The government has decided not to merge two national rail service companies for the time being.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Tuesday announced the decision by a governance committee tasked with assessing the competitiveness of the state-funded railway firms Korea Railroad Corporation(KORAIL) and its spinoff, SR Corporation(SR).

Comprising labor and management representatives of the two firms, rail experts and consumer representatives, the land ministry’s committee had discussed what to do with the two-way competition between KORAIL and SR over the past 21 months.

The ministry said that the committee decided to defer its conclusion on the possible merger, and submitted its decision to the government.

Some of the committee members argued for the maintenance of the current system, citing the public benefits as a result of the competition, while others called for a merger to raise efficiency in management, the ministry explained.

The committee said it was postponing its determination given that the current system has been in place for only three years from 2017 to 2019 due to an emergency system activated during the current pandemic, rendering any cost-benefit analysis insufficient.