Subway System

Seoul's subway system is the largest in the country and transports about 5.6 million passengers a day. It first went into service in 1974 with the opening of Line 1 and now consists of eight lines extending nearly 287 kilometers with stops at 263 stations providing links between almost all the densely populated neighborhoods in metropolitan Seoul.

Subway service is also available in five other cities: Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju and Daejeon. The two lines in Busan, which first began in 1985, span 88.8 kilometers with 93 stops in major downtown and suburban locations and carry over 706,000 people a day. Daegu's lines 1 and 2, which were opened in 1997 and 2005 respectively, run 57.3 kilometers through 56 stations. Incheon commenced subway service in October 1999 and the system now covers 22 stations and 24.6 kilometers of railways. Gwangju's Line 1, opened in April, 2004, runs 12.0 kilometers through 14 stations. Daejeon began subway service in March, 2006, spanning 12.4 kilometers with 12 stops.

Gwanghwamun Subway Station on Line 5

Still under construction are Phase 3 of Line 9 in Seoul. And Phase are underway for Phase 2 of Line 3 in Busan, Phase 1 of Line 2 in Incheon, Gwangju and Daejeon. Subway systems in Korea feature the most up-to-date facilities and are becoming the preferred mode of mass transportation for their convenience.


Railway Service

As of July 2005, the railway system of Korea encompassed 79 routes spanning 3,389 operational kilometers. The railway plays an important role in intercity passenger and freight transport. Korea Railroad (KORAIL) has 3,935 locomotives (including 920 locomotives for the high-speed rail service) and 15,062 rail cars. Passenger cars account for 1,192 of the total while freight cars make up nearly all the rest. The Saemaeul express train travels the distance of 442 kilometers between Seoul and Busan in about four and a half hours.

For railway traffic safety and efficiency, KORAIL operates the Centralized Traffic Control System (CTC), which regulates Seoul suburban lines and the Gyeongbu, Jungang, Taebaek, Honam, and Yeongdong lines, covering 1,778 kilometers. All these lines are equipped with an automatic train stop system to help prevent accidents.

The high-speed service linking Seoul with the southern port city of Busan was launched in April 2004. The new bullet train service, dubbed Korea Train Express or KTX, cut travel time from Seoul to Busan to two hours and 40 minutes from four and a half hours. Started in 1992, Phase 1 of the project consisted of new high-speed rail construction from Seoul to Daegu, while upgrading the existing line from Daegu to Busan. Phase 2 will see the completion of a new high-speed line from Daegu to Busan in 2010. When the second phase is finished in 2010, the Seoul-Busan travel time will be cut to 2 hours and 10 minutes. It is expected to help ease current traffic congestion oan highways, offering greater convenience to the traveling public.


Automobiles

Motor vehicle registration in Korea increased dramatically from 527,729 in 1980 to 15,493,681 in 2006 due to a steady rise in family income and living standards, expansion of suburbs, and development of the car manufacturing industry. This is an average annual increase of about 14 percent. In particular, passenger cars saw the largest increase jumping from 249,102 to 11,224,016, more than 45 times. The number of other vehicles registered as of Feb. 2006 are combined 1,113,935 passenger/cargo vehicles, 3,107,729 trucks, and 48,001 special vehicles.


Buses and Taxis

Mainly city buses, airport limousines, intercity express buses in Korea service routes throughout metropolitan areas and beyond. In Seoul, for example, city buses run on major corridors of the city, airport limousine buses run to and from the Incheon International Airport and urban centers and other suburbs in the metropolitan area, and express buses operate between all principal cities in the country providing linkages outside of Seoul.

Taxis play a vital role in meeting transportation needs in large cities. Deluxe taxis charge higher fares and aim to provide better services than the more-common regular taxis. All deluxe taxis and many regular taxis offer free interpretation service in English, Japanese and Chinese through mobile phone connection for the convenience of foreign visitors.

As in many other industrializing nations, cities in Korea face problems such as traffic congestion and limited parking spaces. In order to alleviate these problems, the government introduced measures such as bus-only lanes and transport cards to improve bus transportation service so as to encourage more commuters to leave their cars at home.

Various Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures have also been implemented to effectively manage passenger car traffic. Such measures include congestion tolls at Namsan tunnels, discounts on Traffic Impact Fees for employers adopting programs, e.g. car-pooling, to help reduce traffic volume, and flexible pricing for parking which allows higher parking fees in congested areas.



Expressway Systems

Expressways connect Seoul with provincial cities and towns placing any destination in Korea within a day¡¯s travel. The 24-kilometer Seoul-Incheon Expressway, completed in 1968, was the first modern highway built in Korea. The much longer 425.5-kilometer Seoul-Busan Expressway was completed two years later, setting a milestone in the nation's efforts to expand and modernize its transportation network. As of the end of 2005, there were 24 expressways covering all parts of the country, stretching 2,968 kilometers in all.

Intercity highways make the whole country accessible for one-day trips.

International and Domestic Air Transport

Korea has air service agreements with 85 countries and major international airlines. The country's two major airlines now offer over 1,700 scheduled direct or non-stop flights a week from Korea to major cities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. In 1969, when the government-owned Korean Air Lines (KAL) was privatized, KAL had only two jet aircraft. Today, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines¡¯ combined fleet exceeds 180 passenger and cargo aircraft, and the number continues to grow.

Incheon International Airport

As of the end of 2004, the two carriers served 95 cities around the world ranking 5th in the world in annual cargo handling capacity and 12th in passenger transport. Within Korea, the two airlines fly between 14 cities: Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Daegu, Gwangju, Jinju, Wonju, Cheongju, Yeosu, Ulsan, Mokpo, Gunsan, Yangyang and Pohang. Together, they moved more than 21.3 million passengers between these destinations in 2003.

Incheon International Airport, opened in March 2001, is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and provides advanced traffic networks for its customers. With its strategic location, the new airport is poised to become a leading logistics and transportation hub in Northeast Asia. Expansion plans for the airport area include establishing a Free Trade Zone, International Business District and Special Economic Zone.


Maritime Transportation

Container ships from Korea ply international sea lanes to ports in South and North America, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and Africa. Foreign ocean liners, cruise ships and passenger-carrying freighters also pay frequent visits to Korean ports. The annual cargo handling capability of Korea's ports in 2003 amounted to about 596 million tons, compared to 9 million tons in 1961. In 1996, the government upgraded the Korea Maritime and Port Administration, established in 1976, to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. This change reflects the increasing importance of maritime transportation in national development.