A platform at Gimpo Airport Station on Seoul Metro Line 9 is crowded with morning commuters, Feb. 4, 2021. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hun

By Lee Hyo-jin

A 30-year-old office worker surnamed Lee, who travels on Seoul Metro Line 9 in her morning commute from Dangsan Station to Sinnonhyeon Station, got off the train midway on Monday morning, feeling shortness of breath.

"I couldn't breathe. It's not the first time I felt like I was suffocating during my morning subway ride, but it was so serious, like a panic attack," she said. Lee rides the express train on Line 9 which is infamous for its overcrowding during rush hour.

As people kept cramming into the already-packed train, Lee couldn't stop imagining what it would have been like during the deadly crowd surge at Itaewon two days earlier.

"Even though I wasn't there that night, I felt something dreadful like that could happen on the subway, too."

On the night of Oct. 29, disaster struck people crowded into a narrow, sloped alley in central Seoul's Itaewon, resulting in at least 156 deaths and 151 injuries, as of Tuesday. Thousands of people who were out celebrating Halloween had been squeezed into the tight alley.

The deadliest crowd accident in the country's history seems to be affecting peoples' daily lives. Koreans, who have become so used to urban density and overcrowding in the streets, are now suddenly mindful of how dangerous these conditions can be.

According to 2021 data from Seoul Metro, the average density during morning rush hour between Noryangjin and Dongjak stations on Line 9 ― one of the most packed areas ― was measured at 185 percent. If the density level surpasses 150 percent, passengers cannot move freely in the train at all.

Referred to as "hell" by commuters, people in packed subways are squashed up against one another, unable to move freely. Small fights break out as they jostle their way in or out of the train, while some passengers just fail to get off at their stops.

"Subways in Seoul are so packed that it may lead to breathing difficulties or panic attacks for some passengers. But we've gotten used to the high density in our daily lives," said Park Cheong-woong, a professor of safety management at Sejong Cyber University.

Lee Song-kyu, head of the Safety Professional Association of Korea, warned that unexpected crowd disasters may occur at any large gatherings or events.

"I wouldn't say there's a big chance crammed subways would lead to a serious crowd crush. But I do think that the Itaewon tragedy has shown us that crowd disasters can happen unexpectedly in day-to-day places and thus the local authorities, as well as regular people, should remain vigilant about it," he said.