When will KTX tickets be available for booking two months in advance?

KTX seats will be bookable up to two months before departure starting Oct. 1. The change extends the current one-month reservation window.

What foreign traveler services is KORAIL adding for KTX reservations?

KORAIL plans to expand its website to 10 languages by the end of this year and add French, German and Mongolian. It is also developing support for mobile payments such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, along with overseas credit cards already accepted.

How much did foreign KTX ridership increase this year?

Foreign passengers on KTX totaled 6.69 million from January to August, which was 68 percent higher than the same period a year earlier. The government said the upgrades are aimed at making rail travel easier for visitors across Korea.

KTX bookings to open 2 months in advance, easing travel for foreign visitors

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Summary

KTX tickets will be bookable up to two months before departure starting Oct. 1, replacing the current one-month window. The government said the change is meant to help foreign visitors and domestic travelers plan trips more easily. KORAIL will also expand website language support to 10 languages by the end of this year and develop support for global mobile payments. Foreign passengers on KTX reached 6.69 million from January to August, up 68 percent from a year earlier.

Key Facts

The booking window for KTX seats will expand from one month to two months in advance starting Oct. 1.
KTX website language support will grow to 10 languages by the end of this year, with French, German and Mongolian added to the current seven.
KORAIL is developing support for mobile payment services used by foreign travelers, including WeChat Pay and Alipay, in addition to overseas credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay.
The government said 6.69 million foreign passengers used KTX from January to August this year, up 68 percent from the same period a year earlier.

By Ko Dong-hwan

Published Sep 20, 2026 1:54 pm KST

People at Seoul Station line up to purchase commemorative transit cards marking the completion of an institutional merger between KORAIL and SR and the launch of integrated KTX-SRT services, Sept. 1. Yonhap

Tickets for Korea’s high-speed KTX trains will be available for booking up to two months before departure starting next month, extending the current one-month window.

Along with the booking window, KTX will introduce a set of operational improvements for foreign travelers next month to make the reservation process more convenient, the government said Sunday.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and KTX operator KORAIL, customers will be able to book seats up to two months in advance starting Oct. 1.

The government said the extension is intended to make it easier for travelers to plan trips around the country.

For foreign visitors in particular, many book flights to Korea at least two months in advance, but KTX tickets have only been available one month before departure, making it difficult to plan their itinerary within the country.

“Travelers will be able to book KTX at the same time as purchasing airline tickets, making it easier to plan domestic trips and use KTX more conveniently,” the ministry said in a press release.

“Korean travelers will also be able to reserve tickets well in advance for long holidays and peak seasons, significantly improving the convenience of booking KTX tickets by allowing them to secure seats more comfortably.”

Language support on the KTX website will also be expanded to 10 languages by the end of this year, with French, German and Mongolian added to the seven languages currently available, including English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese.

KORAIL said it is also developing a system to support global mobile payment services widely used by foreign travelers, including WeChat Pay and Alipay, in addition to overseas credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard and UnionPay that are currently accepted.

The upgrades come as rail travel among foreign visitors continues to increase. According to the government, 6.69 million foreign passengers used KTX from January to August this year, up 68 percent from the same period a year earlier.

“We will expand multilingual services and payment options so that foreign visitors can easily travel not only in the Seoul metropolitan area but to regions across the country," said Kim Tae-byeong, the ministry's railway bureau director general. "We will continue to upgrade our rail services to a global standard that both domestic and international passengers can tangibly experience.”

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