A Seoul Metro train passed a station on Line Four without stopping, under orders,
in response to a protest launched during rush hour Wednesday morning by a local civic group representing people with disabilities.

Some ten members of the Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination clashed with Seoul Metro officials at Samgakji Station near the presidential office as some of their members in wheelchairs boarded a train heading north carrying with them a ladder at around 8:40 a.m. 

These demonstrators in wheelchairs have previously used ladders to block subway doors, holding them up sideways with their arms, placing their necks in between rungs, so that gates cannot close, thereby forcing delays during peak morning commute hours. 

The group is urging the government to adopt policies to improve the rights of those with disabilities. 

The subway’s main control center instructed the next train to pass Samgakji station without stopping to take passengers at around 8:50 a.m. Another train saw a delay in operations by four minutes when group members boarded it in order to get to Gyeongbokgung Station where they later held a news conference.

A Seoul Metro official said operators made the call to pass through Samgakji Station for the safety of passengers, citing overcrowding on the platform caused by delay.