The Donghae Line KTX-Eum

For most of a century, a railway down Korea's east coast was a line on a map. Work on the missing link north of Pohang began in 1940 and stopped in 1945 with only the trackbed built; a plan of the 1960s was dropped in favour of roads. The 166 kilometres from Pohang to Samcheok finally opened on 1 January 2025, and the coast between Gangneung and Busan was joined by rail for the first time.

On 30 December 2025 Korail put the KTX-Eum on it: three trains a day each way from Gangneung to Bujeon in Busan, in just under four hours, stopping at eleven stations. It is not a fast line, and this is the quickest way to ride the whole of it: from a station on the beach at Jeongdongjin, over the tetrapods at Mukho, through the new line's tunnels and across its viaducts above the sea, to the old Silla capital of Gyeongju and on into Busan.

The morning train, 752, leaves Gangneung at 09:36. For the first hour it follows the coast line opened in 1961 and 1962, and this is where the sea is closest. Sit on the left going south, on the right going north.

The shore

Jeongdongjin, seventeen minutes out, is a station on the sand, often claimed as the closest to the sea anywhere. Beyond it the line keeps to the shore through Mukho, where it runs on a ledge above the rocks of Hapyeong beach, and reaches Donghae, where the KTX-Eum trains from Seoul turn back. The Busan train goes on to Samcheok, and from there it leaves the old railway for the new one.

The new line

South of Samcheok the track goes straight into a tunnel, and that is the pattern for the next two hours. The new line to Pohang has 64 tunnels, the longest of them 5.63 km, and the sea comes in flashes between them, often seen from viaducts high above the coast road. Through Uljin the line crosses the mouth of the Wangpi stream and spans National Route 7 on a 108-metre steel truss. Uljin and Yeongdeok, both snow-crab towns, had no railway at all until the line came. South of Yeongdeok the train joins the section that opened in 2018, and at 12:06 it is in Pohang.

Gyeongju and Busan

From Pohang the line turns inland. The train calls at Gyeongju, for the tombs and temples of the Silla kings, and at Taehwagang in Ulsan, then runs down the old Donghae Nambu line, shared with Busan's suburban trains, to Bujeon at 13:36.

The train

The KTX-Eum is Korail's own six-car high-speed unit, built by Hyundai Rotem and in service since January 2021; eum means a link. It is designed for 260 km/h, and here it never gets near it: the new line is built for 200 km/h at most, and the coast line north of Samcheok for much less. It has premium seats as well as standard class, and every seat is reserved.

Three KTX-Eum trains run each way every day, all year. For the sea, take one of the first two: the evening trains run the coast in the dark for much of the year.

Southbound, Gangneung to Bujeon

Northbound, Bujeon to Gangneung

Times are departures, except at the ends of each run. The line also has slower ITX-Maeum and Nuriro trains, which stop at more of the small coast stations but take about an hour longer.

As of October 2026, for Korail's timetable in force from 1 November 2026. Korail publishes its timetables on its timetable page (opens in a new tab).

The KTX-Eum is booked like any Korail train: on korail.com, in English on its site for foreign visitors, in the Korail Talk app or at a station. Sales open a month ahead at 07:00. A one-way ticket from Gangneung to Bujeon costs ₩46,800 in standard class and ₩56,200 in the premium car; shorter journeys are priced by distance.

There are only three trains a day, and they fill up, above all around New Year, when crowds go to Jeongdongjin for the first sunrise. Book early for a weekend or a holiday.

The KORAIL PASS, sold to foreign visitors for two to five days, is valid on the KTX-Eum, and with it you can reserve up to two seats a day. It does not cover the SRT.

For this ride alone it is rarely worth it: one ₩46,800 ticket is a small part of the price of a pass. It pays when the same days carry other long journeys, such as Seoul to Gangneung before and Busan back to Seoul after.

Checked October 2026 against Korail's KORAIL PASS details (opens in a new tab).

The KTX-Eum stops at the towns, so each of these is a short taxi or bus ride from a station: Ojukheon from Gangneung, the cave from Samcheok, and Yangdong from Gyeongju.

The first train south leaves Gangneung at 09:36, so a night in Gangneung makes an easy start. Going north, the 07:50 from Bujeon means a night in central Busan. With three trains a day, the ride also breaks well at Pohang or Gyeongju for a night on the way.

Planning this trip and stuck on something, or spotted a time, fare or detail that has changed? Send us a message about The Donghae Line KTX-Eum. We read every one, and we update this page when something has changed.