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Rush-hour chaos likely to continue for a while as bus strike talks stall

Published: 13 Jan. 2026, 18:31

CHO JUNG-WOO
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People cross a road in downtown Seoul as bus drivers go on strike on Jan. 13. [NEWS1]

City bus services in Seoul are expected to remain disrupted for an extended period, with no formal negotiations scheduled between labor and management as of Tuesday afternoon.

“No additional negotiation session has been officially scheduled yet,” a Seoul city official said, adding that while the bus companies and the labor union were still in contact, no concrete talks had been arranged.

Kim Jung-hwan, head of the Seoul Bus Transport Association, said discussions continued for about an hour after negotiations collapsed, but no compromise was reached.

“Even after the talks broke down, we continued discussions with the union for roughly an hour, but failed to find common ground,” he said during a press briefing held earlier on Tuesday. “We have not been able to set a new negotiation schedule.”

Kim said management had proposed a 10.3 percent wage increase based on a standard monthly working time of 209 hours.

Under the proposal, if a Supreme Court ruling were to recognize a 176-hour standard, companies would retroactively pay the difference, he said. He added that even if the court ruling resulted in a lower wage increase rate, the 10.3 percent raise already paid would be guaranteed. “We believed this was a reasonable offer,” he said.

The union, however, is demanding a wage increase of more than 16 percent based on the 176-hour standard, Kim said.

The association's head said the demand was excessive, noting that there is no precedent in other regions and no court ruling yet. “It is not a small amount, and we believe the request is unrealistic,” he said.

All 64 city bus companies joined the strike after wage and collective bargaining talks collapsed early Tuesday. Negotiations began at 3 p.m. Monday and lasted more than 10 hours before breaking down at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, bringing roughly 7,000 buses across the city to a halt.

This is the first citywide strike by Seoul’s city bus union since 2024.

Seoul city buses remain parked at a public garage as drivers stage an indefinite strike on Jan. 13. [YONHAP]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would not collect bus fares until normal operations — at least a 30 percent operation rate — are restored. To ease traffic congestion, it also suspended operations along all 69.8 kilometers of curbside bus-only lanes, though center bus lanes will remain in operation.

In response to the walkout, the city implemented emergency transportation measures starting at 4 a.m. Tuesday. Subway services will be expanded during extended rush hours — from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. — and late-night operations will be extended until 2 a.m., with 172 additional train services scheduled.

The city has also deployed free shuttle buses to transport commuters to subway stations. A total of 677 buses have been secured to operate across 134 routes, with route information available on the city government’s website.

Asked about preparations for a prolonged strike, a city official said the government is securing additional shuttle buses to help ease rush-hour congestion.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, only 487 of the city’s 7,018 intracity buses — about 6.8 percent — were in operation.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [[email protected]]