"Increase Safety Personnel" 1st Anniversary Candlelight Vigil for Sindang Station Stalking Murder

Memorial Culture Festival Draws Over 100 People
"Promised Safe Workplaces but Cuts Staff"
"Demand Establishment of Gender Violence Response System"

On the 14th, marking the first anniversary of the 'Sindang Station Stalking Murder Case' in which a female coworker was stalked and killed at Sindang Station, the Seoul Metro Workers' Union and the Public Transport Workers' Union held a memorial cultural event in front of Sindang Station on Seoul Subway Lines 2 and 6.

At the memorial held at 7 p.m. that day, the two unions urged the government to come up with measures to ensure that female workers can work safely. Over 100 participants raised their voices, saying that although Seoul City, Seoul Metro, and the National Assembly have each proposed measures to protect female workers' safety since the Sindang Station stalking murder case, nothing has changed after one year.

On the 14th, a memorial cultural event for the 1st anniversary of the Sindang Station murder case was held near Exit 10 of Sindang Station.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

More than 100 participants shouted slogans such as "Establish a gender violence response system that threatens workers' safety," and "Solo work still exists, hire safety personnel instead of emergency bells." They also held placards that read, "The death that neither the state nor the company could prevent?we remember and rage."

Myung Soon-pil, chairman of the Seoul Metro Workers' Union, stated, "The Sindang Station tragedy was an industrial accident where a worker died at the workplace, and it was a case where a female worker died due to sexual violence." He added, "At the time, Seoul City, the corporation, and the National Assembly each proposed measures, but looking back, they were all lies." He continued, "Those who promised to create a safe subway and a safe workplace are cutting staff and regressing on measures."

Kim Young-ae, vice chairperson of the Public Transport Workers' Union, raised her voice, saying, "A world where workers are safe, a world where no one dies anymore?this is not just a matter of women or men, but the wish of all citizens in Korean society and workers."

At the 'Workplaces That Save Women' forum held earlier that morning by the Seoul Metro Workers' Union together with the civic group Workplace Bullying 119 and the National Assembly, it was pointed out that laws and systems have not changed since the incident. According to Workplace Bullying 119, an analysis of 595 reports of workplace sexual violence from March 2020 to May this year showed that among 190 cases reported by victims, 103 cases (54.2%) saw no action taken by the company. There were 111 cases (58.4%) where victims experienced disadvantages such as exclusion from work after reporting.

In the 'Sindang Station Tragedy 1st Anniversary Safety Diagnosis Survey' released on the 11th, 7 out of 10 station staff (72.13%) responded that they are not sufficiently protected for safety at the station.

Jeon Juhwan, the suspect in the 'Sindang Station Stalking Murder' case, is being transferred from the Namdaemun Police Station detention center in Jung-gu, Seoul to the prosecution on September 21 last year. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Jeon Joo-hwan (32) was arrested and indicted on charges of killing the victim, a fellow Seoul Metro employee who joined at the same time, with a weapon in the women's restroom at Sindang Station on September 14 last year. Jeon was previously charged with stalking, including sending illegal recordings and threatening messages to the victim, and after a 9-year prison sentence was sought, he harbored resentment and murdered the victim the day before the sentencing.

In the first trial, Jeon was sentenced to 40 years in prison for retaliatory murder and 9 years for stalking. On July 11, the second trial combined the two cases and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Jeon has appealed the verdict and is awaiting the Supreme Court's decision.