Introduction to Gwangmyeong: All Roads in the Korean Capital Region Lead to Gwangmyeong Station

The city connects to Seoul! In line with its development in transportation& megastores such as KTX, CALT, and IKEA, it is ostensibly getting famous.

Gwangmyeong City, located in west central Gyeonggi Province, is a satellite city of Seoul and one of two planned cities in the Korean capital region. It offers easy access to Seoul with KTX and Subway Lines 1 and 7, as well as blue and green inter-city buses that pass through Gwangmyeong and take passengers to Yeouido and Gangnam in Seoul within 30 minutes. It is the hometown of rapper The Quiett and also a filming hub for various TV entertainment programs such as Running Man and Show Me The Money season 5.

About Gwangmyeong Station

Gwangmyeong Station is the starting point of the Gyeongbu High-Speed Railway.

In 2006, the Seoul Subway Line 1 Gwangmyeong Shuttle, which links with Yeongdeungpo Station in Seoul, begun operation, and additional metropolitan bus lines were also added. Buses from Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province converge on Gwangmyeong Station. In 2018, the 4th City Airport, Logis & Travel, Korea (CALT) opened in Gwangmyeong Station, making it the first CALT established outside Seoul. In addition, the Sinansan Line, which is slated to open in 2024, and the Wolgot-Pangyo Line (connecting Wolgot Station in Siheung City of Gyeonggi Province and Gangneung Station in Gangneung City of Gangwon Province) will pass through Gwangmyeong Station after its scheduled opening in 2025.

Transport Functions of Gwangmyeong Station

1. KTX

From Gwangmyeong Station, you can access all the KTX lines except for those bound for Gangneung, Jecheon, Yeongju, and Andong. The Gyeongbu High-Speed Railway, Seoul Subway Line 1, and CALT are all concentrated in KTX Gwangmyeong Station area. According to data from KORAIL circa 2018, around 6.4 million passengers used Gwangmyeong Station, make it the 6th most frequently used KTX station nationwide.

2. It is connected to Subway Line 1.

3. CALT

The Gwangmyeong Station CALT allows passengers departing from Incheon Airport to check in, check their baggage, and pass through immigration at Gwangmyeong Station. This helps passengers avoid the inconvenience of carrying their baggage all the way to Incheon Airport. They can also select a good seat through the early check-in service and enjoy a shorter waiting time by using the designated entrance at Incheon Airport.

Regional Development Around Gwangmyeong Station

IKEA Gwangmyeong
ⓒInstagram(@get_your_sign_)

The 2012 opening of Costco sparked the development of the Gwangmyeong Station area. The annual number of visitors to Gwangmyeong Station increased sharply from 3.6 million in 2005 to 7.2 million in 2013 after the opening of Costco. The Costco Gwangmyeong Branch is the company’s second most profitable store in Korea, following the Costco Yangjae Branch which has recorded the largest revenue among the 190 Costco stores operating around the world; the Costco Gwangmyeong Branch itself ranked 5th globally. IKEA, a Swedish multinational furniture conglomerate, chose Gwangmyeong as the location for the first IKEA store in Korea and opened its doors in December 2012. This IKEA location is a driving force that helped to transform Gwangmyeong Station area, which used to be relatively isolated, into a popular place that attracts visitors via KTX.

Development around Gwangmyeong Station is still ongoing with the emergence of knowledge industry centers, high-rise residential buildings, the Gwangmyeong International Design Cluster (GIDC), and a medical cluster including the Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital. In addition, groundbreaking for the Gwangmyeong Media Art Valley, a project to build 4-star tourist hotels as well as studios and performance halls for broadcasting and video production companies and for those who want to experience Korean Wave (Hallyu) content, took place in 2017.

Gwangmyeong Cave
ⓒGyeonggi Province

Gwangmyeong Cave, Representative Tourist Attraction in Gyeonggi Province

Gwangmyeong Cave, which was originally developed by Japanese authorities in 1912 to extract Korean mineral resources, is a reminder of the forced labor and exploitation endured under Japanese colonial rule, but is also representative of national modernization and industrialization after Korean liberation. Closed in 1972, Gwangmyeong Cave was used as a salted shrimp warehouse for 40 years. Gwangmyeong City bought the cave in 2011, however, and has since turned it into a historical and cultural tourist attraction.

Gwangmyeong Cave
ⓒGyeonggi Province

The spatial variance and uniqueness of Gwangmyeong Cave combined with artistic content has created a new type of culture. Starting from the Hall of Art, visitors can enjoy various artworks created by talented artists throughout the cave as well as unique pieces incorporating lights and new media against dark backgrounds to captivate viewer minds. The mine shaft, which used to be considered only an industrial feature, is now used as a place of communication, presenting a new culture lifestyle. Through its rebirth as a place of culture and art, Gwangmyeong Cave is gaining global attention as a cradle of new culture.