Last updated: August 2026
Quick answer: Seoul’s 30-day Climate Card (기후동행카드) is being folded into the national K-pass system on September 1, 2026, relaunching as Climate Card Plus. The current 30-day card stopped accepting new top-ups after July 31, 2026 (any balance loaded by that date stays valid through August 29). If you’re visiting Seoul on a short trip, none of this affects you — the 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-, and 7-day tourist passes stay exactly as they are.
What Is the Climate Card, and Why Is It Changing?
The Climate Card is Seoul’s unlimited-ride transit pass, covering the subway, city buses, and public bike-share (Ttareungyi) within Seoul for a flat monthly fee. It’s aimed at residents and long-stay visitors rather than short-term tourists — the kind of pass someone on a month-long workation or an extended stay would buy instead of topping up a T-money card trip by trip.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s official transit announcement, the city is merging the existing 30-day Climate Card with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s nationwide K-pass program. The combined product launches September 1, 2026, under the name Climate Card Plus.
Does This Affect Tourists Visiting Seoul?
For most inbound travelers, no. The transition only touches the 30-day Climate Card — the long-stay product. Seoul’s short-term tourist passes, sold in 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-, and 7-day versions and designed specifically for visitors, are unaffected and continue to work the same way through the transition and beyond. If your trip is a standard vacation-length visit, the pass you’d normally buy for getting around on the subway, buses, and taxis isn’t part of this change at all.
The travelers who do need to pay attention are anyone on a longer stay — a month-plus workation, a semester of study, or an extended family visit — who was planning to rely on the 30-day card for the September period.
What Should Long-Stay Visitors Know About the Timeline?
The key dates to know:
- Through July 31, 2026: Last day to top up the existing 30-day Climate Card.
- Through August 29, 2026: Any balance loaded by July 31 remains usable.
- September 1, 2026: Climate Card Plus launches, integrating the K-pass framework.
In practice, this means a long-stay visitor already holding a Climate Card doesn’t lose access mid-trip — the current card keeps working through late August — but shouldn’t count on renewing it as a 30-day product past that window. If your stay extends past early September, plan to switch to whatever Climate Card Plus enrollment process the city rolls out at launch rather than trying to reload the old card.
How Is This Different From a Regular T-money Card?
A standard T-money card is pay-as-you-go — you load cash value and it deducts a fare each ride, with transfer discounts between subway and bus. The Climate Card (and its Climate Card Plus successor) is a flat-rate unlimited pass instead: one price covers unlimited rides within Seoul for the full period, which only pencils out if you’re riding often enough, day after day, for it to beat paying per trip. For a short vacation, the day-pass tourist products or a simple T-money top-up are almost always the simpler and cheaper choice — Climate Card Plus is built for people living in Seoul for weeks or months, not for a weekend or a week-long visit.
Quick Summary: Climate Card Plus
- Launches: September 1, 2026
- What’s changing: Seoul’s 30-day Climate Card merges with the national K-pass, relaunching as Climate Card Plus
- Old card top-ups: Stopped July 31, 2026; existing balance usable through August 29, 2026
- Affects tourists? No — the 1/2/3/5/7-day short-term passes are unchanged
- Who should care: Long-stay visitors (workations, extended stays) planning to use a 30-day pass into September
For everything else on navigating the city — including which pass makes sense for a typical trip length — see our full guide to getting around Seoul. Korea’s rail network is going through its own consolidation this year too: see our coverage of the KTX-SRT merger if intercity trains are part of your itinerary, and our Seoul travel guide for full trip planning.