Seoul Subway Line 8 Guide: 10 Stops Worth Getting Off

For most of its life Line 8 was the line you rode for two stops to get from Jamsil to somewhere else. It runs north to south under Seoul’s eastern edge, through Gangdong-gu and Songpa-gu, and it is the quietest of Lines 1 to 8: about 327,000 riders a day in 2025, against almost 2 million on Line 2.

That changed on August 10, 2024, when the Byeollae extension pushed the line under the Han River into Guri and Namyangju. A Joseon royal tomb complex and a market gopchang alley are now under 20 minutes from Jamsil, and the 6,000-year-old village at Amsa-dong finally has its own station. Line 8 is also, without advertising it, Seoul’s archaeology line: three of the city’s oldest sites lie along a 10-minute stretch of it. At the southern end it climbs into Seongnam for the Namhansanseong fortress bus and Korea’s biggest five-day market.

Where does Line 8 go?

From Byeollae in Namyangju to Moran in Seongnam, in a single line with no branches. It crosses the Han in a tunnel between Guri and Amsa, runs south through Cheonho and Jamsil, and leaves Seoul again after Jangji.

🚇 Line 8 at a glance (Seoul city, Seoul Metro, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; November 2026)

Item	Line 8
Termini	Byeollae (804) – Moran (827)
Stations	24
Route length	30.6 km
Operator	Seoul Metro runs the trains on the whole line
Opened	1996 (Moran–Jamsil), 1999 (to Amsa), August 10, 2024 (Byeollae extension)
Trains	6 cars; about every 4.5 minutes at peak, about every 8 minutes otherwise
Transfers	Byeollae (Gyeongchun), Guri (Gyeongui-Jungang), Cheonho (Line 5), Jamsil (Line 2), Seokchon (Line 9), Garak Market (Line 3), Bokjeong and Moran (Suin-Bundang)

The original line opened between Moran and Jamsil in 1996 and reached Amsa in 1999. For 25 years Amsa was the northern end. The Byeollae extension added 12.9 km and six stations: Amsa History Park in Seoul, then Jangja Lake Park, Guri, Donggureung, Dasan and Byeollae in Gyeonggi-do. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport put Byeollae–Jamsil at 27 minutes, against 55 minutes by bus before.

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Which Line 8 stations are worth getting off at?

Ten, from the royal tombs in Guri to the market in Seongnam. The list runs in line order from north to south; Jamsil and Garak Market are left to our Line 2 and Line 3 guides.

📍 10 Line 8 stops worth the exit (exits: Seoul city media hub, site and station operators, Gyeonggi Province; numbers and transfers: Seoul Metro)

Station (No.)	Exit	Why get off	Local eat nearby	Transfer
Donggureung (806)	3	Donggureung, the largest group of Joseon royal tombs	Eorangchu (kimchi-braised mackerel)	—
Guri (807)	6	Guri Traditional Market, the Doldari gopchang alley	Bobae Gopchang (stir-fried gopchang)	Gyeongui-Jungang
Jangja Lake Park (808)	6	Guri’s lakeside park, last stop before the river tunnel	Eat at Guri, one stop north	—
Amsa History Park (809)	3	Amsa-dong Neolithic village, comb-pattern station art	Juyangduri Donkkaseu (old-style pork cutlet)	—
Cheonho (811)	10, 1, 5	Pungnaptoseong wall, toy street, naengmyeon alley	Songwol Naengmyeon (cold noodles)	Line 5
Mongchontoseong (813)	1	Mongchontoseong fortress walk, Hanseong Baekje Museum	Boseung Hoegwan (24-hour gukbap)	—
Munjeong (818)	1	Old Rodeo Street, the court district’s lunch lanes	Golmok Tteokbokki (soupy tteokbokki)	—
Jangji (819)	1	Old galbi and tripe houses, Garden Five mall	Suwonjip (charcoal pork galbi)	—
Sanseong (822)	2 (bus)	Buses up to Namhansanseong fortress	Hanmadang (inside the fortress)	—
Moran (827)	5	Moran 5-day market, on dates ending in 4 and 9	Sindaeman (old-style jjajang noodles)	Suin-Bundang

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What is there to do at each Line 8 stop?

North to south, here is why each stop earns its exit, plus one place to eat. Most of the restaurants come from our neighbourhood and day-trip guides, which have more detail.

