Dear editor,
The April 13 front-page article, “Elderly foreigners upset by discrimination in free subway use,” called attention to an element of discrimination against foreigners which struck a chord with me.
In the context of my job I am keenly interested in efforts to make life easier for the non-Korean population of Seoul and I am glad to say that in many aspects of daily living and the business environment, great strides have been made over the past few years.
But regarding the issue of free subway passes for non-Koreans of pensionable age seems to be a sticky one for the authorities to resolve.
In fact, until the digitalized turnstiles at the subway stations were introduced, back in the days of paper tickets, it was possible for honorary citizens of Seoul who had reached the age of 65 to benefit from the concession and privilege officially granted to them to ride the subways for free. Simply by showing their honorary citizenship card they could pick up one of the paper pensioners’ tickets at the issuing booth.
With the new plastic cards however, this privilege has been de facto withdrawn.
The ticket issuing machines have been deliberately programmed not to recognize the foreign registration card issued to non-Korean residents, even if the birth date indicates that the holder is over 65.
Initially, before the programming was changed, the machines issued free tickets solely by virtue of the age of the bearer, regardless of nationality. So, given a policy decision to extend the privilege, what technology has done can surely be undone and the machines re-programmed.
The article cited an additional financial burden for the deficit-burdened operators as a reason not to end this discrimination. But according to government statistics there are only some 7,500 permanent foreign residents in Seoul.
Even assuming that as many as 20 percent of these are over 65 ― very unlikely ― we are talking about a financial cost of around 1,500 people being entitled to ride for free. Compared to the 5.6 million passengers transported each day by the excellent subway system of this city, the impact is virtually infinitesimal. In any case, the elderly are the least likely group to commute by subway on a daily basis.
Many of the discriminatory barriers the non-Korean residents face are unintentional but nonetheless institutionalized as a result of the seventh digit of their alien registration number, which indicates that the bearer is a foreigner. Until this issue is addressed by the powers-that-be, the problem is not going to go away.
Alan Timblick
Seoul