"Big Trouble Ahead" Amid Crowds... Seongdong-gu Finally Announces Measures

"Plan to Deploy Safety Assistants Outside Subways During Peak Hours"
Actively Preparing Traffic Measures

People lined up to take the subway at Seongsu Station.
[Photo by Online Community]

Seongdong-gu Office has taken measures such as deploying additional safety personnel in Seongsu-dong. This comes as Seongsu-dong in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, has recently emerged as a 'hot place,' causing a rapid increase in foot traffic, along with growing safety concerns near Seongsu Station.

On the 11th, Seongdong-gu stated, "We are actively working with related agencies to develop traffic measures for safety actions such as installing additional subway entrances and traffic lights." Exit 3 of Seongsu Station experiences long lines extending onto the crosswalk during rush hours as many people try to enter the subway station. There have also been opinions that expanding subway entrances or installing traffic lights at the crosswalk is necessary.

However, the district explained that the expansion of subway entrances falls under the installation and management authority of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Since 2021, they have been steadily requesting the city to add an exit at Seongsu Station, but it has not been reflected yet. The Seoul Metro conducted a feasibility study related to the entrance installation, but it was found to have low business viability, resulting in a notification that installation is not possible.

The district said, "Based on the necessity that 'securing safety' takes priority over feasibility, we have requested the city again, and a budget of 100 million KRW for re-conducting the feasibility study was included in this year's supplementary Seoul city budget." They added, "We plan to re-conduct the feasibility study by the end of the year and will cooperate with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metro to produce meaningful results."

They also expressed their intention to continuously request the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency to install traffic lights at the crosswalk in front of Exit 3 of Seongsu Station. Additionally, the district stated, "Currently, 15 subway safety assistants are deployed at Seongsu Station, and we plan to deploy safety assistants outside the subway during congested times such as commuting hours." Seongdong-gu Mayor Jung Won-oh also said on social media (SNS) that he is sorry for the great inconvenience caused to residents and pedestrians near Seongsu Station due to the crowd congestion during commuting hours.

Mayor Jung said, "Starting this evening, we will station two safety personnel each in front of Exits 2 and 3 of Seongsu Station during weekday commuting hours to do our best to guide pedestrian safety." He added, "There is also pedestrian inconvenience caused by street vendors (sidewalk shops) installed in front of Exit 3 of Seongsu Station, and we are promoting a plan to relocate all these shops."

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