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Seoul subway transitions to AI announcements, ending Kang Hee-sun's three decade role

Published: 29 Sep. 2025, 15:48

Voice actor Kang Hee-sun is seen announcing the news of her cancer diagnosis on an episode of the tvN television variety show ″You Quiz on the Block″ in 2024. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Artificial intelligence will soon take over Seoul subway announcements, marking the end of nearly three decades of recordings by voice actor Kang Hee-sun, who is stepping down as she battles cancer.

Seoul Metro said Monday that 26 different onboard audio announcements are currently delivered using recordings by female voice actors to enhance clarity for passengers.

Among them, the iconic Korean-language announcements such as “The next station is [station name]” and “The train bound for [destination] is now arriving” have long been voiced exclusively by Kang. She recorded the clips in a studio, reading directly from the script provided.

Kang handled the Korean-language announcements, with other voice actors recording the foreign language announcements, including voice actor Jennifer Clyde for English.

However, with Kang now undergoing treatment for colon cancer, Seoul Metro has decided to switch from studio recordings to AI text-to-speech technology. Kang publicly revealed her colon cancer diagnosis last year on tvN’s “You Quiz on the Block” (2018-). She also stepped down last month from her 26-year-long role as the mother of the animated character Shin Chan, in the Korean dub of “Crayon Shin-chan” (1992-).

Seoul Metro said the decision was made in part to address the limitations of relying on a single individual.

“Due to the difficulty of updating audio files based on one person’s health, we determined it was necessary to build a more stable announcement system,” the company said.

AI-generated speech offers faster updates for new scripts or station name changes, and the synthesized voices closely replicate natural human intonation. Seoul Metro said it plans to train the AI system using Kang’s existing recordings to minimize the sense of unfamiliarity among passengers.

AI-generated subway announcements are already in use on light rail lines including the Shinbundang Line, the Sillim Line and the Gimpo Goldline.

Seoul Metro will begin trial operations of the AI voice system on Lines No. 3, 4 and 6.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]