Seoul’s 30-day unlimited Climate Card (기후동행카드, Gihu Donghaeng Card, “climate-companion card”) stopped working at the end of August 2026. Its replacement, Climate Card Plus, caps a standard adult’s net monthly transit cost at **₩62,000** through refunds, or **₩100,000** on the wide-area option. Foreign residents can join, but only with an ARC and a linked Korean card.
My own commute is 33 minutes each way, so I did the arithmetic on my own rides first. Then I redid it for two other patterns, because the headline price hides the part that matters: you no longer buy a pass, you ride and get money back later.
## What actually stopped working at the end of August?
The old pass was a prepaid 30-day unlimited ticket for ₩62,000, launched in January 2024 and loaded onto a T-money (티머니, Korea’s transit payment card) or a phone. Under the 2026 merger, Seoul’s own release says new charges stopped on July 31, 2026, and remaining balances could be used until **August 29**. Korean search summaries describe the 30-day product as ending effective September 1.
One English-language guide I found gives a different date, October 1, with a last charge on August 31. That conflicts with Seoul’s own release, so I am going with Seoul’s dates and calling it “the end of August.” Today is October 1, so by either reading the old card is already over.
If you still have a card with money on it, I could not confirm in the sources whether a leftover balance can be refunded after August 29. The practical move is to ask the Dasan Call Center (다산콜센터, Seoul’s municipal help line, 120) or the T-money counter before assuming it is gone. I would not bet on it.
I noticed the change the way most commuters do, with a small annoyance. In August I went to check my old card’s balance, read the notice taped inside the station, and spent the rest of the lunch break working out what I would pay from September. The answer that day was 44 rides at ₩1,550, or about ₩68,200 gross, which lands at ₩62,000 once the excess comes back.
## What replaced it, and how is it different?
Climate Card Plus launched on **July 1, 2026**. It merges Seoul’s Climate Card with the national K-Pass (모두의 카드, “everyone’s card”), a refund scheme that has been around since 2024. Here is the structure as Seoul describes it.
| Group | Standard (30 days) | Plus, wide-area (30 days) |
|---|---|---|
| General adult | ₩62,000 | ₩100,000 |
| Youth, senior, two-child family | ₩55,000 | not confirmed |
| Three or more children, low-income | ₩45,000 | not confirmed |
The mechanism has two modes, and this is the part guides skip. If your monthly transit spending stays under the ₩62,000 line, a rate-based refund applies: **20%** back for a general adult, and up to **53.3%** for the most favorable groups. I could not confirm from Seoul’s own release which rate belongs to which group, so check kpass.or.kr for yours. If you spend more than ₩62,000, the flat-rate mode applies instead, so your net cost is ₩62,000 for standard rides.
One condition is easy to miss: the refund mode generally requires at least 15 rides in the month, per press summaries of K-Pass.
The “Plus” option is the ₩100,000 wide-area tier for things like GTX trains and express buses. How the two caps interact when you mix standard and wide-area rides is not spelled out in what I read, so treat my third example below as a model, not a statement from the city.
## What would I pay under three commute patterns?
I used the ₩1,550 subway base fare (adult, card payment) from a transit-card guide. Every figure below is **my estimate**, not an official quote. Real fares rise with distance and with transfers, so your bill will differ.
| Pattern | Gross fares | Refund | Net monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily commuter: 2 trips x 22 workdays = 44 rides | 44 x ₩1,550 = ₩68,200 | ₩6,200 (flat-rate mode brings it down to ₩62,000) | About ₩62,000 |
| Part-timer: 20 rides a month (about 2 days a week) | 20 x ₩1,550 = ₩31,000 | 20% = ₩6,200 | About ₩24,800 |
| Long-distance commuter on Plus: 44 rides at an assumed average of ₩3,000 | 44 x ₩3,000 = ₩132,000 | ₩32,000 (flat-rate mode brings it down to ₩100,000) | About ₩100,000 |
My own pattern is the first row. At ₩68,200 gross I pay the same ₩62,000 the old card cost, so for a daily subway commuter nothing changed in the amount, only in the mechanics. I used to prepay and forget about it. Now I pay fares as I go and wait for the refund.
The second row is where the new system is better than the old one. Under the old card, someone riding only 20 times still paid ₩62,000. Under K-Pass they pay about ₩24,800, so roughly ₩37,000 a month is no longer overpaid. Push it to three days a week and the picture changes: about 26 rides is ₩40,300 gross, a 20% refund of ₩8,060, and a net of about ₩32,200. Still ₩30,000 below the old pass.
One more number for context. A February 2026 report put K-Pass at 4.66 million users, and the January 2026 average refund was about ₩20,000 a month. That average is higher than the ₩6,200 in my first row, so I would guess long-distance and wide-area riders pull the average up, though the sources do not break it down.
## When does the ₩100,000 Plus option beat the ₩62,000 cap?
Only when your fares are wide-area ones that the ₩62,000 line would not cover. A subway-only commute never needs it. Plus is for someone who lives in Gyeonggi or Incheon and rides GTX (the express rail line into Seoul) or red-bus express routes (광역버스, gwangyeok beoseu) every day.
In my table, a 44-ride commute at ₩3,000 average costs ₩132,000 gross, so the Plus cap saves ₩32,000. Where the Plus cap stops mattering is less clear. For a subway-only rider, the ₩62,000 standard cap already limits the bill, and I could not find how a month of mixed standard and wide-area fares is netted. I will not invent a break-even for that case.
So Plus is not a product you pick the way you picked the old pass. Your rides decide it for you, month by month.
## Can a foreign resident register? Check this before you do
Yes, with conditions. Benefit access is limited to Seoul residents, which is different from the old card that anyone could buy at a machine. Registration is in the K-Pass app or on the K-Pass site, and it needs a linked Korean credit or debit card. Seoul’s release lists 21 card issuers, six mobile apps, or a convenience-store prepaid card as the ways to pay.
What I could confirm from the sources is that an Alien Registration Card (ARC, 외국인등록증) and Korean mobile verification are required. What I could not confirm is whether every visa type, F-4 or F-6 for example, is accepted. Check kpass.or.kr before you count on it.
Here is the checklist I would run through:
– **ARC** in hand, with your address registered in Seoul.
– A Korean mobile number that can complete identity verification.
– A Korean credit or debit card from a participating issuer, linked to the card you tap.
– Your rides tapped on that same registered card, because the refund follows the card.
– Patience on timing: my understanding is refunds arrive after the month closes, not on the day you ride. I could not verify the exact payout date, so keep your own bank statement.
## What if you are a tourist or here for a short stay?
You cannot register. The sources say tourists use the short-term passes instead, **₩5,000** for one day and **₩20,000** for seven days, so the monthly refund system is simply not for you. If you ride fewer than about 15 times a month, roughly two days a week, you fall below the refund minimum, so count those fares at ₩1,550 per ride before buying anything.
A friend who moved to Seoul in July asked me which one to get. I said “the unlimited one,” which was true until the end of August. I owe her a correction: for her three-days-a-week schedule, about 26 rides, the new system comes to roughly ₩32,200 a month by my estimate, not ₩62,000.
For me, the lesson is to stop thinking of this as a pass. Open the K-Pass statement after your first full month and compare gross to net. If your net is under ₩62,000, the system is working for you, and if it is not, call the 120 line and ask why.