Seoul Subway's 'Broadcaster of the Year' Awarded to Line 7 Driver Shin Chan-woo

‘Best Broadcasting King’ Contest to Evaluate Public Communication Skills Including Announcements
Final 8 Selected from Over 3,000 Crew Members

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul Metro announced on the 8th that it held the ‘2021 Best Announcer Contest’ and selected 8 outstanding employees. Shin Chan-woo, a train operator driving Line 7 trains, received the highest score and was named ‘Announcer of the Year.’

The Best Announcer Contest was held from September 30 to October 1. It is a competition evaluating the announcement skills necessary for communication with passengers during subway operations, targeting over 3,000 crew members. The main evaluation criteria include response to situations that may occur during operation such as train malfunctions and heating/cooling requests, ability to handle emergencies, and performing emotional announcements that bring happiness to passengers.

Shin Chan-woo, who was selected as this year’s top announcer, is a young 26-year-old operator who joined in 2019 and has worked for less than two full years, but demonstrated excellent capabilities and surpassed strong competitors to reach the top position. In particular, during the emergency situation evaluation, he prepared evacuation announcement scripts himself, reflected the subway boarding culture of young passengers by asking those wearing earphones to be aware of their surroundings, and considered foreign passengers by additionally conducting evacuation announcements in English among the contestants, showing wit and receiving high praise.

Shin said, "When I traveled abroad and took the subway, there was an accident and I was stuck for about 30 minutes with no way to move. At that time, the announcements were only in the local language, and I remember feeling scared and confused," adding, "I had vowed that if I ever became an operator, I would make short announcements in English so passengers wouldn’t feel anxious. I’m glad I was able to apply this in the announcer contest."

Shin shared a small episode where he felt happiness and fulfillment through communication with citizens during his crew duties. Before working as a Line 7 operator, he worked as a conductor on Line 2. Seeing tired people returning home, he wanted to comfort them and made an announcement near Jamsil Station quoting a ‘Winnie the Pooh story’ saying, ‘Not every day is happy, but there is happiness every day.’ That night, a passenger who heard the announcement left a thank-you message on social media, which became a hot topic and even led to a filming request from a broadcasting station.

Shin said, "A short word of encouragement spread like a butterfly effect, touching many customers and bringing changes to my own daily life, which remains a precious memory," and added, "I will continue to strive to make the subway safe and full of happiness."

In this contest, 8 outstanding crew members were selected including Shin. The selected employees were Oh Seung-jun from Dongjak Crew Office (Line 4), Lee Sang-heon from Sinjeong Crew Office (Line 2), Lee Jun-seok from Sinnae Crew Office (Line 6), Kim Hye-jung from Jamsil Crew Office (Line 8), Yoon Wook-sung from Sinpung Crew Office (Line 7), Choi Jin-seop from Suseo Crew Office (Line 3), and Jo Eun-ah from Sanggye Crew Office (Line 4).

The corporation plans to hold a Best Operator Contest evaluating driving skills following the announcer contest to encourage the improvement of the capabilities of crew members responsible for subway operations.

Jung Il-bong, Head of the Crew Headquarters at Seoul Metro, said, “The announcement skills of crew members are an important ability to communicate with passengers inside trains carrying many people and to make the subway safe and convenient,” adding, “We will continue to make efforts so that all employees of the corporation, including ‘Announcer of the Year’ Shin, can serve citizens with a strong sense of duty.”

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