“Am I the only one bothered by this?”... A child with their feet up on a subway seat, even though their mother was sitting right beside them [What do you think?]

[Financial News] A photo showing a child sitting with their shoes on and feet up on a subway seat, while a guardian does nothing to stop them, has been posted online, drawing criticism from netizens.
On the 11th, a photo taken inside a subway car was posted on Threads, a social networking service (SNS), alongside the post, “Am I the only one bothered by this?”
The photo posted by a person identified as A shows a child sitting with their shoes on and feet up on a seat.
Based on reporting by this newspaper, A witnessed the scene at around 2:30 p.m. on the 9th while riding Seoul Subway Line 4 toward Sadang Station.
In the post, A wrote, “For the record, the person sitting next to the child is their mother,” and asked, “Wouldn’t most people tell their own child to put their feet down if they were sitting like that?”
A went on to provide more details in the comments. A wrote, “The guardian was actually talking with the child while they sat like that, looking at their phone and holding the child’s legs.”
A added, “Even if the child was tired and needed to put their feet up, shouldn’t the guardian at least have made a show of either having them take off their shoes or putting something under the shoes before they put their feet up? It’s a public place.”
A explained why they had not intervened directly, telling a netizen who said, “If I had been sitting next to the child, I would have told them to put their feet down,” “It’s a little awkward when the mother is sitting right there.”
Most netizens who saw the post said they found the situation uncomfortable. They left comments such as, “What about people who sit there without knowing?”, “Even giving them every benefit of the doubt, they should take off their shoes before putting their feet up,” and “So this is why complaints about dirty seats come in because of kids like that.”
Some netizens, however, cautioned against directing blame at the child, saying, “The child isn’t at fault. The problem is the parent, who just sits there even though they can clearly see what’s happening.”

[email protected] Seong Min-seo Reporter