<div class="editor-img-box" readability="10.5"><picture><img src="https://newsimg.koreatimes.co.kr/2026/06/10/95914e5a-5cba-4714-bd81-0c197376494d.jpg?w=728" alt="Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) President and CEO Kim Tae-seung, sixth from left, SR CEO Jeong Wang-guk, fourth from left, and other officials join a ribbon-cutting during an opening ceremony for “Seoul Station 2026: Where Memory Meets Movement” inside the former Seoul Station building, now named Culture Station Seoul 284, Wednesday. Courtesy of KORAIL" decoding="async" loading="eager" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="caption" readability="16"><p>Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) President and CEO Kim Tae-seung, sixth from left, SR CEO Jeong Wang-guk, fourth from left, and other officials join a ribbon-cutting during an opening ceremony for “Seoul Station 2026: Where Memory Meets Movement” inside the former Seoul Station building, now named Culture Station Seoul 284, Wednesday. Courtesy of KORAIL</p></div></div><p class="editor-p">A closed railway platform that had been the de facto center of Korea’s railroad operation until its closure in 2004 has been transformed into a gallery that travels back to the venue's past.</p><p class="editor-p">Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), a state-run railway operator, hosted an opening ceremony for a new gallery at the old station building on Wednesday, a day before its public opening. The gallery will run through Aug. 17.</p><p class="editor-p">Built in 1925 during the Japanese colonial rule (1910-45), the former station building serviced trains until KTX high-speed trains began operating at the new Seoul Station next to the century-old building. In 2011, the old building was reopened as Culture Station Seoul 284, serving as a cultural space and hosting occasional art events since.</p><p class="editor-p">The gallery, named “Seoul Station 2026: Where Memory Meets Movement,” introduces media, installations and archived photos prepared by 15 artists. The gallery, run by art director Kim Mi-youn, invites visitors to explore the old station, which has preserved most of its functions including the stationmaster’s room, VIP Room, the waiting hall and Grill, the country’s first Western-style restaurant. </p><p class="editor-p">“For more than 130 years, Korea’s railroads have been deeply woven into our everyday lives, accompanying the nation through its growth and many defining moments in history,” KORAIL CEO Kim Tae-seung said. “The former Seoul Station was once the heart and starting point of Korea’s national rail network. It still lives on in our memories as a railroad station.”</p><div class="editor-img-box" readability="9"><picture><img src="https://newsimg.koreatimes.co.kr/2026/06/10/e1263736-9dcf-45d0-b503-be425e1e37cc.jpg?w=728" alt="Scale model maker Jeong Sang-hyeon explains paci-style diesel locomotives he built in one-sixteenth scale and drawings detailing his creations at Culture Station Seoul 284, Wednesday. The miniature trains, inspired by the country's earliest trains, were assembled using parts almost identical to their actual models. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan" decoding="async" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="caption" readability="13"><p>Scale model maker Jeong Sang-hyeon explains paci-style diesel locomotives he built in one-sixteenth scale and drawings detailing his creations at Culture Station Seoul 284, Wednesday. The miniature trains, inspired by the country's earliest trains, were assembled using parts almost identical to their actual models. