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Workers scramble as city bus strike interrupts morning commute

Published: 13 Jan. 2026, 16:27

Passengers wait for a bus at a bus stop in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, at 7 a.m. on Jan. 13. With city bus service halted due to the strike, the electronic display shows the bus location as “depot.” [RYU HYO-RIM]

At 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Gangnam Station and Yeoksam Tax Office bus stop in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, 10 commuters stared at the bus stop screens that offered a single piece of information: all city buses were at the depot.

City buses stopped running after the Seoul city bus union launched an all-out strike at 4 a.m., sending the morning rush spilling into subways, sidewalks and ride-hailing apps and turning an ordinary commute into a scramble.

“I didn’t know the city buses were on strike,” said Kim San, who takes Bus No. 360 to commute to Samseong Station. Kim opened an app and tried to call a taxi, but after about two minutes without success, he sprinted into the Gangnam Station subway entrance, saying, “This is bad. I can’t even get a taxi.”

All 64 city bus companies joined the strike after wage and collective bargaining talks collapsed early Tuesday. Negotiations had stretched more than 10 hours from Monday afternoon before breaking down at 1:30 a.m., halting roughly 7,000 buses across the city.

Many commuters learned of the walkout only after arriving at their stops.

“Huh? No buses today? I’m late,” said Son Su-chun, a Chinese man waiting for Bus No. 740 at Exit 12 of Gangnam Station. “Normally it takes 10 to 15 minutes to get to Gyodae Station by bus, but I’m going to be even later because I can’t ride one,” he said, grabbing his belongings from the bench and heading for the subway.

Residents hail taxis at the Gangnam Station-Yeoksam Tax Office bus stop in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on the morning of Jan. 13. [RYU HYO-RIM]

A woman surnamed Seo who works a 9 a.m. opening shift at a cafe near Sinbanpo Station said she learned about the strike only after arriving at the bus stop.

“The bus usually gets me there in 15 minutes, but now I can’t get a taxi and I have to transfer on the subway, so I think I’ll be late,” Seo said. "I feel like I’m trapped at Gangnam Station. I’m opening the shop alone without the owner, and this is a big problem."

A man named Won who was commuting to Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, left the bus stop as soon as he heard about the strike — he jumped on an electric bike and pedaled off.

Lee Mi-young waits for a village bus for her commute at the Gangnam Station Exit 8 bus stop on the morning of Jan. 13. [RYU HYO-RIM]

With bus passengers shifting to the subway, stations were crowded. At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at Sindorim Station in Guro District, western Seoul, a line of passengers waiting for trains on Seoul Subway Line 2 stretched about 100 meters (328 feet), from the platform screen doors past the transfer stairs and into the concourse.

“There is an unusually large number of people today,” said Jang Yu-ri, a woman commuting by subway from Suwon to Sinchon. “When the train stopped, some people even got into fights while shouting, ‘Don’t push.’”

“Normally I get to work around 9 a.m., but today I think I’ll be 10 to 15 minutes late because I had to let a few packed trains pass before I could squeeze on during the transfer,” she said.

Passenger lines stretch long in the transfer passage between Subway Lines 1 and 2 at Sindorim Station in Guro District, western Seoul, on the morning of Jan. 13. [LEE GYU-RIM]

Some commuters looked for alternatives such as free shuttle buses operated by district offices or village buses that were not part of the strike. When a chartered bus with a notice reading “Gangnam District Emergency Transport Bus, Gangnam-57” pulled into the stop at Exit 12 of Gangnam Station on Tuesday morning, eight people boarded after asking, “How far does this go?” As more riders turned to village buses, delays were reported on some routes.

“Normally, the buses come every 10 minutes, but today, nothing has come even after 30 minutes. There’s no proper guidance, and it’s so inconvenient,” said Lee Mi-young, a commuter who takes a village bus to Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul.

To ease congestion during rush hour, the Seoul Metropolitan Government put emergency transport measures in place starting at 4 a.m. Tuesday. The city extended its peak subway service period by an hour, running additional trains from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., and said it would extend late-night service until 2 a.m. Wednesday. District offices will deploy about 670 shuttle buses linking major hubs and subway stations, focusing on areas without village bus routes.

A free shuttle bus deployed by the district government to prepare for the city bus strike pulls into a bus stop in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on the morning of Jan. 13. [RYU HYO-RIM]

“We will mobilize every available mode of transportation to minimize inconvenience for residents,” a Seoul Metropolitan Government spokesperson said. “We also urge the bus union to return to work as soon as possible, considering the disruption to commuters.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY OH SAM-GWON, RYU HYO-RIM, LEE GYU-RIM [[email protected]]