The Korea Expressway Corporation plans to sell six directly operated rest areas managed by a subsidiary related to retired employees, but the sale has been delayed due to slow amendments to the corporate charter and approval processes. There are also calls to revise the bidding criteria to allow participation from youth and small businesses.
On October 8, Rep. Heo Young of the Democratic Party criticized the Korea Expressway Corporation during a National Assembly audit, questioning why the sale of the six rest areas had not proceeded as planned. He pointed out that the corporation had promised to announce the sale by the end of September.
Heo asked, "Why is the approval process for the charter amendments taking so long?" The corporation responded that while procedures related to retiree matters are ongoing, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's work on the charter amendments is delayed, and they will expedite the process as much as possible.
The selection criteria for rest area operators also came under scrutiny. Heo noted that while the government stated it would choose companies based on taste, service, and reasonable pricing rather than high rental bids, the preliminary specifications from the corporation required a minimum annual revenue of 3 billion won for the past two consecutive years.
Heo argued, "With such criteria, how can any company or youth business participate?" He suggested that the evaluation standards should be revised to allow for the inclusion of youth and small businesses.
Yoo Jeong-hoon, president of the Korea Expressway Corporation, acknowledged the importance of the concerns raised but clarified that the criteria are not finalized. He added that he understood the request to establish evaluation standards that would enable youth businesses to participate.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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