Fireworks festival draws 30 times normal passenger traffic to Yeouido Station

The Seoul International Fireworks Festival 2026, held Saturday, drew far more subway riders than a typical Saturday to stations near Yeouido and the Han River. Yeouido Station saw passenger volume surge to about 4.8 times the normal Saturday level, largely because trains bypassed the nearby Yeouido Naru Station and funneled crowds to Yeouido instead. During the peak arrival window of 7 to 8 p.m., alightings at the station briefly hit roughly 31 times the usual figure.

Seoul Metro said Tuesday that Yeouido Station recorded 86,708 boardings and alightings between 2 p.m. and midnight on the day of the festival — a 380.8 percent increase from the 18,033 passengers logged during the same hours on a normal Aug. 29. Over the same period, Mapo Station rose from 10,496 to 59,909 passengers, a 470.8 percent increase, while Ichon Station climbed from 15,266 to 59,878, up 292.2 percent.

The surge was evident across all 12 stations near the Han River with views of the fireworks. Combined boardings and alightings at those stations from 2 p.m. to midnight totaled 639,304 — an 89.7 percent increase from the 336,991 passengers recorded on a normal Saturday.

A breakdown by hour shows a sharp spike in alightings at Yeouido Station during the event's main arrival period. Between 7 and 8 p.m., 14,223 passengers alighted — about 31 times the 458 who did so during the same hour on a normal Saturday. The 8 to 9 p.m. slot also saw 4,359 alightings, roughly 13 times the usual 335. Seoul Metro attributed the concentration to the skip-stop measure at Yeouido Naru Station, which redirected alighting demand to the adjacent Yeouido Station. To prevent dangerous overcrowding at Yeouido Naru, the operator ran trains through the station without stopping for about four hours, from 6:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m.

Now in its 22nd year, the Seoul International Fireworks Festival featured pyrotechnics teams from South Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom, each presenting a creative show reflecting their country's character. About 1 million people are estimated to have visited Han River Park and surrounding areas to enjoy the festival this year.

Seoul Metro had begun inspecting elevators and safety equipment at 10 stations near the venue before the event in anticipation of the large crowds. On the day itself, the operator deployed 261 staff members across 12 stations including Yeouido Naru, ran 18 extra train services and kept two emergency standby train sets on hand to ensure passenger safety and smooth movement.

"Although far more passengers than usual converged on subway stations near Yeouido and the Han River on the day of the fireworks festival, our thorough safety measures prevented any accidents," Seoul Metro President Kim Tae-gyun said. "We will continue to do our utmost to ensure citizens can use the subway safely and conveniently during large-scale events."