Seoul's monthly transit pass users angered by service suspension

A notice at Seoul Station announces that the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Climate Card will be discontinued at the end of this month for prepaid cards and at the end of next month for postpaid cards, July 5. Yonhap

Commuters are growing frustrated as Seoul prepares to end its flagship Climate Card service next month before its replacement, Climate Card Plus, is fully integrated with the Modu Card system, raising concerns over a bumpy transition.

The disruption stems from Seoul's plan to replace the Climate Card with Climate Card Plus, a successor designed to integrate with the transport ministry's K-Pass, which offers similar public transit discounts. However, delays in coordinating the integration between the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have postponed the transition, leaving commuters facing uncertainty until the new system is ready.

Introduced in 2024, the Climate Card, available in both prepaid and postpaid versions, allows users unlimited rides on Seoul's buses and subway for 62,000 won ($41.82) a month. The pass also offers discounted fares to certain groups, including an 11 percent discount for young adults aged 19 to 39, reducing the monthly cost to 55,000 won, and a higher discount that lowers the fare to 45,000 won for low-income residents and families with two or more children.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on June 17 that it would phase out the Climate Card and introduce Climate Card Plus, a successor that can be used nationwide. Also priced at 62,000 won a month, the new pass will offer fare discounts of 20 to 53 percent through monthly cashback based on users' transit spending. It will also expand coverage to intercity buses, regional rail services such as the GTX and Shinbundang Line, and subway systems in other metropolitan cities.

A Seoul Metro passenger taps a Climate Card at a fare gate at City Hall Station in Seoul, Jan. 29, 2024. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

The announcement, however, was quickly disputed. Just hours after Seoul's announcement, the transport ministry issued a statement saying that the integration of Climate Card Plus with K-Pass had not yet been finalized. The ministry said the proposal remained under review by its Metropolitan Transport Commission (MTC) after the city government submitted a request on June 5. It added that a decision on whether to approve the integration would be based on system verification, budget considerations and the expected convenience for users.

“It is regrettable that the Seoul city government unilaterally distributed a press release without a thorough review despite the need to take into consideration various factors, including budget and system verification,” the ministry had said in the statement.

As of Monday, the anticipated launch of Climate Card Plus is still on hold with no definite timeline. The city government said the new card is ready for launch and now only awaiting the ministry’s approval.

“With approval from the ministry, Climate Card Plus could be launched as early as this month,” said Koo Min-soo, head of the city government’s Climate Card management bureau.

“We recognized the need to integrate the Climate Card and K-Pass because having two similar systems was confusing the public over which one to use. That is why we came up with Climate Card Plus to streamline the two programs. However, the ministry is now complaining about our Climate Card Plus announcement without first obtaining its approval. We are currently discussing the matter with the MTC and trying to launch Climate Card Plus as soon as possible.”

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attends a press conference at Seoul City Hall on the city's GO Seoul project, which offers new public transit services for Climate Card holders, including river transportation on the Han River and shared bicycles, Feb. 24, 2025. Korea Times photo by Ha Sang-yun

Cheon Jae-min, chief of the MTC’s metropolitan transport economy division, explained that the ministry has yet to approve the launch of the new pass as it continues to conduct systematic verification required for the integration of Climate Card Plus into K-Pass, which he noted would take some time. He also confirmed the upcoming card’s launch was "arbitrarily" announced by the Seoul city government without prior consultation with the ministry.

“Aside from Seoul’s Climate Card Plus, we are also handling similar requests from cities of Incheon, Gwangju, Ulsan, Busan, Sejong and provinces of Gyeonggi and South Gyeongsang, which all want their local public transit pass systems to be integrated into K-Pass. We are now verifying systems for all of them before approving their launch,” he said.

With the suspension of the Climate Card next month and the launch of its successor now on indefinite hold, existing users are left in limbo. They must either give up the card’s benefits and pay regular fares or apply for K-Pass, which offers fare discounts nationwide. Even switching to K-Pass may prove inconvenient, as the registration process requires time and effort, including waiting for the physical card to be delivered.

K-Pass is also less advantageous than the Climate Card in some respects. Its young adult discount applies only to those aged 19 to 34, meaning users aged 35 to 39 would lose access to a benefit they previously received under the Climate Card. While the Climate Card also offered separate discounted fares for teenagers aged 13 to 18, K-Pass does not provide a comparable benefit.

Short-term foreign visitors to Korea could also use Climate Card’s daily passes, available for one, two, three, five or seven days. K-Pass, however, is unavailable to them because registration requires identity verification using locally issued identification.