Choo Mi-ae, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Gyeonggi governor, announced a "capital area one-pass" pledge that would allow Gyeonggi, Seoul and Incheon to be used with a single transit card ahead of the June 3 local elections. While the government is implementing a nationwide policy to resolve controversy over discrimination against non-capital regions in the public transportation fare refund program that had been operated around the capital area, another capital-centric pledge has been put forward. Two years earlier in the 2024 general election, the People Power Party unveiled a look-alike pledge, from the name to the benefits.
◇"capital area one-pass" returns to an election after 2 years, with the party switched
Choo said she would push to introduce a capital area One Pass as one of the implementation plans for her No. 1 pledge, "30-minute commute transformation in the capital area." The capital area One Pass bundles disparate regional transit cards—Gyeonggi (The Gyeonggi Pass), Seoul (Climate Companion Card), and Incheon (i-Pass)—into one.
Choo plans to pursue the introduction of the capital area One Pass together with the Democratic Party of Korea's metropolitan area candidates for local government chief. Choo, Seoul mayoral candidate Chong Won-o, and Incheon mayoral candidate Park Chan-dae discussed capital area transit cards after agreeing at the National Assembly in April to craft common pledges and conduct joint campaigning. Choo then said on the 13th in an interview on SBS Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show that "there is a consensus among the candidates on introducing the capital area One Pass," adding, "we agreed on the principle with Chong and Park." If opposition candidates all win in the capital area, she plans to initiate related procedures such as a research study.
The capital area One Pass is similar to a pledge the People Power Party put forward in the general election two years ago. In March 2024, Won Hee-ryong, then a co-chair of the People Power Party's election committee, proposed a "capital area One Pass" at a committee meeting. After that, People Power Party candidates in Gyeonggi and Incheon—Gyeonggi's Kim Yong-tae (Goyang-jeong), Lee Yong (Hanam-gap), and Incheon's Yoon Sang-hyun (Dong·Michuhol-eul), Kim Ki-heung (Yeonsu-eul)—posted on social media (SNS) a phrase reading "introduction of an unlimited public transportation pass for the capital area" against the party's symbolic red background.
◇Nationwide "card for all" already in place to resolve regional imbalance
Since December last year, the government has operated the nationwide "card for all." Regardless of residence, if you use public transportation anywhere in the country, you get a refund at a certain rate (20%–53.5%) or get all spending above a set amount (30,000–100,000 won) returned. The refund funding is structured so the central government and local governments split the cost in half. Only Seoul receives 40% from the central government; all others receive 50%.
The card for all is a measure to resolve the problem of the public transportation fare refund program being concentrated in the capital area. It provides central government support to local governments that lack fiscal capacity to generously budget for public transportation refunds. Kim Kyeong-soo, the Democratic Party of Korea's Gyeongnam governor candidate, who was then chairperson of the Presidential Committee for Decentralization and Balanced Development, said on SNS, "Until now, the public transportation fare refund system has been operated around the capital area," adding, "people living outside the capital area could not help but feel it as discrimination by region in that process." He continued, "Public transportation is more inconvenient when you live outside large cities, and in many cases the burden of fares is higher," adding, "the card for all is a change to correct this imbalance."
Separately, introducing the capital area One Pass would require additional funding. Multiple officials from capital area local governments said, "There is already a nationwide tool that can receive central government support," adding, "if you want to introduce a transit card usable only in specific regions, you will have to inject your own resources."
Seoul mayoral candidate Chong Won-o's camp also pointed out this double-burden structure. Ko Min-jung, a co-head of Chong's campaign, said in a commentary on the 6th that regarding the city's Climate Companion Card, "Seoul is already bearing city funds for the card for all, which is a central-local matching program, and on top of that is separately operating its own season ticket, the Climate Companion Card," adding, "in terms of the fiscal structure, on one side Seoul is paying into a government program, and on the other side it is again making up the deficit of its own program." The Climate Companion Card is operated entirely with city funds.