Seoul Metro puts up English warnings at depots after graffiti vandalism by foreigners

A subway train is covered in colorful graffiti as an official inspects the damage at a depot in Busan, June 23. Courtesy of Busan Transportation Corporation

Seoul Metro, one of the two major operators of the city’s subway system, will install English warning signs around its depots after a string of illegal graffiti vandalism cases by foreign nationals in recent years.

The municipally run company said Monday that four graffiti incidents have been reported at its depots over the past five years, including cases at Gunja in 2024 and 2025.

Officials say intruders typically entered in the early morning hours and spray-painted parked trains before soon leaving Korea, causing damage to subway cars and forcing costly repair work.

Amid rising concerns, Seoul Metro CEO Kim Tae-gyun instructed staff at an April safety meeting to install new warning boards along depot fences, saying clear notices were needed to deter trespassing by foreign nationals. He pointed out that the existing signs varied in size and spacing and had been put up at different times, leaving their wording inconsistent and often out of step with recent legal revisions.

The new boards will adopt a standardized design modeled on recent examples at the Moran and Jichuk depots and will clearly state the criminal penalties for trespassing and vandalism. By adding these English notices, the company aims to deter overseas graffiti crews that have increasingly targeted Korean rail facilities.

On Jan. 17, 2024, three Russian nationals allegedly broke into Seoul Metro’s Gunja depot in Seongdong District before fleeing overseas. According to police, the suspects scaled a four-meter-high perimeter wall at around 3:10 a.m. and spray-painted a graffiti piece measuring approximately four meters wide and 1.5 meters high on a train, then left the scene. Police later found that they boarded a plane bound for China the same day.

Just two months prior to the incident, police caught a U.S. national in his 30s on suspicion of scrawling graffiti at 155 locations across Yongsan District in Seoul.

In the latest such case, an Australian man in his 20s and another man in his 30s from Belgium allegedly broke into the Busan Transportation Corp. Daejeo depot in the early hours of June 23. The suspects entered the site at 2:51 a.m. through a fence near a test track, sprayed graffiti on a subway train and left shortly after, at 3:09 a.m., police said.

During their escape, the two allegedly wore masks, changed clothes several times and paid in cash while getting off at different stops, in an apparent attempt to throw off investigators. They were found to have taken a KTX train to Seoul and then headed to Incheon International Airport, where they boarded a flight to Brunei at around 11 a.m. the next day, according to police.