Seoul Subway

On March 7, 2025 by admin With 0 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

The Seoul subway is shy about getting photographed.

Seoul subway station showing entry doors open to stopped train
Train stations are sealed and you enter the train via sliding doors once it has arrived, like getting on an elevator
Long photo showing closed doors in Seoul subway station
Seoul subway train photographed in station with glowing windows and people visible inside
Unlike Japan where there is only a half wall, the Seoul subways are completely enclosed in the stations. This is a photo through the door glass of a train on the far tracks. I know there must be stations where the trains are visible but I haven’t travelled to one yet.
Seoul subway ticket machines
Ticket machines
Spotless interior of a Seoul subway train
The trains here are wide with sliding doors so you can travel between cars. All of the trains and stations are spotless.
Crossing the Han River on Line 2. Video by me with music credit to Airy “Eden” from the album “Seeds”

SOUNDS OF THE SEOUL SUBWAY

The subway system has a few different sounds for different purposes.

This one is for the arrival of a southbound train:

Here is the one for the arrival of a northbound train:

Doors closing/doors opening announcements:

Transfer announcement music: This one is interesting because there is a pre-pandemic song and a post-pandemic song. The new song with an upbeat 4/4 tempo was chosen by Seoul Metro to “give a sense of vitality to citizens as they prepare for a new daily life, now that the end of the pandemic is in sight.”

Pre-pandemic transfer song (you can still hear this one on line 1 sometimes)

Post-pandemic transfer song

If i can get a picture of a naked train later, I will update this post…

Getting Around Seoul

Here is a like to the Seoul Metro website for maps, fares and user guides Seoul Subway. In Japan, Google maps and Apple maps seem pretty reliable but, I find local mapping apps much easier and much more accurate in Korea. I would recommend using either Naver Map or Kakao Map instead. They both have excellent apps which will work (mostly) with English too.

If you do end up using Google or Apple for directions in either Korea or Japan, I would suggest selecting the “direct” or “easiest” route (if there is a choice) rather than the “fastest” which often goes through alleys, construction sites and backyards to save a few meters. Trust me on this one…

If you enjoy subway sounds, check out this post from Tokyo or this one from Busan.

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