Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Bus, subway services to be extended over weekend for Yeouido cherry blossom festival
By Kim Rahn
Cherry blossoms begin to bloom on the road behind the National Assembly in Yeouido, central Seoul, Thursday, a day before the annual cherry blossom festival opens. / Yonhap
By Kim Rahn
Bus operation hours will be extended and more subway trains will operate over the weekend in central Seoul's Yeouido area to cater for the large number of visitors expected at the city's cherry blossom festival, according to Seoul City.
The Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower Festival started on Friday and will run through April 11. The main venue is the 1.7-kilometer road behind the National Assembly compound where nearly 2,000 cherry blossom trees are lined up with many other species of flora.
The festival draws millions of visitors every year, with a large portion of them coming on weekends. To cater for the crowds, 27 buses passing through the area will operate until 1:20 a.m. on Sunday.
The operator of subway line No. 9, which has a station in front of the Assembly building, will add 56 trains between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. That of subway line No. 5, which also passes through Yeouido, will add more trains if needed.
During the Saturday afternoon of last year's festival, up to 9,000 people an hour used the National Assembly Station on line 9, and the city government expects a similar number this year.
The road behind the Assembly will be closed until noon on April 12 and some other roads nearby may be shut down temporarily.
Detailed information about the festival and the road closure can be found at 2019flower.or.kr.
“We advise citizens to check the road shutdown information in advance to prevent any inconvenience and urge festival visitors to use public transportation,” a city official said.