urbanism

The fare is free for those older than 65, and so some retired people spend their days riding the trains to the end of the line.

[...]

Older adults who ride free of charge make up about 15 percent of Seoul’s annual ridership, according to data from the subway’s two main operators. The riders have become such an established part of the city’s fabric that they have a nickname — “Jigong Geosa,” derived from the phrase “free subway” — and the lines and stations frequented by them are well known.

[...]

Cha Heung-bong, now 80, a former minister of health and welfare who proposed the free-fare policy around 1980, said many older South Koreans live on limited incomes because the national pension system wasn’t instituted until the late 1980s. About four in 10 South Koreans over 65 live in poverty, double the rate in Japan or the United States, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

[...]

The seemingly trifling savings of 1,500 won per ride, about $1.15, is significant for their generation, and most would ride the subways far less if it weren’t free, they said.

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