Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Yoo Il-ho.

MOLIT Minister Yoo delivers his commemorative speech at a ceremony to celebrate the 116th anniversary of Railway Day on Sept. 18.(Photos:MOLIT)

Minister Yoo Il-ho of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport called for both the private and the public sectors to join forces in turning to the global market, based on the railway technology and construction knowhow the nation has accumulated. 

MOLIT Minister Yoo made the remark in his commemorative speech at a ceremony to mark the 116th anniversary of Railway Day. Railway Day falls on Sept. 18 every year in celebration of the opening of Korea’s first railway section between Noryangjin, Seoul and Jaemulpo, Incheon on that day of 1899. Among those on hand at the anniversary event held at the Railway Twin Tower in Daejeon were Minister Yoo, Chairman Choi Yeon-hye of the Korean Railway Association, and Korea Railway Network (KR) Chairman & CEO Kang Yeong-il. 

“We reached a watershed in Korean railway history by opening the Honam High-speed Line, designed and constructed with homegrown technology in April and surpassing the 500 million mark in the number of cumulative KTX passengers since the KTX’s historic debut in 2004,” Yoo said. He extended thanks to 100,000 railway workers and related people. He urged them to redouble efforts to improve railway services. The minister added that the government plans to be more active in protecting the rights of railway users by opening a civic team of evaluating railway services. 

Second, Minister Yoo said all stakeholders, including the government, public entities, private firms, and railway operators should join forces so that the Korean railway sector can make its way into the global market through a fierce competition. He said the government will provide support by inaugurating a department in charge of exploring foreign markets and operating a team designed to support Korea’s winning overseas railway projects. 

Lastly, Minister Yoo stressed the significance of railway safety, and he called for active support to back up the government’s bid to spread awareness toward the safety of railway. “The government will expand investments into such facilities related to safety as screen doors in order to upgrade the nation’s railway safety to standards of advanced countries,” he said. 

During the anniversary event, 160 people were presented with orders and prizes in recognition of their contributions to the development of the railway industry. 

The Order of Industrial Service Merit went to Kim In-ho, the chief of the Personnel and Labor Affairs’ Office at Korea Railway Corp. for his contribution to correcting lax management practices. He was credited with striking deals to improve 17 lax management tasks and spearheading efforts to normalize the corporation’s lax management. Park In-suh, a division chief of KR, and Chung Il-bong, a division chief of Seoul Metro, were presented with the Industrial Service Medal. Park was praised for establishing a mid- and long-term road map for improving depilated facilities, while Chung was credited with the establishing and implementing a plan on the Suseo-Ogeum extension of Subway Line No. 3.