KOREAN TECHNOLOGY IN COLOMBIA

[Anchor Lead]

Korea's information communications technology is creating drastic changes in the Colombian capital of Bogota, by reducing transportation costs for residents living high in the mountains. A free transfer system has been established connecting cable cars and city buses thanks to Korean technology, drawing rave responses from local residents.

[Pkg]

Here in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, a large number of houses are spread out just below the mountains. In the sky, cable cars continuously move about. This area has a population of around 700-thousand people. Some 160 cable cars climb to as high as 3,000 meters above sea level, transporting 36-hundred people every hour. They were constructed late last year. Before, it took locals an hour to travel the mountain roads, but now thanks to the gondolas, the time has been cut to just 13 minutes. What's even better is the free transfer system between the cable cars and downtown buses. For the residents, this saves a lot in transportation expenses which accounted for 10% of their living costs.

[Soundbite] (CABLE CAR PASSENGER) : "They save us money and time. Before, we only had the bus to travel home."

The free transfer system was the work of a Korean company that has been in charge of the bus transfer system in Bogota.

[Soundbite] PARK JAE-JUNG(LG CNS) : "Security is not the best in this area so we had to conduct our work mainly during the day."

The city of Bogota plans to increase the number of cable cars as part of its urban regeneration plan, brightening prospects for expanded Korean exports of its public transportation transfer system.