Korean Public Transportation System (From Seoul to Jeju Island)

1] For distant trip



   1. Train
      1) KTX & KTX Sancheon (산천) & SRT
          -Average Speed: 250 ~ 300 km/h
          -Price: Seoul to Daejeon is 30,000 won, Seoul to Busan is 50,000 won
          -Seat: Comfortable
          -Time: Seoul to Daejeon is 50 min , Seoul to Busan is 3 hours

      2) ITX Saemaeul (ITX 새마을)
          -Average Speed: 150 km/h
          -Price: Seoul to Daejeon is 16,000 won, Seoul to Busan is 42,600 won
          -Seat: Relatively Comfortable
          -Time: Seoul to Daejeon is 2 hours , Seoul to Busan is 5 hours

      3) MugungHwa-ho (무궁화호)
          -Average Speed: 100 km/h
          -Price: Seoul to Daejeon is 10,800 won, Seoul to Busan is 28,600 won
          -Seat: Nearly Comfortable
          -Time: Seoul to Daejeon is 2 hours , Seoul to Busan is 5 hours and 30 min

   2. Express Bus (고속버스)
          -Average Speed: 100 km/h
          -Price
           [Wudeung (우등) means comfortable seat]
           Seoul to Daejeon is 14,200 won, Seoul to Busan is 34,200 won
           [IlBan (일반) means average seat (not recommended)]
           Seoul to Daejeon is 9,700 won, Seoul to Busan is 23,000 won
          -Seat: Wudeung is comfortable, IlBan is not comfortable
          -Time: Seoul to Daejeon is 1 hours and 45 minutes , Seoul to Busan is 4 hours and 15 min

   3. Cruise Ship (여객선)
      Cruise ships are usually taken to go to island like Ulleongdo Island and Jeju Island.         [Cruise ships for Ulleongdo]
         1) Pohang to Ulleongdo Island
            Time: 3 ~ 4 hours
            Price: 56,200 won (From Pohang to Ulleongdo Island) 54,700 won (From                       Ulleongdo Island to Pohang)
            Terminal: Pohang Cruise ship terminal (포항여객선터미널)

   4. Airlines (비행기)
      Air planes are usually taken when going distant location such as Seoul to Busan,           Seoul to GwangJu, or Seoul to Jeju Island.
         1) Gimpo Domestic Airport to Jeju International Airport
            Time: 50 min
            Price: 40,000 won ~ 130,000 won (Different by seat, airline, and peak season)
            Gimpo Domestic Airport is in the west of Seoul and Subway 9 line goes the airport

2] For regional trip

If you have plan to take public transportation for regional trip, make sure to but T-money card which is used to take subway, bus, and even taxi. Although, you can just give money whenever you take transportation, I think T-money card would be more useful as it is easier to just tag your card on you way in to the subway or bus rather than asking how much is the pay for the subway or bus every time you take.



   1. Subway (지하철)
      If you want to go somewhere quickly, I recommend taking subway. Unlike bus, subway doesn't go slow while heavy traffic. However, it might be a little uncomfortable as there are not many seats in Korean subway.

   2. Bus (버스)
      If you want to see the sights and sometimes get off and experience tourist attractions in the city, I recommend taking bus. However, bus can be very uncomfortable during heavy traffic (usually near noon and dinner time).

   3. Taxi (택시)
      Taxi is good option if you need to go somewhere really quick (although sometimes taxi is slower than bus). If you are foreigner, I do not recommend taking taxi very often unless you really need to take one. Because, as many taxi drivers are old, they are not very kind and sometimes make foreigners to pay more than when Koreans take the taxi with same distance.