Byeollae (804) and Dasan (805) — the Namyangju end

Byeollae is a transfer to the Gyeongchun Line; a Seoul city reporter notes that its Exit 4 leads straight down to Line 8 without passing through the Gyeongchun station. Dasan’s Exit 2 is six minutes from Dasan Waterfront Park on the Wangsukcheon stream. Both are new apartment districts rather than sights. Namyangju’s real draws, Dasan Jeong Yak-yong’s birthplace, Sujongsa and the imperial tombs, are on other lines, as our Namyangju guide explains.

Donggureung (806) — nine royal tombs, 10 minutes from the platform

Seoul city’s guide to the extension puts Donggureung 10 minutes on foot from Exit 3. It is the largest cluster of Joseon royal tombs and part of the UNESCO-listed Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty: nine tombs, seven kings and ten queens, starting in 1408 with the founder, King Taejo. His mound at Geonwolleung is covered in tall eulalia grass rather than turf, said to have been brought from his home region in today’s North Korea, and cut once a year. Forest paths link the tombs, so allow two hours. The site is closed on Mondays, and in 2026 the ticket is 1,000 won.

Lunch is a minute back toward the station. Eorangchu (Donggureung-ro 145), by Exit 3, braises mackerel with long-aged kimchi on a hot stone plate and serves tofu fried in perilla oil alongside; order rice separately. It is closed on Mondays too, and queues at mealtimes. Our Guri guide has hours and the rest of the city.

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Guri (807) — the market, the gopchang alley and a very long escalator

Seoul Metro gives this station the sub-name “Guri Traditional Market”, and the market is the reason to come up. Guri Urban Corporation, which runs the station, signs Exit 6 for it. The new Line 8 platform sits deep under a separate transfer hall: Seoul city says the escalator up is 65 m long, the longest in Korea, and climbs about 40 m in under three minutes, so leave time if you are changing to the Gyeongui-Jungang Line. On the edge of the market is the Doldari gopchang alley, which began in 1998. Bobae Gopchang (Angol-ro 103beon-gil 42), about ten minutes on foot from Exit 6, is the alley’s old-timer, with TV clippings on the walls; order 야채곱창 yachae gopchang, pork intestines stir-fried with cabbage and chili paste and finished with fried rice in the pan. An October 2026 post gives 12,000 won and 10:00–23:00 daily.

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Jangja Lake Park (808) — a lake walk before the river

The station is named for Jangja Lake Park, Guri’s neighbourhood park around a lake, four minutes from Exit 6 by Seoul city’s count. It is a pleasant half hour on a fine evening, not a destination. Just south of here the train drops into the tunnel under the Han; Seoul city notes that Line 8 is the tenth subway line to cross the river. There is no long-running restaurant we could vouch for by the station, so eat in Guri, one stop north.

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Amsa History Park (809) — a 6,000-year-old village

The first stop back in Seoul is the newest one on the line, and the reason it exists is in its name. The concourse is designed around the Seoul Amsa-dong Prehistoric Settlement: the walls take the colours of 빗살무늬토기 bitsal-munui togi, comb-pattern pottery, and the artist Oh Kyung-sun’s piece Fragments of Time reworks the same pots. The settlement’s own directions put it 10 minutes on foot from Exit 3, against 15 minutes from Exit 4 of Amsa Station, the old terminus.

The site is a Neolithic village on the riverbank, exposed when a great flood in 1925 stripped away the topsoil. Reconstructed pit houses stand where the families lived, and two exhibition halls hold their pottery and tools. It is open 09:30–18:00 (tickets until 17:30), closed on Mondays and January 1, and adult entry is 500 won; the grounds also open free for early-morning walkers, from 05:30 in summer and 06:00 in winter. Our Cheonho and Amsa guide covers the neighbourhood. For lunch, Juyangduri Donkkaseu (Godeok-ro 89, 2nd floor), about 400 m from Exit 2, is a Gangdong institution. It started in the basement of Juyang Shopping, an old Gangdong shopping arcade, and moved here when the building was redeveloped; 2026 posts date it to 1992. Order the 왕돈까스 wang donkkaseu, a plate-sized pork cutlet pounded thin under a sweet brown sauce, served after a cup of cream soup, with macaroni salad, cabbage and young-radish water kimchi to cut the richness. A September 2026 post gives 9,900 won and 10:00–20:30 daily; the free refills it was once known for have stopped. For coffee afterwards, Café Seonsa, five to seven minutes from Amsa Station, takes its name from the site, 선사 seonsa meaning prehistoric, and brews single-origin Timor-Leste beans.

