Seoul Subway Line 4 Guide: 11 Stops Worth Getting Off

Line 4 changes its mind halfway. North of Namtaeryeong it is a Seoul Metro subway that runs on the right-hand track on 1,500 V DC. South of Seonbawi it becomes a Korail commuter railway that runs on the left on 25,000 V AC, and between the two stations the tunnels twist over each other so the trains can swap sides. Riders notice it when the lights dip for a few seconds under the southern edge of the city.

For a visitor, the middle is what matters. Between Hansung Univ. and Ichon, Line 4 cuts through the old city from the north wall to the Han River: the theatre district, DDP, Myeong-dong, Namdaemun Market, Seoul Station, the War Memorial and the National Museum of Korea, with no transfer and an old local restaurant a few minutes from each stop.

Where does Line 4 go?

Line 4 is a long north–south line from Jinjeop in Namyangju to Oido in Siheung, with Seoul Metro running the northern half and Korail the southern half. The Seoul section opened in 1985 between Sanggye and Sadang, was extended in 1993 to Danggogae and Namtaeryeong, and in March 2022 the Jinjeop extension carried it out of the city into Namyangju. The old northern terminus, Danggogae, was renamed Buramsan in 2024 after the mountain above it. Seoul Metro counts 45.4 km and 26 Seoul stations on its share, plus the 3 Jinjeop stations; Korail’s share, from Seonbawi to Oido, adds 22 more.

🚇 Line 4 at a glance (Seoul Metro operations data, 2026)

Item	Figure
Termini	Jinjeop (Namyangju) – Oido (Siheung)
Seoul Metro section	Jinjeop – Namtaeryeong, 45.4 km, 26 stations + 3 on the Jinjeop extension, 68 min
Korail section	Seonbawi – Oido (Gwacheon Line to Geumjeong, then Ansan Line), 22 stations
Frequency	Every 2.5 min at the morning peak, 5.5 min off-peak (Seoul Metro section)
Weekday trains	475 (323 Seoul Metro, 152 Korail)
Riders	About 797,000 trips a day in 2025 (Buramsan – Namtaeryeong)
Key transfers in Seoul	Nowon (7), Chang-dong (1), Sungshin Women’s Univ. (Ui-Sinseol LRT), Dongdaemun (1), DDP (2, 5), Chungmuro (3), Seoul Station (1, AREX, Gyeongui-Jungang, GTX-A), Samgakji (6), Ichon (Gyeongui-Jungang), Chongshin Univ. (7), Sadang (2)

---

Which Line 4 stations are worth getting off at?

In the Seoul section, these 11 are the ones with a clear reason to get off and a long-running place to eat a short walk from the exit. They run north to south. The Gyeonggi stretch is covered further down, with links to our city guides.

📍 11 Line 4 stops worth getting off at, north to south (exits: VisitSeoul, Seoul city, venues' own pages)

Station (No.)	Exit	Why get off	Local eat nearby	Transfer
Chang-dong (412)	1	Photography Seoul Museum of Art, free, opened 2025	Matsumura Tonkatsu (Exit 2)	Line 1
Suyu (414)	7 / 8	Gopchang alley; bus toward Hwagyesa temple	Suyu Gopchang Hwangju-jip	—
Hansung Univ. (419)	5 / 6	Seongbuk-dong: Hyehwamun Gate, Simujang, Gilsangsa	Guksijip (kalguksu since 1969)	—
Hyehwa (420)	2	Daehangno theatres, Marronnier Park, Ihwa Mural Village	Hyehwa Kalguksu	—
Dongdaemun History & Culture Park (422)	1 / 12	DDP; Central Asia Street	Samarkand (shashlik)	Lines 2, 5
Myeong-dong (424)	6 / 8 / 4	Shopping streets, Myeongdong Cathedral, Namsan Cable Car	Myeongdong Kyoja	—
Hoehyeon (425)	5	Namdaemun Market	Eunho Sikdang (oxtail soup, 1932)	—
Seoul Station (426)	1	Culture Station Seoul 284, Seoullo 7017	Ilmi Jangeo (Exit 10)	Line 1, AREX, Gyeongui-Jungang, GTX-A, KTX
Sookmyung Women’s Univ. (427)	3	Huam-dong 108 Steps, the lanes below Namsan	Gaya Haejang	—
Samgakji (428)	1	War Memorial of Korea, free	Won Daegu-tang (cod-soup alley)	Line 6
Ichon (430)	2	National Museum of Korea via the underground walkway	Hanyang Snack (since 1987)	Gyeongui-Jungang

Chang-dong (412): a new photography museum, a K-pop arena on the way

Chang-dong is where Line 4 meets Line 1. Exit 1 is 264 m from the Photography Seoul Museum of Art, opened on May 29, 2025 as Korea’s first public museum dedicated to photography: free, open 10:00–20:00 Tuesday to Friday and until 19:00 on weekends (18:00 November to February), closed Mondays. Seoul Arena, a concert arena next to the station, is still a building site; Korean media report first concerts planned for May 2027. See our Chang-dong guide.

