Jeonjangyeon Subway Delay Protest... Line 4 Samgakji Station Passed Without Stopping

Members of the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities continued their subway boarding protest on the 5th at Samgak Station on Subway Line 4 in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, urging the expansion of the budget for disability rights. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Jeonjangyeon) has been holding consecutive morning rush hour demonstrations, and Seoul Metro took the unprecedented step of allowing a subway train to pass without stopping.

On the 14th, Seoul Metro announced that at around 8:49 a.m., a subway bound for Danggogae Station on Line 4 passed through Samgakji Station without stopping. Normal subway operations resumed from 8:56 a.m. onwards.

Seoul Metro had announced on the 12th that it might implement no-stop passes depending on the situation during Jeonjangyeon's planned subway delay protests from the 13th to the 15th. Although Jeonjangyeon's subway delay protest took place at Samgakji Station the previous day, Seoul Metro judged the disruption was not severe enough to warrant no-stop passes.

To minimize inconvenience to subway passengers caused by no-stop passes and other measures, Seoul Metro is operating substitute shuttle buses between Sinyongsan Station and Sookdaeipgu Station on Line 4. Additionally, the no-stop pass measures are announced through onboard subway announcements and the Seoul Metro 'Ttota Subway' application.

Since December last year, Jeonjangyeon has been staging morning subway delay protests demanding the inclusion of disability rights budgets in next year's budget. Park Kyung-seok, Jeonjangyeon's executive representative, stated, "If our demands are not reflected in next year's budget, we will hold the 48th morning subway ride protest again on January 2nd next year."