asbestos in the subway

Not good!!!

Subway Passengers Exposed to Asbestos
By Bae Ji-sookStaff Reporter
Passengers are exposed to asbestos, a material that can cause cancer, when subway surfaces deteriorate and the material used for bonding them is released in the air.
This is the first time the material has been found in passenger sections of subway stations.
Seoul Metro conducted inspections on 30 subway stations from last November and found that 17 had asbestos in the ceilings and platforms.
Among those 17, 14 stations were on subway line 2 _ City hall, Euljiro Ipgu, Sangwangshimni, Hanyang University, Samsung, Sollung, Seoul National University of Education, Socho, Pangbae, Naksongdae, Pongchon, Mullae and Youngdungpogu office. The material was also found in the air at Chungmuro of line three and Sungshin Women’s University and Sookmyung Women’s University stations.
Asbestos is said to absorb noise, and stations used it on facilities to lessen the noise and vibration from trains.
It said that a particle of asbestos, as small as 0.02 micrometers, can lodge in human lung tissue and cause deadly diseases including cancer or malignant mesothelioma. Also, drinking fluid containing particles of asbestos is 20 times more dangerous than being exposed to radioactivity.
"The health of subway workers and passengers is actually in danger. But people are not as aware of the danger as they are for radioactivity," said Prof. Lim Sang-hyuk of Wonjin Green Hospital.
Seoul Metro said that asbestos used in construction is usually solid and safe at most times, but the aging of facilities might have caused the problem. "We will conduct monthly air quality audit from this year, and also gradually get rid of the asbestos," a company spokesman said.
In the United States or European countries, asbestos is banned from use and in Korea the use will be banned from industrial sites from 2009.
[The Korea Times]

scary

I just had a drunk crazy man attack me on the subway... very scary............
I've had drunk Korean men make eyes at me, follow me, etc. I've even had one grab my ass at one point (he thought I was Russian). But THIS was different. He wasn't just a drunk Korean... he really was crazy. He was drunk and dirty and smelly. His clothes were too big, and very dirty. He had shoes but no socks.
He was making a scene... making all sorts of noise, stumbling around... All of the Koreans were avoiding him... One got up from where he was sitting to sit somewhere else, and walked past me, at which point the drunk crazy man noticed me...
It was before my transfer stop so I was standing in line at the door... At first I thought he was following the guy that went past me... but then he stopped. He got in front of me and stood there looking at me... I went to move around him, at which point he grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back...
I said "don't touch me" and he repeated "touch me??"
He started to move towards me again, and wouldn't let me pass him, so I quickly went to the next door... where there was a large group waiting....
I went through the group but he grabbed the back of my jacket and started pulling me with him.... Then the Korean guys around me stepped in to help me. They had to literally rip him off of me... I'm not sure what happened. I think one pulled my jacket and the other pulled him... He ended up sprawled on the floor on the other side...
I was in such a hurry to get out of there when the doors opened (right then) that I didn't even say thank you... I was so frazzled that I didn't know which way I was going and kept having to turn around... I went the wrong way twice (trying to transfer). I am still shaking.