Eat: Matsumura Tonkatsu’s main branch, in a basement 39 m from Exit 2, has a queue from opening for its thick Japanese-style cutlets (loin 11,500 won). It opens 10:00–18:00 and closes on Sundays and Mondays, so go before noon.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Suyu (414): gopchang after dark, temple by bus

One block behind Exit 7 is one of Seoul’s densest clusters of 곱창 gopchang (grilled beef intestine) restaurants, more than ten within five minutes’ walk, busy after 6 p.m. with office workers. For Bukhansan’s foothills, Hwagyesa temple’s own directions send you from Exit 8 on bus 1165. For the Ui-dong trails and the 4.19 National Cemetery, change to the Ui-Sinseol LRT at Sungshin Women’s Univ. instead; see our Ui-dong guide.

Eat: Suyu Gopchang Hwangju-jip, main branch (372 Dobong-ro), where staff grill everything for you; two servings of gopchang and daechang were 42,000 won in August 2026. Open 12:00–23:30, closed the second and fourth Sundays. More in our Suyu & Ssangmun guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Hansung Univ. (419): Seongbuk-dong, the stop most people skip

This is the station for Seongbuk-dong, the valley just outside the north side of the Seoul City Wall. Exit 5 is 192 m from Hyehwamun Gate, where you can join the wall trail. From Exit 6, village buses climb the hill: Seongbuk 03 to Simujang, the house of the poet and independence activist Han Yong-un, and Seongbuk 02 to Gilsangsa, a temple that was once Daewongak, one of Seoul’s grand 20th-century banquet houses, until its owner donated it. Ride up, walk down.

Eat: Guksijip, 156 m from the station, opened in 1969 and is a Seoul Future Heritage site. Most of Seongbuk-dong’s 칼국수 kalguksu houses trace back to its kitchen. A bowl of noodles in clear beef broth is 11,000 won; add a small plate of boiled beef if there are two of you. Open 11:30–21:00 (break 14:30–17:00), closed Mondays, like much of the neighbourhood. See our Seongbuk-dong guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Hyehwa (420): Daehangno, the theatre district

Hyehwa is the station for 대학로 Daehangno, “University Street”, named after the Seoul National University campus that stood here until the 1970s and now Seoul’s small-theatre district (our musicals guide says which shows have subtitles). Exit 2 is 93 m from Marronnier Park. Uphill are Naksan Park on the City Wall and Ihwa Mural Village, 764 m from the same exit; people live there, so keep quiet and don’t photograph windows or doors.

Eat: Hyehwa Kalguksu is part of the same noodle lineage as Guksijip one stop north: hand-cut noodles in a light beef broth, with boiled pork and pan-fried fish on the side. For coffee afterwards, Hakrim Dabang (2F, Daehak-ro 119) has been a tearoom since 1956 and is a Seoul Future Heritage site. Both are in our Hyehwa & Daehangno guide; for the hillside, see the Ihwa-dong and Naksan guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Dongdaemun History & Culture Park (422): DDP and Central Asia Street

Three lines meet here (2, 4 and 5), and Exit 1 is 37 m from Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the curved aluminium-clad building designed by Zaha Hadid, with exhibitions inside and the remains of the old city wall in the park beside it. For the fashion malls around it, see our Dongdaemun shopping guide.

Eat: Take Exit 12 instead and cross Toegye-ro to Gwanghui-dong’s Central Asia Street, which grew after South Korea established diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union in 1990 and traders came to Dongdaemun’s markets. Samarkand, the original shop at Mareunnae-ro 159-21, serves thick skewers of 샤실릭 shashlik on a sizzling iron plate, plus plov. Two people eating shashlik, rice and soup spend about 30,000–40,000 won. See our Central Asia Street guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Myeong-dong (424): the shopping grid, the cathedral, the cable car

Myeong-dong’s exits lead in different directions. Exit 6 leads into the shopping streets (VisitSeoul puts the Nanta theatre on Myeongdong-gil 400 m away), and Exit 8 is the walk toward Myeongdong Cathedral, 590 m. Exit 4 points the other way, uphill to the Namsan Cable Car lower station, 571 m.

Eat: Myeongdong Kyoja, main branch (Myeongdong 10-gil 29), has been serving kalguksu since 1966 and still holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand. The noodles come in rich chicken broth with minced pork, alongside a famously garlic-heavy kimchi; order the dumplings too. Tables turn over fast. Open 10:30–21:30. More in our Myeong-dong locals’ guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Hoehyeon (425): Namdaemun Market

Hoehyeon’s Exit 5 opens onto Namdaemun Market; its tourist information centre is 80 m from the exit. Exit 4 faces Namsan instead, covered in our Hoehyeon-dong guide.

Eat: Eunho Sikdang, at the entrance of the alley from Exit 5, was founded in 1932 and is in its fourth generation, the oldest restaurant in the market we could verify. Order 꼬리곰탕 kkori-gomtang, oxtail soup, at 33,000 won, or seolleongtang at 14,000 won (April 2026 menu board). Open weekdays 08:00–21:00, weekends 08:00–16:00. Our Namdaemun food guide has the rest of the market.

