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Democratic Party slams Seoul mayor after latest Hangang Bus ferry accident

Published: 16 Nov. 2025, 14:07 Updated: 16 Nov. 2025, 17:16

Officials work to recover a Hangang Bus ferry on the Han River on Nov. 16 after it got stuck on a shallow riverbed while operating between Ttukseom and Jamsil the previous day. [YONHAP]

After another accident prompted a partial suspension of operations on the Hangang Bus ferry — a signature initiative of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon — the Democratic Party (DP) called for the entire service to be halted and launched a full-blown political offensive against the mayor.

"There have been 16 accidents so far, yet Mayor Oh continues to push forward with the Hangang Bus without a comprehensive review,” DP lawmaker Park Ju-min, who is preparing a bid for Seoul mayor, said at an emergency press conference at the National Assembly on Sunday, denouncing the repeated incidents.

“Will it take someone being seriously injured or killed for operations to stop? We have demanded a full suspension and a thorough reassessment before resuming service, but our calls have gone ignored,” he added, urging Oh to make a decisive move.

Fellow DP lawmaker Kim Young-bae, who is also considering a run for mayor, wrote on Facebook that “Heinrich’s Law — also known as the 1:29:300 rule — states that for every major accident, there are 29 minor accidents and 300 warning signs. The stream of accidents since the launch of the Hangang Bus is a red flag pointing to a major disaster.” Kim called on Mayor Oh to “suspend the Hangang Bus immediately before it risks any lives.”

Rep. Cheon Jun-ho, who heads the DP’s task force investigating Mayor Oh for administrative failures and alleged personal misconduct, criticized city officials for their lack of transparency.

“The Seoul city government is not providing real-time information about these accidents or a clear plan for response,” Cheon said. “If even minor incidents are not addressed rigorously and shared publicly, there’s a real risk of signs of future accidents being concealed. Concealment amounts to a crime.” He added, “Operations must be halted now for a full safety review.”

Democratic Party lawmakers criticize Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's decision to continue the operation of Hangang Bus ferries despite repeated accidents, during their inspection at the Jamsil dock in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on Nov. 16. [NEWS1]

The latest incident occurred Saturday night, when a Hangang Bus operating between Ttukseom and Jamsil got stuck on a shallow riverbed. All 82 passengers were rescued unharmed. The service, which had been suspended for a month due to frequent malfunctions, had only resumed earlier this month. After the latest incident, the city announced it would operate only a limited section of the route — between Magok and Yeouido — and assess river depths during the dry season before deciding on whether to resume full operations.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok also ordered the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to “thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident, reexamine safety and emergency response systems, and, if necessary, consider extending the suspension period to ensure passenger safety.”

DP Chairperson Jung Chung-rae also weighed in, sharing an article about the accident and writing, “No administrative goal is more important than safety.”

A post notifies visitors that the Hangang Bus ferry operations are halted at the Jamsil dock in southern Seoul on Nov. 16, after a ferry operating between Ttukseom and Jamsil got stuck on a shallow riverbed on Nov. 15. [YONHAP]

The party also slammed Mayor Oh’s redevelopment plan for a 145-meter-high (475.7-foot) skyscraper next to Jongmyo Shrine, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

“Even during the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, an agreement with the Cultural Heritage Administration [now Korea Heritage Service] capped the height at 71.9 meters," said DP Policy Committee Chair Han Jeoung-ae.

"The [former] Yoon Suk Yeol government’s Cultural Heritage Administration has also expressed regret over Seoul’s disregard for this agreement and asked the city to adhere to it.” She warned, “Raising the floor area ratio from 600 percent to 1,000 percent risks handing over unfair advantages to developers.”

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 HA JUN-HO [[email protected]]