September 15, 2002

Express Rail Tunnel Controversy

A rail tunnel for the Seoul-Busan express line is designed to go under several apartment buildings, raising questions regarding safety and noise pollution. Korea Express Railroad Building Public Corporation is scheduled to report to the house owners after appraising the compensation, but tenants are about to protest and link with a citizen's group.

Korea Express Railroad Building Public Corporation submitted the inspection data, authorized by the state, to the construction traffic committee. It shows that many buildings are in clear danger.

The Korea Express Railroad Building Public Corporation insists on continuing with their plans for several reasons. First, they have already finished the survey for the railway line and appraised the compensation. Second, this railway line is the most economically viable. Third, the tunnel will be built beneath a solid foundation, a minimum of 40 metres underground.

Although the Korea Express Railroad Building Public Corporation states that safety problems are not an issue, one professor, Lee Soo Kon, pointed out that if the buildings vibrate, their structures could crack.

The apartment residents and the citizen's counterplan committee are strongly objecting to the plan. The citizen's counterplan committee wants to poll the public, investigate alternative plans, and re-evaluate the effect on the environment.

Busan Busses to keep their lights on

In accordance with a new policy, all urban buses must be driven with their headlights on. This policy will be in effect from September 9th to the 30th, at which time its effectiveness in preventing accidents will be evaluated. If the new policy is effective, it will be implemented permanently.

In Switzerland, Norway, and Canada DRLs (Day Running Lights) have proven effective in preventing accidents. America and Japan have also implemented similar policies recently.

Landlords prefer monthly rent

During this fall moving season, there are few houses that will rent on a deposit basis. This system of putting a large deposit down and paying no monthly rent (known as 'key money' or chonsae in Korean) has been very common in the past. These days, however, there are very few houses leased on a deposit basis in Busan.

According to a realtor, there is an increase in the number of people who want to lease a house or a room on a deposit basis, but almost all landlords prefer monthly rent, so they have changed their leases to monthly rent. This change is a result of apartments being in short supply and, therefore, increasing in value. These changes are occurring in the greater part of Busan city, and are expected to continue into next year.

Express Rail Fares still being determined

The fare for the high-speed railroad line between Busan and Seoul will be one and half times more expensive than the Seamaeul train, about 50,000won. The rapid transit railway will open in April, 2004.

The Department of Construction and Transportation researched the proposed fares based on price analysis and passenger preference; as a result, they concluded that a reasonable fare is fifty thousand won. This fare is 73 percent of the airfare between Busan and Seoul.

A railway researcher suggested that rapid transit fares should be lowered for long distance travel. If the Korea National Railroad introduces a discount system, transportation demands and profits will improve, so it will need many kinds of discounts.

The Korea National Railroad is going to make a master plan of the fares and will publish it soon.

Icons retire Song JeongGuk's Number '24'

The Busan Icon soccer team has announced that it will retire the number '24' in honor of Song Jeong Guk. Song, who was part of Korea's surprisingly successful 2002 World Cup Team, will be leaving the Icons now that he has signed a contract with Netherlands Team, Feyernoord. Song thanked the team for the honor and told reporters that 24 is his lucky number. The team also announced that Song's former room in the team dormitory will be renamed 'The Room of Song'. There are plans to decorate it with photos and other memorabilia from Song's time with the Icons.

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