Транспортная система Южной Кореи: история и современность

none

Transportation in South Korea is provided by extensive networks of railways, highways, bus routes, ferry services and air routes that traverse the country. South Korea is the third country in the world to operate a maglev train, which is an automatically run people mover at Incheon International Airport.

Development of modern infrastructure began with the first Five Year Development Plan (1962–66), which included the construction of 275 kilometers of railways and several small highway projects. Construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway, which connects the two major cities of Seoul and Busan, was completed on 7 July 1970. The 1970s saw increased commitment to infrastructure investments. The third Five Year Development Plan (1972–76) added the development of airports, seaports. The Subway system was built in Seoul, the highway network was expanded by 487 km and major port projects were started in Pohang, Ulsan, Masan, Incheon and Busan. (Stopped its service)

South Korea's six largest cities — Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon and Incheon — all have subway systems. Seoul's subway system is the oldest system in the country, with the Seoul Station – Cheongnyangni section of Line 1 opening in 1974.

The first tram line in Seoul started operation between Seodaemun and Cheongnyangni in December 1898. The network was expanded to cover the whole downtown area (Jung gu and Jongno gu districts) as well as surrounding neighbourhoods, including Cheongnyangni in the east, Mapo gu in the west, and Noryangjin across the Han River to the south. The networks reached its peak in 1941, but was abandoned in favor of cars and the development of a subway system in 1968. Seoul Subway Line 1 and Line 2 follow the old streetcar routes along Jongno and Euljiro, respectively. A new tram line is scheduled to open in Seoul in 2025, and openings are planned in Suwon and Seongnam in Gyeonggi do, as well as in Busan and Daejeon.

Virtually all towns in South Korea of all sizes are served by regional bus service. Regional routes are classified as gosok bus (고속버스, "high speed" express bus) or sioe bus (시외버스, "suburban" intercity bus) with gosok buses operating over the longer distances and making the fewest (if any) stops en route. Shioe buses typically operate over shorter distances, are somewhat slower, and make more stops. It is possible to reach another city by intercity buses. From Seoul, the place is Express Bus Terminal, the subway station is served by Seoul Subway Lines 3, 7 and 9.

Incheon International Airport is served by an extensive network of high speed buses from all parts of the country. Beginning in the late 1990s, many department stores operated their own small networks of free buses for shoppers, but government regulation, confirmed by a court decision on June 28, 2001, have banned department stores from operating buses. However, most churches, daycare centres and private schools send buses around to pick up their congregants, patients or pupils.

Virtually cut off from the Asian mainland, South Korea is a seafaring nation, with one of the world's largest shipbuilding industries and an extensive system of ferry services. South Korea operates one of the largest merchant fleets serving China, Japan and the Middle East. Most fleet operators are large conglomerates, while most ferry operators are small, private operators. There are 1,609 km of navigable waterways in South Korea, though use is restricted to small craft.

The southern and westerns coasts of the country are dotted with small islands which are served by ferries. In addition, the larger offshore Jeju and Ulleung Islands are also served by ferry. Major centres for ferry service include Incheon, Mokpo, Pohang and Busan, as well as China and Japan.

The cities have major ports Jinhae, Incheon, Gunsan, Masan, Mokpo, Pohang, Busan ( Busan Port), Donghae, Ulsan, Yeosu, Jeju.

Korean Air was founded by the government in 1962 to replace Korean National Airlines and has been privately owned since 1969. It was South Korea's sole airline until 1988. In 2008, Korean Air served 2,164 million passengers, including 1,249 million international passengers. A second carrier, Asiana Airlines, was established in 1988 and originally served Seoul, Jeju and Busan domestically and Bangkok, Singapore, Japan and Los Angeles internationally. By 2006, Asiana served 12 domestic cities, 66 cities in 20 foreign countries for commercial traffic and 24 cities in 17 countries for cargo traffic. Combined, South Korean airlines currently serve 297 international routes. Smaller airliners, such as Air Busan, Jin Air, Eastar Jet and Jeju Air, provide domestic service and Japan/Southeast Asian route with lower fares. South Korea contains the busiest passenger air corridor as measured by passengers per year. Over ten million people traveled between Seoul Gimpo Airport and Jeju in 2015 alone. As competition is fierce and prices affordable, the trend has been increasingly towards more air travel on this route. Similarly, air travel is also growing between Jeju and other mainland airports. There is discussion about a Jeju Undersea Tunnel which would make many of these domestic flights redundant. Along other routes, air travel competes with the KTX high speed rail service and has declined in the 2000s and 2010s.