Arrest Warrant Denied for Jeonjangyeon Activist Involved in 'Subway Boarding Protest'

Yoo Jin-woo, an activist from the National Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (Jeonjangyeon), who was detained during a subway boarding protest, avoided detention.

At around 3 p.m. on the 24th, Judge Yoo Chang-hoon, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a pre-arrest hearing for Yoo and decided, stating that "there is no risk of flight or evidence tampering."

On the 20th, members of the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities resumed a subway boarding protest at the platform of Seoul Subway Line 2, City Hall Station, in the direction of Dangsan Station, urging the inclusion of budget for the mobility rights of persons with disabilities in the 2024 budget allocation. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Earlier, the Hyehwa Police Station in Seoul had applied for an arrest warrant for Yoo on charges including violation of the Railroad Safety Act, obstruction of train operation, and injury.

Yoo is accused of attempting to board a train at Dongdaemun Station on Seoul Subway Line 4 at around 8 a.m. on the 22nd, obstructing train operation, refusing to get off at the next station, Hyehwa Station, and biting a station staff member.

Jeonjangyeon held a subway boarding protest to mark the 23rd anniversary of an accident at Oido Station on Line 4 in 2001, where the wire of a lift carrying a disabled couple snapped, causing a fall. Seoul Metro claimed that the boarding protest by Jeonjangyeon caused about a 15-minute delay on the Line 4 northbound during the morning commute.

The police also detained Lee Hyung-sook, the representative of the Seoul Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, along with Yoo, but Lee was released the previous day.