(LEAD) Subway train skips Samgakji Station due to protest by disability rights activists
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) — A subway train skipped a station in Seoul on Wednesday due to a subway-riding protest by a disabled advocacy group.
Seoul Metro said a Subway Line 4 train passed through Samgakji Station without stopping at 8:50 a.m. after a protest by members of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination (SADD) delayed the previous train.
The group has been staging a four-day rush-hour subway protest at the station near the presidential office since Monday, demanding an increased government budget to protect the rights of people with disabilities.
The Seoul metropolitan government said Monday it will make trains not stop at the station if the group’s protest causes major delays.
About 10 wheelchair-bound SADD members participated in the protest Wednesday morning.
A brawl erupted at 8:40 a.m. when subway officials tried to block some of the activists from boarding a train with a ladder.
The protesters resisted by getting their wheelchairs stuck between the platform and the car, delaying its operation by seven minutes. Seoul Metro had the next train skip the station 10 minutes later.
On Tuesday, no major disruptions occurred as the activists did not use the tactic of delaying subway operations by repeatedly boarding and disembarking trains.
