'TBS Jeoldae Teulji Malgeot' Bus Notice... Seoul City "For Complaint Resolution, No Guidelines"

On the morning of the 8th, a notice was broadcasted on 25 city buses of route 440 operating in the Gangnam-gu area of Seoul, instructing not to play TBS radio.
Photo by Online Community Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Amid controversy over a notice broadcasted on the GPS dashboard terminals of Seoul city buses stating "Do not play radio broadcasts (Traffic Broadcasting Service) under any circumstances," the Seoul Metropolitan Government clarified that "there was no such directive."

On the 9th, images of the terminal screens installed on Seoul city buses were shared on Facebook and other online communities. The screen displayed the phrase 'Do not play radio broadcasts (Traffic Broadcasting Service) under any circumstances,' with the sender indicated as 'Seoul City/Transportation Company,' and the sending time as 10:30 AM on the 8th.

Netizens who saw this speculated that the notice was issued following Seoul City's directive amid recent tensions between the city and TBS over the city’s budget proposal.

Photo by Facebook capture

In response to the controversy, a netizen identifying themselves as the 'Head of Seoul City Bus Policy Team' stated in a Facebook comment, "The notice (photo) was not issued as a directive from Seoul City but was a message displayed by the bus company itself to drivers on route 440 to resolve complaints."

They added, "Around 10:24 AM on the 8th, a passenger, in an agitated state, strongly complained that the traffic broadcast was played every time they boarded the bus and that the volume was too loud," explaining, "Due to the 20-character input limit for the terminal notice, the message was abbreviated to 'Do not play traffic broadcasts,' which came across as a definitive instruction."

However, despite the explanation, some netizens pointed out, "The message clearly states 'Seoul City/Transportation Company.' If it was sent solely by the transportation company, it should have been labeled as Daesung Transportation," and added, "It is necessary to verify whether the company issued the message alone while impersonating Seoul City's name."

Kim Eo-jun and Kim Yong-min, chairman of the Peace Tree Foundation and a former co-host of the podcast 'I Am a Trickster,' also shared the controversial bus terminal photo on their Facebook on the 9th, expressing surprise with comments like "Oh my, what is this?"

Meanwhile, on the 1st, Seoul City submitted a budget proposal to the city council that cut next year’s TBS contribution from 37.5 billion won this year to about 25.2 billion won, a reduction of approximately 12.3 billion won.

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