Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Campaign pledges on transport
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By Jun Ji-hye
Nam Kyung-pil
Gyeonggi governor candidates compete to make rosy promises
By Jun Ji-hye
Potential candidates for the Gyeonggi Province gubernatorial election are unveiling rosy campaign pledges to improve public transportation in a bid to drum up public support for the June 4 local polls.
For nine hopefuls from the ruling and opposition parties, the traffic issues of the province are among the most appealing to attract the interest of voters who have to spend more than an hour in commuting to work in Seoul.
“About 60 percent of the total of 9.6 million in the economically active population has a hard time commuting to Seoul,” said Kim Sang-kon, former superintendent of the Gyeonggi Province, who is running as a candidate of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD). “A new governor should come up with effective solutions to resolve this.”
The central issue among the candidates, who are mostly focusing on increasing public transportation linking Seoul and the province, is whether to complete the Great Train Express (GTX).
They are bearing in mind that a promise to build three lines of the GTX with an average speed of 100 kilometers per hour considerably helped the re-election of sitting Governor Kim Moon-soo in 2010.
The governor at the time pledged to begin construction from 2012 and complete it by 2016. But the construction, which is expected to cost about a total of 11 trillion won ($10 billion), has yet to begin.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently decided to push for building one line, dubbed the “A Line,” linking Ilsan of the province and Samseong in southern Seoul, at a cost of about 4 trillion won.
The decision was made as the Korea Development Institute (KDI) assessed that the A Line has economic feasibility, while the remaining two (the B and C Lines) lack profitability.
But critics raised concerns over the A Line project.
“The line would annually require 260 billion won in interest and operating expenses,” said the KS Economic Research Institute in its report, indicating that the GTX’s business prospects are not as bright as promised by the local-election candidates.
However, most hopefuls from the ruling Saenuri Party, including frontrunner Rep. Nam Kyung-pil, expressed their will to follow the governor’s plan.
Former Saenuri lawmaker Kim Young-sun even promised to increase the number of the GTX lines.
Opposition candidates are no exception.
NPAD’s Kim Sang-kon recently said: “I will spare no efforts to begin GTX construction at the earliest possible date.”
Critics say such moves came as the candidates are well aware that a good traffic policy can embrace men and women of all ages because traffic convenience impacts a variety of social areas, including housing prices.
Mindful of that, hopefuls are competitively pouring out their own policies as well.
Kim Sang-kon said, if elected, he will set up a public-managed bus enterprise to provide 300 public buses and 50 double-decker buses. Through this, he wants to establish a “free bus system.”
Governing camp’s Nam attacked that, saying such a plan could prompt resistance from taxi drivers.
“Free bus plans seem to lack reality. It would be less effective, although it will cost an enormous amount,” said Rep. Nam.
The five-term lawmaker instead said he will increase the number of buses linking the capital and the province regardless of their profitability.
Rep. Won Yoo-chul, also from the ruling party, promised to increase the number of “red buses” operated from the province to Seoul with fewer stops, while Kim Young-sun said she will build another expressway linking the capital and the northeastern part of the province.