The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has decided to establish a public management company dedicated to operating highway service areas and to shift to a model of contracting directly, reorganizing the system so that facilities such as 24-hour convenience stores can be available.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said on the 9th, “The reason service area food prices have been excessively high is the multi-layered structure that runs ‘Korea Expressway Corporation-intermediate operator-tenant business’,” adding, “To break this irrational chain, we will switch the operating system to one in which a professional public management company contracts directly with tenant businesses.”

Currently, service areas operate under a structure in which an intermediate operator selected through Korea Expressway Corporation bidding collects commissions and rent from tenant businesses such as restaurants, cafes, and convenience stores, and pays consideration for operating rights to the corporation. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport believes that because this operator has been taking a high commission averaging 33% of sales from tenant businesses, food quality has declined while prices have risen. It also came to light early this year, through a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport audit, that a subsidiary of ‘Doseonghoe’, an association of Korea Expressway Corporation retirees, received preferential treatment by winning service-area operating rights.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport considers that if a public management company operates service areas instead of private operators, the incentive to take high profits will disappear, so not only can the intermediate commission be reduced to around 8~9%, but involvement by groups such as Doseonghoe can also be blocked.

Because rent and commissions will be reduced, convenience stores that used to close at 10 p.m. can shift to 24-hour operation, and low-priced coffee outlets can also enter, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained. The bidding process related to tenancy will be entrusted to an external review committee, and to support youth entrepreneurship, ‘youth stores’ will be attracted to service areas with heavy foot traffic.

The public management company is scheduled to be established in 2027, and until then, eight locations, including the Hapcheonho Service Area that are newly established this year or where operator contracts end, will be run directly by the Korea Expressway Corporation.

Hong Ji-seon, the Second Vice Minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “While it is difficult to force this policy on privately financed roads, for newly built private roads we will negotiate in the direction of strengthening the public nature of service areas,” adding, “For existing service areas, we will provide guidance and recommendations to improve fees and services.”

However, it remains unclear exactly what form the public management company will take. Lee Jang-won, head of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Road Management Division, said regarding the company’s status and its relationship with the Korea Expressway Corporation, “Nothing has been decided yet,” and that “we are considering a form that can operate independently while aligning with the goal that benefits should return to public convenience rather than the corporation’s profits.”