Seoul, Dec 14 (IANS) The government has begun reviewing a system that would allow foreign tourists to use buses and subways in South Korea with overseas-issued credit cards, officials said on Sunday.
The land and transport recently launched a bid to commission a study on introducing an open-loop public transportation payment system, which was to begin this month and run through the end of next year, according to the officials, reports Yonhap news agency.
The study aims to enable foreigners to pay public transportation fares directly with international credit cards. Currently, visitors must purchase and top up transportation cards with cash or buy prepaid cards designed specifically for foreigners, which often causes inconvenience.
Through the study, the ministry plans to estimate the budget required to introduce the new system and determine who should bear the related costs.
The need for improvement has grown as the number of foreign visitors rose 15.2 per cent on-year to 15.82 million during the January-October period.
Major global cities, including New York and London, have already adopted systems that allow passengers to use public transportation with their own credit cards.
“It would be difficult to roll out the system nationwide over a short period so that the government is likely to adopt a phased expansion in consultation with local governments and public transportation operators,” a government official said.
If the study leads to a decision to introduce the system, actual implementation could begin as early as 2027, he added.
Meanwhile, the number of foreigners or ethnic Koreans with foreign citizenship living in South Korea has reached a record high of 2.73 million, with one in three being Chinese, government data showed.
The number of registered foreigners in the country came to 1.56 million as of end-June, with that of Koreans holding foreign citizenship and staying here reaching 552,419, according to immigration data from the Ministry of Justice.
The number of foreigners on short-term stays, including tourists, stood at 620,403, the data showed.
—IANS
na/
