01-07-2025
Man caught using mom's senior transit card, slapped with W18m fine
A man in his 40s has been ordered to pay 18 million won ($13,000) in penalties for illegally using his mother's senior transportation card, authorities said Tuesday.
Seoul Metro said the man surnamed Kim used the card 414 times to commute between Kkachisan Station in western Seoul and Gimpo International Airport Station from March to July last year.
Senior transportation cards are issued to people aged 65 or older and allow free or discounted fares on public transit in major Korean cities.
A metro official at Kkachisan Station discovered Kim's illegal usage through data analysis and issued a fine totaling 18 million won — 30 times the standard fare for the 414 rides.
Under transit regulations, passengers caught evading fares must pay a surcharge amounting to 30 times the base fare. Failure to pay may lead to criminal charges.
Seoul Metro said it would hold fare evaders fully accountable through both civil and criminal actions in order to establish proper subway usage etiquette.
From 2022 to 2024, an average of 56,000 fare evasion cases were recorded annually, with fines exceeding 2.6 billion won during the three-year period.
In the first half of this year alone, about 27,000 cases were reported, resulting in 1.3 billion won in fines, Seoul Metro said.
