The 'Angel' Who Cleaned Vomit Off Subway Seat Is a 20-Year-Old Young Man... Received a Certificate of Appreciation

Seoul Metro, After Extensive Search, Finds Protagonist
Awarded Certificate of Appreciation... Recommended for Seoul Mayor's Special Commendation

A man in his 20s who became a topic of conversation for cleaning up another passenger's vomit on Seoul Subway Line 6 received a letter of appreciation from Seoul Metro.

On the 13th, Seoul Metro (hereinafter referred to as 'the Corporation') announced that it had awarded a letter of appreciation and a commemorative gift to Mr. Kim, a man in his 20s who personally cleaned up vomit left by another passenger on a Line 6 train. The Corporation was able to contact Mr. Kim after searching through its official social networking services (SNS).

Mr. Kim wiping off vomit on a subway seat Photo by Instagram

On the 7th at around 10:36 p.m., Mr. Kim boarded a Line 6 train at Yeonsinnae Station and was traveling to Hapjeong Station when he noticed vomit left on a train seat and cleaned it up. He squatted down with his knees bent in front of the seat and wiped the vomit with tissue paper, also preventing people from sitting there and guiding them to other seats.

Mr. Kim’s good deed became known to the public after another passenger who witnessed the scene posted a video on their personal SNS. The video was then shared across various online communities and became a huge topic, with the video surpassing 3 million views.

Seoul Metro awarded a letter of appreciation on the 13th to passenger Kim, who cleaned up another person's vomit on a subway seat. On the left is Baekho, President of Seoul Metro, and on the right is Kim.
Photo by Yonhap News

A friend of Mr. Kim, who reported him to the Corporation after seeing SNS posts looking for him, said, "I often saw him showing consideration for others in everyday life," and added, "He is a wonderful young man." On the 13th at 2 p.m., the Corporation invited Mr. Kim to its headquarters and presented him with a letter of appreciation, a limited edition figure set of the Corporation’s official character 'Ttota,' and a transportation card. The Corporation also decided to recommend Mr. Kim for a special commendation from the Mayor of Seoul in the future.

Mr. Kim said, "I did not think of it as a good deed but acted according to my sense of responsibility and conscience," adding, "I just thought I was someone who could clean it up because I had wet tissues in my bag. I was only worried that others might be inconvenienced."

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