Subway Data Around Major Impeachment Rally Sites
On the 4th, when the Constitutional Court ruled to dismiss former President Yoon Seok-yeol, major rally sites in Seoul such as Anguk Station and Gwanghwamun were crowded with participants. To prepare for safety accidents due to the dense crowd, some subway trains passed through stations without stopping, and bus routes were diverted. Statistics confirm that the number of passengers at subway stations near major rally sites surged whenever pro- and anti-impeachment protests occurred since December last year.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's railway statistics data on the 5th, the subway around Yeouido, which was congested as pro-impeachment protesters flocked to the National Assembly, was used by over 1.04 million citizens during just four Saturdays in December last year (7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th). This is 2.4 times the average boarding and alighting passengers of 430,000 on the previous month’s Saturdays (November 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th).
On December 7th last year, as Subway Line 9 passed through Dangsan Station without stopping, citizens who could not transfer from Line 2 to Line 9 are walking to the impeachment rally site in front of the National Assembly. Photo by Yonhap News
Comparing the first and second Saturdays of December, when the rally atmosphere was the hottest, with the first and second Saturdays of the previous month, the difference is even greater. On December 7, 2023, 425,000 people used the subway around Yeouido. The 5 and 9 lines’ Yeouido Station recorded 250,000 users, Yeouinaru Station on Line 5 had 85,000, and National Assembly Station on Line 9 had 90,000. On the following weekend, the 14th, Yeouido Station on Lines 5 and 9 had 255,000 users, Yeouinaru Station on Line 5 had 80,000, and National Assembly Station on Line 9 had 86,000, totaling about 420,000. In just these two days, December 7 and 14, approximately 840,000 citizens used the subway around Yeouido.
In contrast, the number of passengers on the first and second Saturdays of November, the 9th and 16th, was only 230,000. Due to the large crowds, some trains passed through Yeouido Station and National Assembly Station without stopping during certain times on rally days.
The Gwanghwamun area, where pro- and anti-impeachment rallies were mixed, also saw an increase in subway station usage compared to the previous month during rallies. On Saturdays in December last year, about 1 million passengers used the subway around Gwanghwamun, a 1.2-fold increase compared to 810,000 on Saturdays the previous month. In particular, the number of users at Gwanghwamun Station on Line 5 on Saturdays in December was 340,000, a 47.8% increase compared to the previous month.
‘Non-stop Passing’ at Aeogae Station During Seoul Western District Court Riot, Passenger Numbers Quadrupled
On the day of the Seoul Western District Court riot in January, the number of passengers alighting at Aeogae Station on Line 5 near the court increased by 55% to about 24,700 compared to the previous day (8,199). This is about four times the average daily alighting number of approximately 6,000 in January.
At around 2:53 a.m. on January 19, a detention warrant was issued for President Yoon, but supporters had already gathered around the Western District Court since the previous day, January 18. Some supporters, extremely agitated by the news of Yoon’s detention, broke through police barricades or climbed over walls to storm the court. They entered the court premises around 3:21 a.m., breaking the main gate and glass windows with shields and plastic chairs taken from the police.
The number of people surrounding the court that day reached about 40,000 (as of 5 p.m. on the 18th, according to police estimates). Some of them used the subway, which likely caused the significant increase in alighting passengers. Consequently, Aeogae Station had trains on both directions pass through without stopping for about 10 minutes from 4:08 p.m. on January 18.
The Namtaeryeong rally, known as the so-called ‘Jeon Bong-jun Rally,’ where farmers brought tractors and cultivators, was similar. Namtaeryeong Station on Line 4 has a low floating population, with an average daily boarding and alighting number of around 1,200 (as of 2024), making it one of the least used subway stations in Seoul.
However, during the impeachment political crisis, the area near Namtaeryeong transformed into a major rally site. In early December, the Jeon Bong-jun Struggle Group of the National Farmers Federation attempted to hold a protest urging the dismissal of former President Yoon, leading tractors and others, but were blocked by police, resulting in a standoff throughout the night. Hearing this, pro-impeachment citizens and some conservative YouTubers gathered at Namtaeryeong, holding rallies there every weekend.
According to Seoul subway boarding and alighting data, the number of passengers at Namtaeryeong Station in December last year, when anti-impeachment rally enthusiasm was highest, reached about 53,000. This is significantly higher than the average alighting number of about 35,000 from January to November of the same year.
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