Unionized Seoul bus drivers said Wednesday that they were planning to strike over pay starting Thursday, with an overwhelming majority of union members supporting the plan. The Seoul Bus Labor Union, which has nearly 18,133 members across 61 companies, voted Tuesday on a plan to strike at 4 a.m. Thursday. According to the union, 16,317 members participated in the vote, and 16,046 of them voted in favor of the strike..
On a rainy Monday afternoon in Dongjak-gu, southwestern Seoul, four-term lawmaker and star politician Na Kyung-won stepped inside the underground Sadang Station around 5:50 p.m. to greet tired commuters returning home from work. Faces of several Dongjak-gu residents who spotted the 60-year-old former judge-turned-politician lit up as they approached her to shake hands. Some even took photos with her, acting like exci.
More than 2,000 passengers were injured while using the subway in Seoul over the last five years. By subway line, Line No. 2 recorded the highest number of injured passengers. According to data released by Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 2,485 passengers were involved in safety accidents while aboard subway Lines No. 1 to 9 from 2019 to August this year. By year, 671 passengers were record.
Four subway stations in Seoul will test out a tagless fare payment system operating with a mobile app in October and November, said Seoul Metro on Monday. The tagless fare payment system will allow each passenger to pass through an entry turnstile without having to tap the card reader with their transportation card. Seoul Metro will install the tagless fare payment system on 10 gates in four different subway stations.