[Subway Crime] ① Surging Subway Crimes... Even When Subway Corporation Employees Catch Perpetrators Red-Handed, They Are Powerless

Sexual Harassment, Illegal Filming, and Cell Phone Theft Crimes Occur Consecutively
Seoul Subway Crimes Exceed 3,000 Cases Last Year

Photo inside Seoul Subway Line 2 on the afternoon of the 17th Photo by Taewon Choi skking@

#. On the 8th, a man illegally filmed under a woman's skirt at Daebang Station in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, and fled. The police are pursuing him but have not yet caught the suspect. It is reported that the police have not been able to identify this man.

#. Mr. B, a man in his 40s, was caught by the police for stealing mobile phones from people who fell asleep drunk on the Seoul subway since January this year. During the hours when intoxicated passengers use the subway, it is relatively less crowded, and the likelihood of being caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV) is low, so he boldly committed crimes in the public space of the subway.

Various crimes such as illegal filming, sexual harassment, and theft are rapidly increasing on the subway, which is the lifeline for citizens. Crimes on the Seoul subway exceeded 3,000 cases last year, significantly higher than the 2,600 to 2,700 cases annually before COVID-19. Experts point out that as subway crimes have been on the rise recently after COVID-19, various efforts are needed to alleviate citizens' anxiety.

Subway users unanimously say, "Rush hours and late-night hours are no longer safe zones." At around 10:40 p.m. on the 19th, Ms. Kim Se-eun (35), who took Line 1 at City Hall Station, said, "I felt threatened when I saw a man drunk shouting and repeatedly raising his phone upward."

Passengers do not feel safe even during daytime hours. At around 5 p.m. on the 17th, Sindang Station on Lines 2 and 6 of the Seoul subway was crowded with students participating in the 2023 Yonsei-Korea University joint cheering event. When the subway arrived, some female students covered their legs and other body parts with cardigans and frequently looked around cautiously. They also tightly gripped their phones and wore their bags facing forward.

Yonsei University student Mr. Kim (21) questioned, "If someone commits sexual harassment in a densely packed crowd and then blends into the crowd to get off, isn't it impossible to catch them?"

There have also been frequent cases of passengers losing wallets or phones on the subway and not finding them. Mr. Kim Jin-ho (45) lamented, "I lost my phone on Line 1 of the subway but couldn't find it. I think someone picked it up, but since there is no CCTV inside the train car, I couldn't verify it." In January, there was also an incident where Mr. Kim (68) stole a newlywed couple's congratulatory money bag on the subway and fled.

Citizens are concerned that due to the low installation rate of CCTV, even if they leave their phones on the train or suffer from illegal filming, it will be difficult to recover damages. Especially on Line 1, many old trains lack CCTV, which is known to result in a disproportionately high number of crimes, both major and minor.

On the afternoon of the 17th, inside Seoul Subway Line 6 Photo by Taewon Choi skking@

The police and Seoul Metro, who respond to crimes inside the subway, explain that it is very difficult to catch and punish offenders.

A police official said, "There must be sufficient CCTV inside the train cars to track fleeing suspects," but added, "Each CCTV has blind spots, so connecting all of them to identify someone is not easy." He further explained, "It is difficult to identify someone based only on memories of clothing and facial features." There was even a theft case where the Seoul Subway Police Unit caught the suspect only after about a month of undercover night surveillance.

Even if Seoul Metro catches a suspect in the act, there is no legal basis to detain them until the police arrive. A Metro official said, "We can only verbally ask them to wait for the police or physically block their escape routes if they try to flee."

Currently, the Metro's principle is to respond to crimes by calling 112 and dispatching police to the scene when a crime is reported inside the subway. They request police investigations within the scope of legal authority to respond to crimes. Another Metro official stated, "Without photos of suspects, witnesses, or victim testimonies, we avoid evidence verification actions against suspects and respond to subway crimes by requesting police investigations within legal limits."