Members of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination hold a subway boarding protest at Seoul Station on Tuesday as a Line 4 train passes through without stopping. [Yonhap]
Members of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination hold a subway boarding protest at Seoul Station on Tuesday as a Line 4 train passes through without stopping. [Yonhap]

Subway service at Seoul Station returned to normal Tuesday morning after a protest by the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination — known by its Korean acronym Jeonjangnyeon — caused trains to skip the station for about 90 minutes on the first workday following a three-day holiday weekend.

The group staged a boarding demonstration on the Seoul Station platform, prompting Line 4 trains in both directions and a Line 1 southbound train to bypass the station without stopping from 8:49 a.m. to 10:12 a.m.

A Line 4 northbound train was the first to pass through without stopping, after which activists attempted to board a train running in the opposite direction. That effort led to a physical confrontation with Seoul Metro officials, who blocked the activists from boarding. The activists were ultimately unable to get on any train.

The group is demanding that the Ministry of Planning and Budget include disability rights funding in its budget, and said it would hold daily rush-hour subway demonstrations starting Tuesday until the ministry responds. The group said the protests will continue every morning until it receives an answer.

Members have also set up a tent encampment in front of the Korea Public Finance Information Service in Jung-gu, calling for guaranteed budgets for disability mobility rights and broader disability rights protections.


ikson@heraldcorp.com