The cursed 35 stairs at Seoul’s busiest subway station for older adults

Shin Sung-sik

The author is a welfare specialist reporter at the JoongAng Ilbo. 

“Thanks to your help, I made it up easily. Thank you so much.”

An older woman in her 80s bowed deeply after I carried her groceries up a staircase at Cheongnyangni Station in Seoul. Her already bent back curved further as she expressed her gratitude. Even without carrying any bags, climbing the stairs seemed difficult for her. She had just arrived on a train bound for Wolgye-dong and appeared anxious to return home quickly to prepare dinner for her family.

The scene unfolded at line No. 1’s Cheongnyangni Station at around 5:30 p.m. on May 13. I have long dubbed the stairway there the “cursed 35 stairs.” Months earlier, I suggested to station staff that an escalator should be installed. In an aging society, the staircase increasingly feels like a physical barrier confronting older commuters.

Recently, Seoul Metro released its first-quarter data on free subway rides for people 65 and older. Cheongnyangni Station recorded the largest number of older riders using free transit passes at 760,000 people, and Jegi-dong Station posted the highest proportion, with older adults accounting for 47 percent of passengers. Notably, the report emphasized the financial burden of these free rides.

But both stations sit beside some of Korea’s largest traditional markets: Gyeongdong Market, Cheongnyangni fruit and vegetable market, a seafood market, Dongseo Market and Yangnyeong herbal medicine market. Kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) costs 4,000 won ($2.65), barley bibimbap (seaweed rice rolls) 6,000 won and four fish-shaped pastries just 1,000 won. For many older residents, the area acts as an affordable lifeline, where they can still buy meals and groceries at relatively low prices.

Among Cheongnyangni Station’s six exits, 1 and 6 face the market district. Exit 1 has only stairs — 70 of them. Exit 6 has escalators and elevators, but passengers must still climb 35 stairs to reach the train platform. Unlike at newer stations where elevators connect directly to platforms, the design leaves older riders, especially those carrying carts and groceries, struggling through a final obstacle.

Over the course of 30 minutes, more than 100 older passengers climbed the staircase. One man used a cane in his left hand while gripping the rail with his right. Women dragged carts stuffed with groceries up one step at a time. Some stopped midway to rest, breathing heavily before continuing upward.

After I helped one woman lift her cart, she smiled awkwardly and said, “I only bought a little.” Nobody had criticized her purchases, but the remark reflected the discomfort many older people feel about needing assistance. The carts are usually filled with vegetables, garlic, side dishes and inexpensive market goods intended for daily meals.

Then what I would describe as an angel appeared. Son Seok-han, from Dongdaemun District, carried another woman’s cart. She initially waved him away, insisting that she was fine. Son replied, “How can this be fine? It’s this heavy.”

“This is an extremely difficult place for older women carrying [anything],” he said. “Sometimes I help two or three people.”

There is a barrier-free route. From exit 2, passengers can take two elevators directly to the platform. But the route lies on the opposite side of the market and requires crossing narrow sidewalks and intersections. Following older shoppers from the market to the elevators took more than 10 minutes, excluding wait times at crossings and for elevators. For older adults already struggling with arthritis or reduced mobility, the detour itself can become another burden.

At nearby Jegi-dong Station on May 14, conditions were similar. An escalator connects exit 2 near Yangnyeong Market to the underground level, but passengers still face 27 stairs before reaching the platform.

An 84-year-old woman carrying garlic from Gyeongdong Market said that she had dragged her cart down each step individually before resting on the platform.

“It was so hard that I let three trains pass while resting,” she said, drinking canned coffee and murmuring, “This is exhausting.”

She has visited the market for 20 years, enduring those same stairs the entire time.

Line No. 1 opened in 1974 and has struggled to keep pace with Korea’s rapidly aging population. Stations on the line average just 7.2 elevators and escalators each, far below newer lines such as line No. 7 (12.6) or the second- and third-phase sections of line No. 9 (19.7).

According to Korea’s health care big data system, 2.64 million Koreans aged 65 or older received arthritis treatment in 2024, accounting for 26.6 percent of the older population. In a 2023 older adult welfare survey, “climbing stairs or ramps” ranked as the greatest inconvenience when going out. Boarding and exiting buses or subways also ranked high among reported difficulties, particularly among women.

Park Hyun-young, the former head of the National Institute of Health and a cardiology professor at Nowon Eulji Medical Center, said that policies guaranteeing older adult mobility rights have focused on fare discounts rather than physical accessibility.

“If physical barriers remain neglected, the fundamental problem cannot be solved,” she said, calling for more elevators, barrier-free ramps and legal enforcement of accessibility requirements for transportation facilities.

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.