"Supplementary Budgets Total 220 Billion Won This Year"... Seoul’s Climate Companion Card Nears End, Fiscal Burden Persists

1. 1.124 Billion Won Submitted to City Council for Second Supplementary Budget
2. Payback Funding Now Includes Seoul Metro Transportation Deficit
3. "The City Should Have Promptly Encouraged a Transition to the 'Modue Card' Policy"

Criticism has emerged that Seoul’s Climate Companion Card program, which is set to end later this month, has resulted in a waste of taxpayers’ money due to inefficient fiscal management, as the budget has surged to 2.5 times the original amount.

On January 26, a day before the pilot operation of the unlimited public transportation pass "Climate Companion Card" introduced by Seoul City in January 2024, promotional flyers for the Climate Companion Card were posted at Gwanghwamun Station on Subway Line 5 in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On September 3, Koh Chanyang, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council from the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out that the budget for the Climate Companion Card program has increased about 247% compared to the original budget of 148.8 billion won.

Seoul Metropolitan Government increased the budget by an additional 106.8 billion won in the first supplementary budget to fund the Climate Companion Card payback program and, in the recently submitted second supplementary budget to the city council, allocated a further 112.4 billion won to support Seoul Metro’s transportation deficit.

Assemblyman Koh criticized the fact that, during the first supplementary budget, the payback program was announced before the budget review and approval process. He stated that “if a policy requires funding, the basic principle is to respect the assembly’s review and approval process before making any public announcements.”

Regarding the allocation of further supplementary funding for transportation deficits following the payback budget, he emphasized that “the budget should have been established based on an accurate estimate of demand and finances, so that no additional fiscal burden would arise.”

He further argued that “If Seoul had encouraged Climate Companion Card users to rapidly switch to ‘Modu-e Card’ (Everyone’s Card), the city would not have had to shoulder such a significant transportation deficit and related support costs.”

He added, “The Climate Companion Card program is effectively ending and being integrated into the Everyone’s Card system, yet more funds need to be allocated until the very end of the program.” [Related Article=Climate Companion Pass to Launch on September 1... Youth Benefits to Expand from Ages 34 to 39]

He also expressed concerns about whether the supplementary budget allocation would be sufficient to cover transportation deficit support, as approximately 500,000 citizens are still using the Climate Companion Card.

Assemblyman Koh urged, “It is the administration’s responsibility to minimize Seoul’s fiscal burden by utilizing systems eligible for national funding. The city should actively link available resources, including national subsidies, to reduce the burden on the local budget.”

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