September 30, 2025
SEOUL – The familiar voice heard in Seoul’s subway system will be replaced by artificial intelligence after the voice actress who has recorded announcements for 29 years stepped down as she receives treatment for cancer, Seoul Metro said Monday.
Voice actress Kang Hee-sun had long voiced a total of 26 types of Korean-language automated announcements to enhance clarity. Kang is also recognized as the Korean voice of Shin-chan’s mother in the Japanese animated series “Crayon Shin-chan.” She resigned from that role in August because of her illness.
“It is sometimes not possible to update recorded announcements due to the health of the voice actor. Therefore, a more stable announcement system is needed,” Seoul Metro said in a statement.
The new system will use AI text-to-speech technology, which Seoul Metro said is more stable, allows faster updates of station names and sounds as natural as a human voice, all while reducing costs.
AI-based announcements are already in use on the Shinbundang, Sillim and Gimpo Gold lines.
