Posted by Therrin Were they even awkward about it or were they just all jolly and no-hard-feelings when he got escorted out?
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Here's the story in his own words.
So I got caught in the Gyeongui tunnel last night. In the entrance near Hongdae. Someone must have seen us going in.
We were down in the separate room in the spot that has a door leading to the tracks. I had heard faint voices earlier but thought nothing of us. Suddenly someone was yelling "is someone there?" Thinking it was someone coming from the tracks, I was thinking to head back to the ladder. Trying to figure out what to do, we climbed under the machinery to another portion of that room. Just then the door leading away from the tracks in the portion we were just in opened and someone looked around with a flashlight. We just waited and suddenly the door to the portion we were in opened and the guy spotted us and led us back to the ladder.
At the bottom of the ladder there were maybe three guys and another five at the top of the vent. They didn't seem angry at all and I just casually started putting away my camera. They gave my friend a pair of gloves for climbing the ladder and offered to carry our bags. At the top the rescue workers insisted on helping us down, etc. They just kept asking if we were okay, if we were hurt, etc.
Up on the surface there were police, paramedics (with a stretcher!!), and very official looking Korail guys waiting for us. I was expecting the absolute worst but all along they just kept asking if we were okay. One guy even told me, in English, it was okay and not to worry. They very specifically explained that being down there is not a crime and they were just worried, it is dangerous, etc. We just kept saying "sorry" and the police, etc repeated "it's okay, it's okay".
They assumed my friend was also a foreigner but when they realized she is Korean they talked with her. They even very specifically explained to her that being in was not a crime and to not worry. They were just worried about us and warned us it is dangerous to enter. So I guess that is good to know for the future. Breaking into active train tunnels is dangerous but completely legal.
I didn't volunteer my ID card but they took down my friend's information. On me they just wrote NAME / AGE / NATIONALITY. Everyone started dispersing so we just followed suit and walked the opposite direction from them. All in all, after getting up to the surface, we were on our way after about five minutes.
EDIT: By the way, this was on a Saturday night around maybe 11pm.