SEOUL: Every day, 71-year-old Park Gyung-sun delivers flowers, documents and other packages around Seoul - a job popular among senior citizens who are entitled to ride the city's subways for free. The work, dubbed 'silver delivery' in South Korea, earns Park, a former market stall owner, up to 700,000 won
SEOUL: Every day, 71-year-old Park Gyung-sun delivers flowers, documents and other packages around Seoul - a job popular among senior citizens who are entitled to ride the city's subways for free.
Free rides have been a perk enjoyed nationally by those 65 and older for four decades and are credited with keeping senior citizens active. They have, however, become a thorny political issue as South Korea's population rapidly ages and subway operating costs soar. The dispute is part of broader challenges for Asia's fourth-largest economy where the cost of senior welfare is surging and comes amid debate on raising the retirement age from 60 and how to ensure a sustainable national pension scheme.
Some members of his ruling People Power party have warned that any scaling back of subway perks for the elderly will not help their chances in next year's parliamentary election - one where the party is seeking to retake a majority so Yoon can push forward with his reform agenda.Park Gyung-sun, 71, passes a ticket barrier as he delivers a parcel in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb 8, 2023.
To cope, Seoul unveiled plans in December to hike subway fares for the first time since 2015, by as much as 30 per cent, although free rides for the elderly will remain in place. Park Gyung-sun, 71, checks his mobile phone on the way to a subway station as he delivers a parcel in Seoul, South Korea, on Feb 8, 2023.
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