‘Let me on the train’: Man seen hanging on to moving train in South Korea
A video of a man hanging on a moving KTX bullet train in South Korea has gone viral.
In the video, the man is seen holding onto the train with one arm while shouting at a train employee to stop the train, which was leaving Gwangmyeong Station in Gyeonggi Province for Mokpo. The employee asked him to get off the train in Korean.
Initially, he refused and was heard saying in English: “You saw me opening the door! Why didn’t you stop it?”
He added that he had a ticket. He said: “Let me on the train, I have a ticket! Open the door please.”
The Korea Herald reported that the video was recorded at about 4pm on Dec 15 and the man appeared to be a foreigner. It added that the incident caused a temporary delay.
The man later stepped back onto the platform and walked away, with the employee tailing behind. She was heard saying in Korean: “I announced several times that the doors were closing, and to board the train.”
The man eventually got on the train but was later handed over to the train police at Gwangju Songjeong Station in South Jeolla Province and fined for violating train safety rules, according to the train operator Korea Railroad Corp (Korail), The Korea Times reported. It is unknown if he boarded the same train or a later one.
“The passenger appeared to have arrived at the train station late. But, we can’t wait for every single passenger. What he did was extremely dangerous,” a Korail official said.
South Korea’s Railway Safety Act states that no one should engage in conduct that could hinder the operation of the train without good cause. Offenders can be fined up to 5 million won ($5,099).
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