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan</p></div></div><p class="editor-p">Jeong Wang-guk, CEO of SR, operator of another state-run high-speed train service SRT, said Korean railroads have witnessed the country’s heartbreaking and hopeful history. </p><p class="editor-p">“They carried millions of displaced people from the Korean War in the 1950s,” Jeong said. “They accelerated the country’s industries in the 1970s, provided mobility to young Koreans filled with romance and dreams in the 1980s and reconnected families together during national holidays. Trains were the core engine behind Korea's economic growth.”</p><p class="editor-p">Lee Ahn-ho, vice chairman of the state-run Korea National Railway, said railways “truly come alive to the public when they provide memories and ingrained cultural values which transcend generations.” The Korea National Railway, an agency under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, is in charge of building infrastructures for national railway services.</p><p class="editor-p">Hyundai Rotem, which built KTX, introduced its own exhibition inside the gallery, showcasing its hydrogen-based railway technologies and VR experience for its hydro-electric tram.</p>
<br><hr><br><p>요약: 한국의 철도 운영의 사실상 중심이었던 폐역 플랫폼이 예전 장소로의 회상을 담은 갤러리로 변모했다.</p>
<p>한국철도공사(KORAIL)는 수요일 옛 서울역 건물에서 새로운 갤러리의 개장을 위한 opening ceremony를 개최했고, 공개 개장은 하루 앞서 이뤄졌다. 이 갤러리는 8월 17일까지 운영된다.</p>
<p>1925년 일본 식민지 시기에 지어진 옛 서울역 건물은 KTX 고속열차가 새 서울역에서 운행하기 시작하기 전까지 열차를 운행했다. 2011년 이 건물은 문화공간으로 재개관해 Culture Station Seoul 284로 불리며 간헐적으로 예술 행사를 주최해 왔다.</p>
<p>갤러리의 명칭은 “Seoul Station 2026: Where Memory Meets Movement”로, 15명의 아티스트가 준비한 매체, 설치물 및 보관 사진을 소개한다. 갤러리는 미술감독 김미연이 운영하며 방문객들이 옛 역사를 체험하도록 초대한다. 직원실, VIP룸, 대합실 및 Grill(국내 최초의 양식당) 등 역의 대부분 기능이 보존된 채 옛 서울역의 모습을 확인할 수 있다.</p>
<p>김태승 KORAIL 사장은 “130년이 넘는 기간 동안 한국의 철도는 일상생활에 깊이 얽혀 왔고, 성장의 과정에서 수많은 정의로운 순간을 함께했다”고 말했다. “옛 서울역은 한때 한국의 국가 네트워크의 중심이었으며, 여전히 우리의 기억 속에 철도역으로 살아 있다.”</p>
<div class="editor-img-box" readability="9"><picture><img src="https://newsimg.koreatimes.co.kr/2026/06/10/e1263736-9dcf-45d0-b503-be425e1e37cc.jpg?w=728" alt="Scale model maker Jeong Sang-hyeon explains paci-style diesel locomotives he built in one-sixteenth scale and drawings detailing his creations at Culture Station Seoul 284, Wednesday. The miniature trains, inspired by the country's earliest trains, were assembled using parts almost identical to their actual models. Korea Times photo by Ko Dong-hwan" decoding="async" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="caption" readability="13"><p>정상현 현장소장(축소 모형 제작자)가 1/16 스케일로 제작한 paci 스타일 증기기관차와 그의 작품에 대한 도면을 설명하고 있다. 이 미니어처 열차들은 우리나라 초기 열차를 모티브로 했으며 실제 모델과 거의 동일한 부품으로 조립됐다. 코리아타임스 사진: 고동환</p></div></div>
<p>SR의 CEO 정왕욱은 한국의 고속열차 서비스인 SRT를 운영하는 입장에서 한국 철도가 우리나라의 슬프고도 희망적인 역사를 목격했다고 말했다.</p>
<p>정씨는 “한국 전쟁 당시 실향민 수백만 명을 실어나르는 역할을 했고, 1970년대에는 국가의 산업을 가속화했고, 1980년대에는 젊은이들에게 로맨스와 꿈을 안겨 주며 이주를 가능하게 했으며, 명절마다 가족을 재회시키는 역할을 했다. 열차는 한국의 경제성장의 핵심 엔진이었다.”라고 말했다.</p>
<p>국가철도공단의 이안호 부회장은 철도는 “세대를 초월한 기억과 문화적 가치를 제공할 때 대중 앞에 실제로 살아 있다”고 밝혔다. 국토교통부 산하의 한국철도공단은 국가 철도 서비스를 위한 인프라 구축을 담당한다.</p>
<p>현대자동차의 회전석이 KTX를 설계했고, 갤러리 내에서 수소 기반 철도 기술과 수력 전기 트램에 대한 VR 체험을 선보이는 전시를 선보였다.</p>
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