Seoul to Designate Women-Only Subway Cars
By wchung | 17 May, 2025

To insulate women commuters from sexual assault, harassment and voyeurism, Seoul will designate women-only subway cars, said city officials.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will gather public opinion on the proposed measure by the end of August, and implement a trial run of the special subway cars by September. The trial run will be held on subway line two, and on the last car of the day which runs around 11.30 p.m.

In 2010 the number of sex offenders arrested on Seoul subways jumped 77 percent over 2009 for a total of 1,192. Offenses included molestation and taking pictures up women’s skirts.

The first effort at providing segregated subway cars took place in 1992. Women were provided special cars during the morning rush. The program was scrapped due to the difficulty of keeping people segregated by gender during peak rush hours. A second effort in 2007 for lines six and seven was scrapped after it met with strong opposition from men who claimed the measure was sexist.

The upcoming effort is likely to encounter the same criticisms. But in hopes of minimizing opposition the city will call the special cars “women safety cars” instead of “women-only cars”.

Another important difference is that, this time the special cars will be designated only during the late-night hours when women are more likely to feel fearful, rather than during morning rush hours when commuters would resent preferential treatment that would reduce the number of available seats.

“After thoroughly discussing with women’s organizations, we have decided to designate the cars during the late-night hours when women can feel nervous, rather than the busy morning rush hours,” said a Seoul official.

”If Seoul is implementing this measure to truly stop sexual harassment, this does not attack the root of the problem,” Choi Ji Na of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center told The Korea Herald. “The logic behind this measure is very simple-minded.” Choi argued that the only truly effective measures would be those that tackle the perception of sexual harassment and its victims.