[Anchor]

We previously reported that an audit revealed Incheon Airport's severe parking shortage was caused by poor management of parking permits and various preferential treatments for resident staff. Now, the Incheon International Airport Corporation has announced plans to significantly reduce regular parking permits for resident staff, sparking backlash.

Reporter An Huijae has the story.

[Reporter]

Vehicles are packed tightly against the backdrop of aircraft in the distance.

A warning notice attached a week ago is visible on a car occupying a walkway instead of a parking space.

This is the state of the parking lots at Incheon Airport, which has earned the reputation of a parking hell.

[Lee Heung-sik / Paju, Gyeonggi Province: It is inconvenient. Every time I come, there is nowhere to park. There is no space today either, it is just full.]

There were reasons for the severe parking shortage beyond the overwhelming number of airport passengers.

An audit by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport revealed practices of abusing parking permit issuance and poor management.

The parking fees exempted for employees of the Incheon International Airport Corporation and its subsidiaries amounted to 4.1 billion won last year alone.

Public outrage grew as multiple instances were confirmed where regular parking permits were used for personal purposes, such as vacations.

One month after the audit results were announced, the Incheon International Airport Corporation has unveiled improvement measures.

The number of regular permits for resident staff, which previously reached 30,000, will be slashed by half to 15,000, and the requirements for issuance will be tightened.

Unlike the areas around the airport terminal, parking lots located further away are completely empty.

The airport corporation plans to designate such areas for exclusive employee use to improve space efficiency.

The corporation expects that more than 500 parking spaces will be secured for exclusive use by airport passengers.

Among employees, complaints have erupted over what they call a unilateral announcement, along with allegations that the policy is applied differently between corporation employees and subsidiary staff.

The corporation stated, "We will apply the same standards regardless of affiliation," and added that it would implement a pilot operation starting today (July 1) while refining the measures.

(Video reporting: Kim Young-hwan | Video editing: Kim Jong-mi)