Korea's highway rest stops, long criticized as "expensive and tasteless," are undergoing a sweeping transformation. Coffee, which currently averages about 4,800 won, will be lowered to under 2,000 won, and convenience stores will offer buy-one-get-one-free promotions and telecom loyalty points.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) announced a "rest stop operation reform plan" on the 9th to address the chronic problems of high food prices and poor service that have plagued highway rest stops.
The core of the reform is dismantling the multi-tiered operating structure. The current structure, which runs from the Korea Expressway Corporation to intermediary operators to tenant businesses, will be changed to a direct contract system between a specialized public management company and tenant businesses. The aim is to eliminate intermediary fees that average 33% and reach as high as 51% of sales, thereby lowering food prices and raising service quality.
Rest stop food prices have risen steadily. As of June last year, the average selling price of the top 10 best-selling food items rose 12.5% from 2021. Pork cutlet recorded the largest increase, rising 25.1% from 8,916 won to 11,218 won, followed by udon (18.1%), Americano (17.6%), bibimbap (16.5%) and gukbap (15.4%). In a 2024 road satisfaction survey, 66.9% of respondents also said that "rest stop food is expensive."
In addition, a structural problem was exposed in which an organization of Korea Expressway Corporation retirees used subsidiaries to monopolize rest stop operations for as long as nearly 40 years, reaping profits.
To resolve these problems, MOLIT plans to establish a specialized public management company in early 2027 and change the operating system to directly contract with tenant businesses. The average rent for tenant businesses will be lowered to about 8-9% of sales, reducing the burden by more than half from the current level. The criteria for selecting tenant businesses will also shift from rent to food taste, service and price competitiveness, and evaluation by external review panels and annual service assessments will be introduced.
Going forward, customers will be able to enjoy benefits at rest stop convenience stores comparable to those of ordinary convenience stores, including 24-hour operation, buy-one-get-one-free promotions and telecom loyalty points. Low-cost coffee brands, which had found it difficult to enter due to high rents, will also move in, allowing customers to enjoy an Americano for under 2,000 won. Specialized restaurant brands and local eateries will be actively recruited, and youth startup stores will be operated at rest stops with high traffic.
The Yeoju, Gunwi, Jangyu and Daecheon rest stops, along with the newly built Hapcheonho and Wolchulsan rest stops, will begin pilot operation from December.
The system of vested interests will also be reformed. Current and former Korea Expressway Corporation employees (within three years of retirement), along with their spouses and immediate family members, will be barred from participating in rest stop bids, and the Doseonghoe, an organization of Korea Expressway Corporation retirees, as well as its subsidiaries, will be excluded from the business. The government also plans to require the sale of the six rest stops currently in operation by September.
"Rest stops should be spaces where people tired from long-distance driving can rest comfortably, but due to unreasonable structures entrenched over decades, they have had to endure the inconvenience of high prices and disappointing service," Land Minister Kim Yun-duk said. "Starting with the eight rest stops opening within this year, we will boldly break down the unreasonable structures and fill their place with nothing but public benefit, returning rest stops to the people."
