea, is speaking at the Economic Response Task Force meeting on the Middle East situation held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building on March 10, 2026. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

The K-Pass Modeuie Card (flat-rate type) is a system that, compared to the existing K-Pass (basic type), fully refunds any monthly transportation costs exceeding the set minimum spending requirement. Currently, in the Seoul metropolitan area, this amount is 62,000 won. If it is reduced by half to 31,000 won, all transportation costs exceeding this amount will be fully refunded.

Policy Committee Chair Han explained that five major increases are being pursued, including: ▲ eliminating blind spots in high oil price support, ▲ expanding the supply of renewable energy and electric vehicles to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, and ▲ expanding public transportation support, including lowering the flat-rate K-Pass.

First, she said, "We will identify sectors such as chartered buses that are currently outside the scope of government high oil price support measures and ensure they are included, while also providing more substantial support to industries heavily impacted by high oil prices, such as agriculture and fisheries."

She also promised an increase in the budget for projects to expand renewable energy, including promoting household solar panel installations, revitalizing solar income villages, and replacing outdated solar inverters, as well as increasing the budget for electric vehicle supply projects.

Regarding small business owners, she emphasized the need to increase support funding and stated that the supplementary budget projects in the culture and sports sectors would be restructured for more efficient support.

In addition, she mentioned expanding meal subsidies for senior centers, supporting the Geunyang Haedeurim Center, which helps seniors with "simple but difficult-to-do alone tasks" such as replacing fluorescent lights, faucets, and window screens, as well as increasing support for infants and young children with disabilities.

Furthermore, Policy Committee Chair Han refuted claims that the supplementary budget is merely for election purposes and unrelated to high oil prices, saying, "Such arguments overlook the complex impact of high oil prices on the national economy as a whole," and added, "Claims that the supplementary budget will stimulate inflation are also lacking in evidence."

She continued, "On the contrary, this supplementary budget includes a wide range of measures to ease the cost-of-living burden, such as the petroleum price ceiling, oil price-linked subsidies, and discounts for agricultural, livestock, and fisheries products. Projects to expand renewable energy, such as solar power, and electric vehicles are also timely and appropriate, as the ongoing energy crisis in the Middle East highlights the importance of energy security and the need to reduce dependence on energy imports and oil."

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