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few days ago, on Chuseok, on my way back to my hometown, I stopped by a rest stop, and many of you must have felt that the price of food was a bit high.

The government started an inspection of the Korea Expressway Corporation, which manages the rest areas.



Reporter Jo Ki-ho covered what it was about. 



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is the Gongju Rest Area on the Yeongdeok Expressway in Dangjin.



A bowl of ramen is 3,500 won, and Korean and Western dishes are priced between 8,500 won and 10,000 won.



What do people think about food at rest stops?



[Park Geun-soo / Expressway rest area user: It is a little more expensive than before the price went up, and now it is all up.

Compared to (commercial food), it's a bit sloppy, but for the price...

.]



[Jang Hyeon-jun / Expressway Service Area User: I refrain from using it because I think the taste is good and the price is a little high.] The



price and taste are not satisfactory.



So, before Chuseok, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport proposed to the Korea Expressway Corporation to lower the rent for highway rest areas by 10%.



However, the road construction company did not respond.



For the past three years, the Road Corporation has earned an average of 130 billion won in rental income from service stations, but in a situation where they lose 100 billion won a year due to holiday toll exemptions, he said that operating profit would be worse if the food prices at the rest areas were also reduced.



He also said that financial-related points were increased in the management evaluation of public corporations, but if the deficit widened, they would be at a disadvantage.



The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which was rejected by the proposal, conducted an inspection at the head office of the Road Corporation.



Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong explained the background of the inspection, saying, "The issue of lowering food prices at rest stops is one of the reform measures of the Road Corporation, and if the corporation leaks this to the media, it is resisting government reform."



It is known that the inspection target also includes Kim Jin-sook, president of the Road Corporation, who was appointed during the Moon Jae-in administration.



The Road Corporation said, "We will faithfully engage in inspections and come up with an overall improvement plan with a will to innovate."



(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, Video editing: Kim Kyung-yeon, CG: Lee Jong-jeong)