"Ko Minjung, the 'Oh Sehoon Sniper,' Slams Han River Bus: 'You Could Go to Jeju and Back in Two Hours'"

25,000 Used the Han River Bus in 10 Days, But Operations Halted After Repeated Defects
Seoul City Switches to 'Non-Passenger Runs' After Electrical and Rudder Failures
Ko Minjung: "If the Commuter Bus Stops, Should Commuting Stop Too?"
Seou

As the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to suspend the operation of the Han River Bus, which has been embroiled in a series of defect controversies, just ten days after its launch, Ko Minjung, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, called for an apology from Mayor Oh Sehoon, stating, "They hastily launched the boat at the expense of citizens' safety."

On September 28, through her Facebook page, Assemblywoman Ko said, "Didn't Mayor Oh say the Han River Bus was intended for commuting?" She added, "You could go to Jeju Island and back from Seoul in two hours."

She further questioned, "If you are suspending the commuter boat for a month, does that mean you will suspend commuting for a month as well?" She criticized, "Mayor Oh Sehoon must apologize for the rash decision to board Seoul citizens onto a boat whose performance had not even been properly inspected."

She pointed out, "This is the fourth malfunction in ten days," and argued, "Since transportation is directly linked to citizen safety, at the very least, the performance inspection should have been completed before starting operations."

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that, due to repeated defects with the Han River Bus-including an electrical system failure on the 22nd and a rudder malfunction on the 26th-it would suspend citizen boarding for a month starting from the 29th, and instead operate 14 non-passenger test runs per day to stabilize performance.

Park Jinyoung, Director of the Seoul Future Han River Headquarters, stated, "We made this unavoidable decision to operate the Han River Bus, which has served about 25,000 people over ten days, as a safer and more comfortable means of transportation." He added, "We will transform it into a trustworthy public transportation option through thorough inspections." The city also announced that all season tickets already sold will be fully refunded.

Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Ko and Mayor Oh are well known for their political rivalry. In the 2020 21st general election, Ko ran in the Gwangjin-gu B district of Seoul and faced off against then United Future Party candidate Oh Sehoon. After a close contest, Ko entered the National Assembly by a narrow margin of 2.5 percentage points (2,747 votes). For this reason, political circles have dubbed Ko "the sniper who takes down Oh Sehoon." She has consistently voiced opposition to Mayor Oh's major policy initiatives.