OK, so this might be a little old, but it happened as I was gearing up for vacation.

Travel around Seoul and Gyeonggi-do got a little bit easier as 2010 came to a close:

The Seoul subway system has featured posters such as these in every station I’ve visited recently. For the sake of non-Korean readers (and people who love reading about travel in South Korea), let’s break this down.

The Jungang line – Seoul to eastern Gyeonggi-do

There are two train lines that can take you from Seoul to eastern Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do. The Jungang line connects to several places on the Seoul subway system – Ichon (line 4), Oksu (line 3), Cheongnyangni (line 1), and Sangbong (line 7) are some of those connections. This train will take you all the way to Yongmun – the best way to reach Yongmunsa – but also stops at Yangpyeong – close to a wonderful sledding hill.

The complete list of stations on the Jungang line, starting in central Seoul and heading east to Gyeonggi-do:

• Yongsan (western terminus)
• Ichon (transfer to line 4)
• Seobinggo
• Hannam
• Oksu (transfer to line 3)
• Eungbong
• Wangsimni (transfer to line 2 or 5)
• Cheongnyangni (transfer to line 1)
• Hoegi
• Jungnang
• Sangbong (transfer to line 7)
• Mangu *** (SEE IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW)
• Yangwon
• Guri
• Donong
• Yangjeong
• Deokso
• Dosim
• Paldang
• Ungilsan
• Yangsu
• Sinwon
• Guksu
• Asin
• Obin (newly opened)
• Yangpyeong
• Wondeok
• Yongmun (eastern terminus)

If you have an older Seoul subway map, you might see Paldang or Guksu as the eastern terminus; nowadays, the ‘subway’ goes even further than those maps show. To call it a subway is a misnomer, since much of the train runs aboveground.

*** Important note about Mangu station (망우역): the Seoul subway maps make it look like the Jungang line splits into two directions. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Mangu station is the starting point or western terminus for the Gyeongchun, but you’ll have to get off from the Jungang line and transfer. Until the subway maps show two different colors for the two different lines (they’re both a teal green right now), there’s bound to be some confusion.

The Gyeongchun line – Seoul to Chuncheon

Call it a long-term engineering project, or a step in the right direction, but this version of the Gyeongchun line is 13 years in the making. Although the old version of the line served as a commuter train, it was not quite as frequent or as straight as the newer version:

Credit: Joongang Daily

At 81.4 kilometers long, the Gyeongchun subway line will get you from Sangbong station (in Seoul) to Chuncheon (in Gangwon-do) in 1 1/2 hours. Although there aren’t (yet) many stops with major tourist attractions nearby, the Maseok Chamsut Gama, or charcoal sauna, is a pretty easy walk from Maseok station. The Cheongpyeong station looks pretty close to Cheongpyeong Lake, while Gapyeong station may make it easier to reach the Jarasum Jazz Festival in the future.

The complete list of stations on the Gyeongchun line, starting in Seoul and heading east to Gangwon-do:

• Mangu (western / Seoul terminus)
• Galmae
• Toegyewon
• Sareung
• Geumgok
• Pyeongnae-Hopyeong
• Maseok
• Daeseong-ri
• Cheongpyeong
• Sangcheon
• Gapyeong
• Gulbongsan
• Baegyang-ri
• Gangchon
• Gimyujeong
• Namchuncheon
• Chuncheon (eastern terminus)

My eagle-eyed readers might notice that ‘Gimyujeong’ sounds like a Korean name – and right you are. Sometimes Romanized as Kim You-jeong or Kim Yu-Jeong, 김유정 (1908-1937) is considered one of Korea’s leading short-story novelists. His hometown is in Sindong-myeon, the area of the station, and features an exhibition hall along with his birth home.

So here it is, the beginning of 2011, and the Seoul subway system takes you across three different provinces and all around one of Asia’s largest cities. Welcome to the future.

© Chris Backe – 2011

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