President Lee: "Examine Deficits After SRT-KTX Integration... Express Buses Could Disappear"

President Lee Jae-myung encouraged the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's report on the integrated operation of SRT and KTX during a Cabinet meeting, stating, "We were unable to resolve this very important pending issue for over a decade, but integration has been achieved faster than expected."

However, regarding the average 10% reduction in KTX fares following the integration, he noted that the aspect of increasing railway operational deficits must also be examined. He instructed authorities to review measures against transportation polarization, warning that an influx of KTX users driven by the fare cuts could lead to the disappearance of high-speed or long-distance intercity buses.

During the Cabinet meeting, remarks were also made regarding the controversy surrounding the so-called "retroactive national pension lump-sum payments for foreigners," where foreigners pay only one month's worth of premium and lump-sum pay up to 119 months for their past periods of stay to receive a lifelong pension.

President Lee ordered, "It is impossible for any newly designed system to be flawless, so loopholes inevitably emerge. When these loopholes are discovered, supplements to close them as quickly as possible are necessary," and asked for swift alternatives to be prepared.

In the subsequent closed-door meeting, President Lee pointed out that it is contradictory in itself for foreigners with short-term domestic residence to be eligible for retroactive payments, according to a written briefing by Senior Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung.

President Lee then instructed Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong to examine, from the public's perspective, whether there is an urgent need to strengthen eligibility requirements by evaluating actual domestic residency periods.

Finally, President Lee encouraged active publicity regarding the policies of each government ministry, emphasizing the need for immediate public relations responses centered on areas such as tax expenditures and taxation to prevent misunderstandings about policies.

(Photo provided by the Blue House Press Corps, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.