Korean Crash Course: The Subway

The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is composed of 11 separate lines that cover the entire urban area, service both of the city's airports, and extend into outlying cities such as Incheon. The lines are constantly criss-crossing, creating an intricate web of transfer points. The Seoul Metro is highly accessible to English-speaking foreigners, although usage by foreigners seems to be disproportionately low. When transferring, there are strips of color and arrows marking where you need to go for the entire duration of the transfer, making the trip extremely easy. I would estimate that at any stop that is also a transfer, at least 80% of disembarking passengers will make a transfer instead of exiting, which leads me to wonder how anyone ever makes it to their destination.

The Metro is by far the cheapest way to travel, and the pricing is made according to a zoning system, whereby the farther you travel, the more you pay. To enter the subway and travel anywhere within a radius of a few stops, the cost is 1000 won (~85 cents). The most expensive ride I have ever taken took about 2 hours and cost 1500 won. Because Seoul is a very environmentally conscious city, if you buy the reusable and rechargeable card for 2500 won, you get 100 won off every single ride you take for the rest of your life. If you buy a single-ride card, you are required to make a 500 won deposit to get the card, which is refunded to you at the ticket-return machines at your destination.

Many subway stops are linked to underground malls, which are very popular and extremely cheap. However, most of these shops are catered towards women's clothing and shoes, so if you are a man you might be out of luck.

For those seeking helpful tips for safe riding, here is a list of some subway Do's and Don'ts:

• DO bring a book or cell phone with TV or music so as to avoid making eye contact with other passengers.
• DON'T sit in the seats designated for the elderly, pregnant, and infirm, even if the train is completely devoid of such persons.
• DON'T commit suicide by jumping onto the tracks. Apparently this became such a popular method of killing oneself that the metro authorities equipped most stations with glass sliding doors to separate the tracks from the platform (as seen here). However, not all stops have this feature.
• DO line up in front of the doors when the subway is approaching the station. This applies to both the boarding and exiting riders. The first person in line should stand no farther than 6" from the door to ensure quick transfer and maximum awkwardness with the person on the other side of the door.
  
• DON'T make eye contact with the on-board vendors who walk up and down the cars trying to sell novelty products. Also, DON'T steal their products even though they leave their bags unattended as they walk around. However, DO purchase things from them if you are interested, even though you have spent the previous 60 seconds pretending the vendor did not exist.
  
• DON'T ride during rush hour unless intimate personal contact with complete strangers is something you enjoy. Unfortunately, rush house is impossible to predict as it varies by line and by day. Sometimes it is at 3 pm, and sometimes it is at 10 pm. However, DO talk to the nice English-speaking Korean man who is concerned for your emotional welfare during your first rush hour experience, and whose face is about three inches from your own.
• DO provide plenty of time for your late-night rides. The subway shuts down around 1 am on weekdays and around 12 am (midnight) on weekends. If you do not leave enough time for your ride, the subway will simply stop running and you will be kicked off wherever you are. Then you may choose to take a taxi the rest of the way or wait until 5:30 am when the trains start running again (a popular strategy of Saturday night club-goers).
• DON'T confuse an underground crosswalk at a busy intersection with a subway entrance. Subway entrances are clearly marked and you will look pretty foolish searching for one in a crosswalk.
• DON'T refer to subway stops by their handy three-digit number codes, even if you are a math person and the number system makes more sense than the names. You will get made fun of.