"If the Next Station Is City Hall... and the Voice Is AI"

Push for AI Subway Announcements in Seoul
Kang Heeseon, Voice of 29 Years, Battling Cancer
Strong Opposition from Korea Voice Actors Association and Related Groups
Seoul Metro: "No Consideration of AI Adoption Without Consent"

The fact that Seoul Metro considered introducing artificial intelligence (AI) voices for subway announcements has sparked strong opposition from voice actor organizations.

On October 2, the Korea Voice Actors Association, together with the Korea Broadcasting Actors Union and the Korea Broadcasting Performers' Rights Association, issued a joint statement criticizing Seoul Metro. They stated, "Seoul Metro attempted to use the voice of voice actor Kang Heeseon for AI training and replacement without her consent," and added, "This constitutes an illegal act under copyright law and is also ethically reprehensible."

Seoul Metropolitan Subway

Kang Heeseon is the voice behind Seoul subway station announcements and has held this role for 29 years. She is also widely recognized for voicing Shin-chan's mother, Misae Nohara, in the animation 'Crayon Shin-chan.' Currently, she has suspended her activities due to battling cancer. On the tvN program 'You Quiz on the Block,' she revealed, "A health checkup found an issue in my colon, and the cancer metastasized to my liver. There are 17 metastases in the liver alone, and I have undergone 47 rounds of chemotherapy. It has been four years since the diagnosis."

The Voice Actors Association demanded an official apology from Seoul Metro, stating, "Irreparable psychological harm has been caused to a voice actor undergoing cancer treatment." They further emphasized, "In the future, if there is any attempt to reproduce a voice actor's voice using generative AI technology, explicit consent from the individual must be obtained." The association warned that if this is not observed, they will respond to the reckless misuse and abuse of AI voice technology.

Kang Heeseon Voice Actor. Yonhap News

The association described this issue as "an important turning point in protecting the rights of performers and creators," and declared that they would respond strongly if similar cases occur in the future.

Seoul Metro immediately issued a clarification. The company explained, "We have never considered introducing AI text-to-speech (TTS) using the existing voice actor's voice without consent," and added, "We only discussed AI adoption as one of several options in case recording with the existing voice actor became impossible. No decision has been made."

The Korea Voice Actors Association was formally established in 1964 and is a non-profit organization whose members include voice actors active at the three major broadcasters as well as Tooniverse, Daewon Broadcasting, and Daekyo Broadcasting.

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