Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Too hot or too cold? Seoul subway swarmed with temperature-related complaints
Passengers sit inside a subway car on Line 5 in Seoul, June 2. Yonhap
By Lee Hae-rin
Lee, a 29-year-old Seoul-based office worker, was surprised to find the temperature inside the subway to be warm when he got on the subway on Thursday afternoon.
“The weather was so hot and humid, and I was already sweating after a few minutes of walking there. I was looking forward to the cool air conditioning in the subway, but it was warmer than I expected,” he said.
But another office worker in Seoul, Kim, 33, said she feels the air conditioning is usually stronger than it needs to be. Kim said she forgot to bring a jacket she would normally carry to protect herself from air conditioning sickness the same day, so she moved to a less cold subway car.
Seoul Metro, which operates subway lines 1-8, said Friday that it received 283,972 complaints about heating and cooling discomfort from January to May this year, accounting for 75 percent of all complaints submitted to the customer center.
More than 110,000 complaints were filed in May alone, as daytime temperatures became warmer.
According to the Ministry of Environment’s guidelines, the temperature in regular subway cars is set to around 24 degrees Celsius in summer and 18 degrees Celsius in winter. However, localized air temperature fluctuates during rush hour due to the increased passenger density.
An analysis of last year’s complaints showed that during commuting hours ― from 7 to 9 a.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. ― temperature-related complaints reached their peak, with 623,969 requests to turn down the air conditioning and 35,538 people wanting it turned up.
Line 2, which carries the most passengers, received the highest share of such complaints at 35 percent, followed by Line 7 with 20 percent and Line 5 with 12 percent.
These complaints sometimes come simultaneously from the same subway car, making it difficult for staff to respond.
Temperature differences can also occur depending on the passenger’s seat location.
The coolest areas are near the ends of the car, where priority seats for the elderly and those with disabilities are located, while the areas in the center tend to be the warmest. The subway operator advises passengers to move accordingly to feel more comfortable.
Passengers who find it too cold can also move to cars marked with “weaker air conditioning” signs, where temperatures are about 1 degree Celsius higher than in regular cars.
These are the fourth and seventh cars on Lines 1, 3 and 4; the fourth and fifth cars on Lines 5, 6 and 7; and the third and fourth cars on Line 8. Line 2 does not have such cars due to high congestion.
Seoul Metro’s Ttota Subway app gives real-time information on how packed each subway car is.
“The large number of temperature-related complaints is making it difficult for customer service staff to handle urgent issues, such as emergencies. Passengers who feel too hot or too cold while using the subway can use the official Ttota Subway app or chatbot to file their complaint,” a Seoul Metro official said.