ExclusiveIncheon's new bridge set to toll foreign residents only

Final construction work is underway on a bridge linking Yeongjong Island, home to Incheon International Airport, with Cheongna International City, Nov. 3. Yonhap

Set to open in January, a bridge in Incheon promises to be a stunning and practical link connecting Incheon International Airport — Korea’s main international gateway — with the sprawling business hub of Cheongna International City in Incheon.

Spanning 4.68 kilometers and featuring the world’s tallest offshore observation deck, the six-lane crossing is hailed as a major boost to the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), which encompasses Cheongna and Yeongjong, as well as Songdo International Business District.

Yet, as the final cables are being laid, the bridge is attracting more than just praise. Its toll exemption policy, which critics say discriminates against non-Koreans by linking free passage to the nation’s Resident Registration Act, has turned this vital piece of infrastructure into a flash point over fairness and inclusion at the very entrance to Korea.

Upon its opening, vehicles owned by residents whose addresses are listed under the Resident Registration Act in the Incheon areas of Yeongjong Island, Cheongna and islands of Bukdo Township will be eligible for unlimited toll exemptions ranging from 2,000 won ($1.36) for passenger cars to 4,400 won for large vehicles.

Beginning in April, the exemption will be expanded to all Incheon residents.

Foreign residents, however, are excluded from the toll exemption applications that began this month, even if they live at the same addresses as Korean nationals, because the city ordinance defines eligibility based on addresses listed under the Resident Registration Act.

That law, which local governments use to track population movements and plan welfare and administrative services, explicitly excludes foreigners under Article 6. Instead, the registration of foreign residents, including records of their addresses in Korea, is handled separately under the Immigration Act.

Workers carry out final construction work on a bridge to link Yeongjong Island, home to Incheon International Airport, with Cheongna International City, Nov. 3. Yonhap

For a foreign resident driving a passenger car and making a round trip 20 days a month, tolls would total 80,000 won. Given that there are 4,239 foreign residents living in Cheongna-dong, Yeongjong Island and the islands that compose Bukdo-myeon as of November, that amounts to about 339 million won in monthly toll payments. With the exemption set to expand to all Incheon residents from April, the figure would rise to roughly 7.5 billion won for 94,595 foreign residents, excluding those with dual nationality and their children.

“The key problem isn’t just paying more, but being excluded from the infrastructure that enables the lower price,” a long-time foreign resident of the IFEZ told The Korea Times on condition of anonymity.

He added that the policy overgeneralizes and ignores foreign residents’ contributions to the city.

“The system often fails to distinguish between short-term tourists and long-term resident taxpayers,” he said.

Experts say policies based on resident registration addresses reflect a lack of multicultural sensitivity and leave room for discrimination against foreign residents.

“If people live in toll-exempt areas, pay their taxes and are still denied the benefit, that is discrimination, not a reasonable distinction,” said Kim Jong-chul, an attorney at law firm Appeal.

Choi Jung-kyu, a lawyer who chairs a committee on diversity communication and mediation at the Gyeonggi Institute of Research and Policy Development for Migrants’ Human Rights, said a registered place of stay for foreign residents is effectively equivalent to a resident registration address and does not justify excluding them from local resident benefits.

“Such policies were not intended to exclude foreign residents, but local governments rely on resident registration addresses for administrative convenience,” Choi said.

He noted that although Korea presents itself as a multicultural society, its legal framework has long been designed around local citizens, leaving foreign residents on the margins. He said that while the legacy may persist in existing laws, local ordinances should be drafted with greater care to avoid unjustly excluding migrants.

Final construction work is underway on the 184-meter-high offshore observation deck of a bridge linking Yeongjong Island, home to Incheon International Airport, with Cheongna International City, Nov. 3. Yonhap

When asked why the ordinance ties eligibility to addresses under the Resident Registration Act, city officials told The Korea Times that it reflects a long-standing practice and the challenges of tracking foreign residents who move in and out of the city.

“The term ‘address’ itself presupposes resident registration,” the Incheon Metropolitan Council’s Construction and Transportation Committee said, calling it the basic standard for determining eligibility for benefits.

The committee added that there are currently no plans to revise the ordinance.

Incheon Metropolitan City said the ordinance’s wording reflects language carried over from earlier regulations.

Indeed, a city ordinance on toll support for the Airport Expressway and Incheon Bridge was amended in 2014 to limit eligibility to those with resident registration, meaning only Korean nationals.

A city official said that while the system can track when foreign residents move in, their departures are not automatically recorded.

“With toll exemptions set to expand to all Incheon residents early next year, verifying when foreign residents leave the city remains extremely difficult,” he said.

IFEZ echoed the same concern, saying the system used to track foreign residents is owned by the central government rather than the city.

In an email to The Korea Times, the Ministry of Justice said local governments can access the system and check such information in real time.

But a ministry official added that, in practice, local officials may still face difficulties tracking when foreign residents move out.

“The resident registration system used by local governments is entirely separate from the foreigner registration system run by the ministry,” he said. “While foreign residents’ move-ins are relatively easy to identify, their move-outs are not readily visible, making them harder for local officials to track.”

Choi, the attorney, said his committee frequently reviews similar cases and considers them discriminatory.

Last year, the committee reviewed a complaint over a transportation subsidy program in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, that limited eligibility to those aged 7 to 18 with resident registration, effectively excluding young foreign residents.

Siheung City said it initially sought to include foreign residents, but unlike Korean nationals, their departures must be verified manually each month, creating an administrative burden.

Choi said diversity impact assessments, as used in the United Kingdom, are needed in policymaking to prevent discrimination against migrants and other minorities.

In the U.K., the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public authorities to consider equality impacts in their decision-making.

“When a policy is drafted, its budget is set, and once an ordinance is enacted, revisions are difficult,” Choi said. “If exclusion is not addressed from the outset, bringing people back into a policy later becomes extremely complicated.”