The interior of a Seoul subway train. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Newsis]
The interior of a Seoul subway train. This photo is not directly related to the article. [Newsis]

Reports of a man approaching women and making inappropriate physical contact on Seoul subway Line 2 are spreading across social media.

A post on the social media platform Threads recently warned: "I am on Line 2 heading toward Sillim and this guy is pressed right up against women like this — everyone be careful. Short guy, shaved head."

A photo shared with the post showed a man wearing a backpack standing closely behind a woman in a crowded subway car, looking at his phone, with his body appearing to press against her from behind. The original poster said she did not know what he was doing, and that the man got off at Sillim Station after she kept staring at him.

The post quickly drew additional accounts from users who said they had experienced similar incidents on Line 2 or had seen the same man.

One user said, "He must be a repeat offender. The same thing happened to me on Line 2 during my commute home — it is exactly the same." She added that she had switched to taking the bus since then, and that the experience left her unable to wear her bag in front even in crowded cars.

Another user said she spotted the man Saturday on a Line 2 train at Gangnam Station heading toward Sadang Station. "He deliberately stood in the most crowded spot, particularly behind women," she wrote. "His appearance was strange enough that I ended up watching him."

She described him as having a shaved head, short stature, narrow shoulders and a thin build, with a head that appeared disproportionately large and a white mask covering his face. She said he had been standing behind a woman when other passengers nearby confronted him, after which he fled the car at Sadang Station around 10 p.m. It has not been confirmed whether the person described in the various accounts is the same individual.

Sex crimes on the subway are often difficult for victims to recognize immediately or for perpetrators to be identified, as offenders exploit the cover of crowded conditions. Authorities have been catching a string of offenders who take advantage of this to commit sexual offenses against women on the subway.

On Sunday, a man in his 50s who works as an active-duty teacher — identified only by the surname initial A — was arrested on charges of groping a woman on subway Line 9 and indicted while in detention. After receiving a report, police analyzed footage from hundreds of closed-circuit television cameras to track his movements, then arrested him in the act when he attempted to make physical contact with another woman on the subway.

A man in his 20s charged with groping women nine times on subway trains in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, between Oct. 18 and Dec. 11 last year was sentenced to one year in prison in June after investigators also discovered illegal recordings during the investigation.

Police have urged the public not to hesitate to report subway sex crimes immediately, saying that groping — including touching or pressing genitals against victims during crowded commuting hours — is the most common offense, followed closely by illegal filming. Prompt reporting, they said, is the best way to prevent further harm.


bbo@heraldcorp.com