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International residents left in the dark as Seoul bus strikes begin

Published: 30 Apr. 2025, 07:22

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

Emergency texts sent out to Korean residents on April 30 regarding the Seoul bus union strike, left, and the free shuttle bus information on Seodaemun District office's website, only in Korean, at right [SCREEN CAPTURE]

International residents in Seoul were left in the dark on Wednesday as the city government and district governments failed to provide information regarding a bus union strike in any other language, only Korean, on their official websites.

Seoul district offices said Wednesday morning that they are offering free shuttles in an effort to reduce commuter chaos after the Seoul bus union began a partial strike on Wednesday at 4 a.m.

Each district government posted information on their official websites, but not on the foreign language websites that they operate. International language speakers are instead recommended to access the Korean website and use online translators to get the information they need.

The emergency text messages sent out by the government are also only provided in Korean. The Seodaemun District office sent a link to the shuttle bus notice through an emergency message, but the information was only provided in Korean.

The Emergency Ready App for international language speakers living in Korea, left, and the emergency notices sent out on April 30 morning, right [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government's bus union strike notice highlights the union's demands in the top of the post. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The Seoul Metropolitan City Government's notice on the bus strike highlighted the union's demands, the cost that the city would need to pay and the unexpected inconvenience to citizens, rather than offering details on where people can access information regarding free shuttles or additional subway services — until the very bottom of the post.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety had promised in February 2024 to include English vocabulary in crucial notifications on its emergency messages, but no texts in recent months have been sent out in English.

Emergency messages can be manually accessed through the Emergency Ready App provided for foreign language speakers living in Korea. It is available in English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai.

BY YOON SO-YEON [[email protected]]