Employees recognized for shutter alarm system, anti-slip stairway work and tunnel lighting improvements
CEO Kim Tae-kyun personally presents awards, stresses passing on safety know-how to younger staff
Seoul Metro honored employees who contributed to preventing subway safety accidents, reaffirming its commitment to a safety-first management philosophy.
The company held the "2026 Safety Merit Employee Commendation Ceremony" on Wednesday and presented citations to three outstanding employees recognized for their contributions to preventing serious accidents and spreading a culture of safety.
Jin Jeong-il, deputy station manager at Namseong Station, was recognized for identifying the risk of passengers being struck by platform shutter doors during the last train of the night and devising a plan to install audiovisual alarm systems around the shutters to proactively prevent accidents.
Cho Eun-hee, a senior official on the architectural planning team, was also selected for her work actively pursuing canopy installation and anti-slip stairway construction to prevent passengers from slipping inside stations. She was particularly credited for dramatically reducing slip accidents by introducing a burner construction method that heats and roughens station stairway surfaces.
Alongside this, Kang Byeong-woo, a section chief at the Dapsimni train crew depot, was recognized for proposing improvements to tunnel and depot lighting to prevent train operators from slipping or falling while boarding and alighting in tunnels or at vehicle depots during nighttime hours.
The ceremony was the first held since CEO Kim Tae-kyun took office. It was designed to boost employee pride and spread a safety culture by presenting citations to meritorious staff in front of senior officials from both headquarters and field operations.
In France and a number of other countries, citations are presented directly to meritorious employees, and publicly recognizing their achievements before colleagues and the organization is considered important.
At the "Serious Accident Prevention Safety Integration Meeting" that followed the ceremony, participants shared plans to address safety vulnerabilities in 2026, the company's high-risk and high-frequency industrial accidents, and the current status of crowd management efforts, then discussed company-wide safety management measures and improvement plans.
Seoul Metro said it will continue to realize its "safety-first" management philosophy through regular safety meetings and maintain ongoing communication with field operations.
"Managers need to provide support so that field employees can devote themselves even more to safety activities, just like the employees honored today," Seoul Metro CEO Kim Tae-kyun said. "Please make every effort to ensure that the safety know-how of sunbae is fully passed on to younger employees." He also said the company would "trust the voice from the scene more than the numbers written in reports and secure safety through on-site management," again emphasizing the safety-first management policy.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
