As concerns were raised over a plan to restrict seniors' free rides on public transportation during commuting hours, the presidential office said it has no plan to push the measure.
According to the Korea Senior Citizens Association on the 4th, the association held a meeting the previous day with Hong Ik-pyo, senior presidential secretary for political affairs, Jeon Seong-hwan, senior presidential secretary for public engagement integration, Bae Jin-gyo, presidential secretary for public engagement, and Im Eul-gi, senior policy coordinator for the elderly at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
At the meeting, the association raised issues with a plan to temporarily restrict seniors' free rides during rush hours.
Participants from the association said, "Seniors' morning public transportation use is concentrated between 5 and 7 a.m., which is mostly livelihood travel for early-morning work such as building cleaning," adding, "Therefore, restricting their free rides is not appropriate, and it would be more reasonable for public or private companies to use flexible work arrangements and staggered commuting to ease public transportation congestion."
They added, "If free rides for seniors using public transportation during rush hours are restricted, seniors could be perceived as unproductive and as adding to congestion," noting, "Such emotional provocation is undesirable."
In response, Hong said, "There will be no policy to reduce the welfare of the older generation, and we will ensure there is no disadvantage," adding, "We will prioritize policies such as staggered commuting and expanding remote work, leading by example in the public sector first before expanding to the private sector, and we have no plan to restrict seniors' free rides."
The meeting also discussed responses to resource crises such as energy conservation, along with the issue of seniors' public transportation use.
Lee Jung-geun, president of the Korea Senior Citizens Association, said, "The Korea Senior Citizens Association, together with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, plans to carry out a nationwide action campaign through 17 metropolitan and provincial federations and 245 city, county and district chapters to put into practice the citizen action guidelines released by the government."
Hong said, "We thank our seniors for keeping the nation steady and offering wisdom whenever the country faces difficulties," adding, "With high oil prices, high inflation and a strong dollar caused by the Middle East situation, the national economy is in a very difficult state. The government will draw up a supplementary budget for lower-income groups to ease economic hardship and will work to ensure seniors can go about their daily lives comfortably."