40s Who Caused Subway Delay by Demanding "Wear a Mask" Have Arrest Warrant Dismissed

On the morning of the 28th, the first day of mandatory mask-wearing on public transportation, citizens wearing masks are waiting for the subway at Seoul Station. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A detention warrant for a woman in her 40s who caused a disturbance and delayed subway operations after getting into an argument over another passenger's request to wear a mask was dismissed.

On the 25th, the Seoul Southern District Court announced that it had dismissed the detention warrant for Ms. A, a woman in her 40s, who is accused of obstruction of business and insult.

The court stated, "Ms. A has admitted most of the facts and has pledged to wear a mask going forward. The necessity for detention has not been demonstrated," adding, "The suspect claimed that she did not wear a mask at the time due to health reasons, but it does not appear that sufficient consideration was given to the mandatory mask-wearing requirements on the subway," explaining the reason for dismissal.

Ms. A is accused of getting angry and using abusive language in response to another passenger's request to "please wear a mask" inside a train near Oryu-dong Station on Subway Line 1 at around 11:50 a.m. on the 23rd, causing a disturbance that delayed the train operation for about seven minutes.

After getting off the train, Ms. A reportedly caused a commotion by shouting at station staff and was arrested by the police.

It was also reported that even after being arrested, Ms. A verbally abused and cursed for about 13 minutes, saying, "I don't understand why I have to wear a mask."

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