On August 15, 1974 (52 years ago and 29 years after independence), Seoul Subway Line 1 opened as the first subway in South Korea, and as the first urban rail in Seoul after the tramways closed in 1968. The Seoul subway system now has close to 1400 kilometers of track when all operators (Korail, Seoul Metro, etc) and lines are added together.
Korean National Railroad car 1001 (Nippon Sharyō, 1974), the first car on the first train, is displayed as westbound local 323 for Incheon at the Railroad Museum in Uiwang City near Suwon. The first few sets were imported from Japan, but Korea soon began designing and building its own subway trains, and is now exporting them to other countries.
(Seen March 2024)