"Be Careful at Express Bus Terminal Station"... 1,062 Injured in Seoul Subway Safety Accidents Last Year

40 injured at Express Bus Terminal Station, the most of any station... 30 at Noryangjin Station
4,430 injured over six years... Medical expenses totaled more than 3.5 billion won

More than 1,000 people were injured while using the Seoul subway last year, with Express Bus Terminal Station recording the highest number of injuries.

According to data submitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to Assemblyman Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee representing Seoul's Yangcheon A constituency, 1,062 people were injured in safety accidents on Seoul Subway Lines 1 through 9, the Ui-Sinseol Line, and the Sillim Line last year.

Commuters wait for a train at Noryangjin Station on Line 9. Photo by Yoon Dongju.

The number of injured people rose each year, from 493 in 2021 to 621 in 2022, 779 in 2023, and 885 in 2024. The number injured last year was therefore more than double the figure from five years earlier. From January through August this year, 590 people were injured, bringing the cumulative total to 4,430 over the five years and eight months since 2021.

Express Bus Terminal Station, where Lines 3, 7, and 9 intersect, had the highest number of injuries last year, with 40 people hurt there. It was followed by Noryangjin Station with 30, Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station with 28, and Sadang Station with 19. By line, Line 9 recorded the most injuries (205), followed by Line 2 (193), Line 5 (174), Line 4 (129), and Line 7 (110). The lawmaker's office noted, however, that the criteria differed somewhat by line: for Lines 1 through 8, the figures were compiled from accidents for which medical expenses were paid, while for Line 9, the Ui-Sinseol Line, and the Sillim Line, they were based on internal incident reports.

By type, station-area accidents—such as falls or collisions in concourses, transfer corridors, and stairways—were the most common, at 317 cases. They were followed by 282 cases of passengers getting caught in doors, 224 accidents involving escalators or elevators, and 195 accidents inside trains. There were also 110 cases of passengers getting their feet caught in the gap between a train and the platform.

Cumulative medical expense payments from 2021 through August this year reached approximately 3.585 billion won. Subway operators, including Seoul Metro and Seoul Metro Line 9, receive claims from passengers injured in accidents, assess liability, and then pay medical expenses through insurers. Annual medical expense payments rose from 569 million won in 2021 to 847 million won last year. This year, the total from January through August was 291 million won.

Assemblyman Hwang said, "The safety of the Seoul subway, used by more than 7.6 million people every day, must be ensured throughout the entire journey—from passengers entering a station to reaching their destinations—not just during train operations." He urged the city to "reassess the priorities for safety investments, including at transfer stations and on passenger facilities where accidents are concentrated, and develop measures that can reduce the actual number of injuries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.