Governor Jintae Kim: "13 Trillion Won Invested in Donghae Line, Gangwon Section Must Not Lag Behind"

Attendance at the Samcheok-Gangneung Express Railway Preliminary Feasibility Study SOC Subcommittee
KDI: Final Decision by the Fiscal Project Evaluation Committee Expected as Early as This Month
City-Province Integration Focused on the West Coast... Emphasis on Balanced Development for the East Coast

Jintae Kim, Governor of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province, attended the preliminary feasibility study SOC subcommittee meeting for the Samcheok-Gangneung Express Railway ("Samcheok-Gangneung") held at KDI on January 22. There, he explained the necessity of the project and requested that the East Coast region be given the opportunity for balanced growth.

Jintae Kim, Governor of Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province. Provided by Gangwon Province

The meeting was also attended by Hongkyu Kim, Mayor of Gangneung, Kyueon Shim, Mayor of Donghae, and Sangsoo Park, Mayor of Samcheok, who conveyed the region’s earnest hopes for the project.

The "Samcheok-Gangneung" project involves upgrading the only low-speed section (60-70 km/h) of the Donghae Line (Busan-Goseong) to high-speed, covering a total length of 45.2 kilometers from Samcheok Station to Anin Signal Station, with a project cost of 1.1507 trillion won.

Once completed, the Samcheok-Gangneung section will complete the 200 km/h high-speed network of the Donghae Line, reducing the travel time between Bujeon and Gangneung by approximately 30 minutes on the KTX, making it possible to reach Gangneung in about 3 hours and 20 minutes. This is expected to dramatically improve accessibility between cities along the East Coast.

Since the Donghae Line opened on January 1, 2025, the ITX has operated four round trips daily, surpassing 1.81 million cumulative passengers in just 11 months, quickly establishing itself as a popular route.

Starting December 30, 2025, three additional round-trip KTX trains will be introduced, reducing the travel time to around 3 hours and 50 minutes and meeting the expected annual demand of approximately 2.84 million passengers. Notably, on the first day of the KTX-Eum service, more than 2,000 passengers used the line, clearly demonstrating demand for high-speed rail on the Donghae Line.

Governor Jintae Kim stated, "The Samcheok-Gangneung express upgrade is not simply a 1 trillion won investment to save 19 minutes, but rather, it is about ensuring that the Donghae Line, built with a national investment of 13 trillion won, does not become disconnected and forced to operate at a crawl in the Gangwon section." He emphasized the importance of fully implementing the national railway policy.

He added, "With 13 special zones and large-scale projects worth over 3 trillion won planned in the Samcheok, Donghae, and Gangneung areas, the benefits of high-speed rail will be maximized if the upgrade is realized." He also pointed out, "Currently, both regions where city-province integration is being promoted are concentrated on the West Coast, so the East Coast must also be considered for balanced regional development."

Meanwhile, the final decision on whether the Samcheok-Gangneung express upgrade project passes the preliminary feasibility study is expected to be made by the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Fiscal Project Evaluation Committee as early as January. For this year, 1 billion won in national funding has already been allocated to the Samcheok-Gangneung project.