📍 Open in Naver Map

---

Seoul Station (426): the old station and the elevated park

Seoul Station is Line 4’s big interchange: Line 1, AREX to Incheon Airport, the Gyeongui-Jungang Line, KTX and, since December 2024, GTX-A. Exit 1 is 76 m from Culture Station Seoul 284, the old domed station building, now an exhibition space; Seoullo 7017, an overpass turned elevated walkway, is listed by VisitSeoul from Exit 7.

Eat: Ilmi Jangeo, in a basement in the Dongja-dong alleys behind the station (B1, Huam-ro 57-gil 35-15), about 6 minutes from Exit 10, is on the Baengnyeon Gage (“hundred-year shop”) list run by the government’s Small Enterprise and Market Service. It grills 장어 jangeo, freshwater eel, over charcoal with salt only. The weekday lunch eel rice bowl is the easy solo order. Lunch ends at 13:30, dinner starts at 17:30, and it is closed on weekends. See our eel and chueotang guide and Seoul Station food guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Sookmyung Women’s Univ. (427): Huam-dong’s steps below Namsan

One stop south, the city turns into low houses on a slope. From Exit 3 it is 943 m, uphill, to Huam-dong’s 108 Steps, a long stair lane on Namsan’s lower slope; our Namyeong & Huam-dong guide has a walking route.

Eat: Gaya Haejang (Cheongpa-ro 291-1) is the top-rated place in Cheongpa-dong, a 해장국 haejangguk house whose beef-bone hangover soup is 11,000 won, served clear or spicy. At the self-serve bar you fry your own egg for the soup. Open daily 10:30–22:30. See our Cheongpa-dong & Sookmyung guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Samgakji (428): the War Memorial of Korea

The War Memorial of Korea is a 5-minute walk from Line 4’s Exit 1 (Line 6’s Exit 12 is 3 minutes). It is free, open Tuesday to Sunday 09:30–18:00 (last entry 17:30), closed Mondays; our War Memorial guide has a 3-hour route. One stop further, Sinyongsan’s Exit 1 is 84 m from the Amorepacific Museum of Art.

Eat: Won Daegu-tang, near Exit 1 in the cod-soup alley that the Korea Tourism Organization dates to 1979. 대구탕 daegu-tang is a whole stew of cod, radish, tofu and minari in chili broth, or clear if you ask for malgeun-tang. Most tables finish with fried rice. Closed Mondays. See our Samgakji & Sinyongsan guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Ichon (430): the National Museum of Korea

From Exit 2, the underground Museum Walkway (박물관 나들길, open 07:00–23:00) leads to the west gate of the National Museum of Korea. The permanent galleries are free; don’t skip the Room of Quiet Contemplation on the second floor, with its two pensive bodhisattva statues. Exit 4 leads to Ichon Hangang Park, 1.2 km.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Eat: Hanyang Snack, in the basement of Shindonga Shopping Center, opened in 1987 as Hanyang Chicken and took its current name in 1995. It has stuck with thick rice-cake 떡볶이 tteokbokki ever since, and its gimbap, a third of it braised burdock root, is the house favourite. See our Ichon Little Tokyo guide and, for the walk east, the Seobinggo guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Past the city line: Namyangju, Gwacheon, Anyang, Gunpo, Ansan and Siheung

South of Ichon, Line 4 crosses the Han in the open on Dongjak Bridge; Dongjak Station’s Exit 4 is 62 m from Seoul National Cemetery. After Namtaeryeong it leaves Seoul for Gwacheon (Seoul Grand Park and the MMCA), Anyang (Pyeongchon and Beomgye), Gunpo, where the azalea hill by Suri-san Station turns pink every April, Ansan, whose Ansan Station is the stop for Wongok-dong’s world food streets, and Siheung, where it ends at Oido. At the other end, the Jinjeop extension runs into Namyangju.

---

How do you ride Line 4 without getting lost?

Read the destination on every train, and expect a short power cut south of Sadang. Inside Seoul the line is simple; the confusion comes at its ends.

---

One-day route along Line 4

North to south through the old city, from Seongbuk-dong to Myeong-dong. Avoid Mondays, when Guksijip and much of Seongbuk-dong close. For a museum day instead, do Samgakji and Ichon together.

• 09:30 — Hansung Univ. Exit 6. Seongbuk 02 village bus up to Gilsangsa, then walk down past the hanok and houses of Seongbuk-dong.
• 11:30 — Lunch at Guksijip, 156 m from the station: kalguksu in beef broth.
• 13:00 — Hyehwa Exit 2. Marronnier Park, then up to Naksan Park and the city wall; coffee at Hakrim Dabang on the way back.
• 15:00 — Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Exit 1. DDP and the wall remains in the park beside it.
• 16:30 — Hoehyeon Exit 5. Walk Namdaemun Market while the shops are open.
• 18:30 — Myeong-dong. Kalguksu and garlic kimchi at Myeongdong Kyoja, then the shopping streets or the cable car up Namsan from Exit 4.