At 8:15 a.m. on the 24th, activists from the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (Jeon Jang Yeon) boarded an inbound train at Yeongdeungpo Station on Seoul Subway Line 1. Train operations were delayed by about 10 to 20 minutes until boarding wrapped up around 8:33 a.m. It was reported that 1,000 passengers were on the train at the time.
It is estimated that more than 20,000 passengers suffered from trains passing through without stopping due to Jeon Jang Yeon's rallies and protests on the Seoul subway in November this year. As the protests enter a fourth year, calls are growing to change the approach.
According to Seoul Metro on the 24th, Jeon Jang Yeon held rallies and publicity campaigns inside subway stations, platforms, and trains on 214 out of 323 days from the start of the year through November. That amounts to protests roughly two days out of every three.
The "commute-time subway publicity campaign" is in its third year and has been held more than 210 times this year alone. "Poche tuji (匍體投地; crawling five-point prostration)" and "die-in (lying down as if dead as a publicity action)" were held 130 and 6 times, respectively.
The most contentious is the "We ride the subway" action. Activists affiliated with Jeon Jang Yeon and wheelchair users attempt to board and alight from trains. It has been announced 29 times this year; while some ended in standoffs with Seoul Metro employees or police, many also caused disruptions to subway operations.
In particular, since the start of this month, as Jeon Jang Yeon has stepped up its activities, there have been frequent instances of morning rush-hour trains passing through stations without stopping. Adding up the times when trains did not stop at major stations such as Seoul Station on Line 1; Gireum, Dongdaemun, Hyehwa, and Hansung Univ. stations on Line 4; and Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5, the total comes to about 280 minutes.
At Gwanghwamun Station, trains passed through without stopping for nearly 30 minutes from 8:44 a.m. to 9:11 a.m. on the 18th. The station's average number of boardings and alightings during that time is close to 3,140 per 30 minutes. That means many passengers were inconvenienced.
Calculated in this way, about 21,600 passengers are estimated to have been affected by pass-throughs without stopping this month. At Seoul Station on the 4th, an estimated 10,930 people were affected by 56 minutes of pass-throughs without stopping in the morning. On the morning of the 18th at Dongdaemun Station, 2,330 people, and on the morning of the 12th at Hyehwa Station, 2,050 people, also appear to have been inconvenienced by nonstopping pass-throughs.
As in the Yeongdeungpo Station case that day, if delays caused by the protest method of boarding subways and trains are also counted, the number of passengers who actually suffered is likely higher.
Jeon Jang Yeon began subway protests in Dec. 2021, demanding guarantees of mobility rights for people with disabilities. It is also raising issues with "deinstitutionalization of people with disabilities," saying it leads to indiscriminate facility closures and forced independence, and recently has called for ensuring disability rights budgets for the 2026 academic year.
However, public opinion is largely negative about methods that directly affect subway operations. On a notice posted by Jeon Jang Yeon on the 4th for the "We ride the subway at rush hour" schedule, comments included, "Why are you holding innocent citizens hostage to get what you want," "It's my first day at work and I'm going to be late because of you," and "My workplace is at Hyehwa Station and I've been late every time for four years when there's a protest."
At the protest held by Jeon Jang Yeon on the 18th, citizens also vented frustration. They said, "We have to be at work at 9 too. Do you know how annoying it is to have to write a statement if we're late at 9?" and "Since when has this been going on? I really can't stand it."
A person surnamed Park, an office worker who uses Line 4 and is in their 40s, said, "(Jeon Jang Yeon) also holds protests without prior notice, and there have been countless awkward situations," adding, "They need public support to gain momentum, but I doubt the current approach is effective."