SEOUL, South Korea — An officer on his way to work and several commuters took turns performing CPR after a man collapsed during the morning rush at Wangsimni subway station, according to official police video and Korean news reports.
Watch the Korean National Police Agency footage
The rescue is documented in surveillance footage released by the Korean National Police Agency. Because the story materially depends on that video, ThinBlueNews is embedding the agency's official public upload below and providing a direct source link as a fallback.
Video source: Korean National Police Agency. The official video is in Korean and preserves privacy by blurring faces. If the player does not load, watch the agency's public YouTube upload.
Commuters moved the man away from the escalator
The incident happened at about 7 a.m. July 15 on a platform at Wangsimni Station, according to SBS News. A man in his 60s lost consciousness while riding down an escalator and came to rest near its moving end.
Nearby commuters moved him onto a safer part of the platform and checked his condition. Officer Lee Hyun-woo of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Urban Expressway Patrol Unit was passing through on his way to work and moved in to help.
Lee said he found the man unconscious and not breathing, then immediately began chest compressions. The official footage shows commuters gathered around the patient as the response continued.
CPR continued as rescuers rotated
When Lee began to tire, a commuter offered to take over CPR. Another commuter later rotated in, allowing compressions to continue without interruption, according to SBS and The Korea Herald.
Lee also asked people nearby to continue watching the man's condition and help where they could. Money Today reported that other commuters retrieved the station's automated external defibrillator and followed telephone guidance from emergency responders while help was on the way.
Police said the man regained consciousness before emergency responders arrived. He was taken to a hospital, recovered and was later discharged. ThinBlueNews is not publishing his name or image.
Lee credited the people around him for making the response a team effort. “There were many citizens around, and that gave me a lot of support,” he said in the police video, as translated in local reporting.
The Korean National Police Agency uploaded the 1-minute, 58-second video July 31. By Aug. 3, the public upload had drawn more than 300,000 views, bringing wider attention to the coordinated rescue.
Readers can find more verified lifesaving stories in ThinBlueNews' police heroism, first responder news and positive police news coverage.
Sources, video and visual attribution
- Korean National Police Agency: official Wangsimni Station rescue video, uploaded July 31, 2026. Primary source for the surveillance footage, Lee's recorded account and the sequence of the public response.
- SBS News: “Commuter Rush at Wangsimni Station Turns to Panic... A Miracle in the Crowd,” published Aug. 3, 2026. Local report for the incident time, location, officer assignment, CPR rotation and recovery outcome; SBS labels its English version as an AI translation.
- The Korea Herald: “Commuters, police officer's rescue at a Seoul subway station goes viral,” published Aug. 3, 2026. English-language local reporting that confirms the man's age range, discharge and video-view milestone.
- Money Today: report on the Wangsimni Station relay CPR response, published Aug. 3, 2026. Korean-language local source for the AED response and emergency-call guidance.
Featured-image note: The image is a true frame from the Korean National Police Agency's official surveillance-video release. ThinBlueNews cropped the complete 16:9 frame to its 1200-by-630 article layout without generating, replacing or fabricating any person, action or station detail. The agency's privacy blurring and on-screen source graphics remain intact.
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