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Cheonho (811) — a Baekje wall, a toy street and two food alleys

Most people only change between Lines 5 and 8 here. Seoul Metro’s sub-name for the station is a hint to go up instead: Pungnaptoseong. Seoul city puts this earthen wall 127 m from Exit 10. It is a grassy bank running between apartment blocks, and many historians take it for the royal city of Hanseong-era Baekje; digging for apartment foundations in 1997 brought up a mass of palace-grade finds. A 2.6 km trail follows it from Pungnap Park past Pungnap Market to Gyeongdang History Park, with a new barefoot clay path. Our guide to stations built on history has the full story.

Two other exits, two other moods. Exit 1 is 46 m from the Cheonho Stationery and Toy Street, a strip of stationery and toy shops that a June 2026 Seoul city report found busy again, with young adults buying squishy tactile toys. Exit 5 leads to the naengmyeon alley on Gucheonmyeon-ro 29-gil and Exit 6 to the jjukkumi alley, spicy stir-fried baby octopus, on Cheonho-daero 158-gil. In the noodle alley, Songwol Naengmyeon (Gucheonmyeon-ro 29-gil 26) is the first name locals give; the family has run it for two generations since 1988, according to its VisitKorea listing. Order the 열무냉면 yeolmu naengmyeon, cold noodles with young-radish kimchi, and expect a big bowl: this is the working-class style, not Pyongyang’s restraint. See our Cheonho and Amsa guide for the jjukkumi orders.

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Mongchontoseong (813) — walk the fortress to the museum

Two stops on, past Gangdong-gu Office, the line passes the second Baekje wall. Seoul Metro’s note on the name says the village here was once called 곰말 gommal, “big village”, and that the defensive earthen fortress was raised on a natural ridge between the 3rd and 5th centuries; it is now inside Olympic Park, and the station’s sub-name is Peace Gate, after the park’s World Peace Gate. Use Exit 1. The Hanseong Baekje Museum’s own directions put it 650 m from there, 10–15 minutes toward the park’s South Gate 2, and the walk takes you along the line of the fortress. The Hanseong Baekje Museum is free, open 09:00–18:00 and closed on Mondays (it opens when a Monday is a public holiday); it holds finds from Mongchontoseong, Pungnaptoseong and the Seokchon-dong tombs.

Our Line 5 guide comes at the park from the concert halls; this is the history entrance. Out of South Gate 2 you are at the edge of the Bangi-dong food alley. Boseung Hoegwan (Bangi-dong 65-3) is open 24 hours, with 순대국밥 sundae-gukbap, blood-sausage rice soup, at 11,000 won. More in our Bangi-dong and Olympic Park guide. The next stop is Jamsil, for Line 2; see our Line 2 guide.

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Munjeong (818) — the court district at lunchtime

South of Jamsil the line runs under Songpa-daero past Seokchon, Songpa and Garak Market (our Line 3 guide covers the market). Munjeong, seven minutes from Jamsil, is where the Seoul Eastern District Court moved in 2017, and the office towers by Exits 3 and 4 fill their basement food halls every weekday at noon. The older Munjeong is out of Exit 1, on the faded Rodeo Street. Turn right and look down a side alley for Golmok Tteokbokki, whose menu is three items: soupy tteokbokki, sundae and fried dumplings. 2026 posts give 4,000 won a portion and three dumplings for 1,000 won; it opens 15:00–21:00 on weekdays and 13:00–21:00 at weekends, so it is an afternoon stop. Our Munjeong, Jangji and Wirye guide has the lunch places too.

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Jangji (819) — Garden Five and the galbi houses

Jangji is the last stop in Seoul. Garden Five, the giant mall built for merchants displaced by the Cheonggyecheon restoration and opened in 2010, sits beside the station. Locals shop there and eat across the road: within a few minutes of Exit 1 on Songpa-daero is a cluster of grill and tripe houses that have been open for decades. Suwonjip (Songpa-daero 108), three minutes away, grills marinated pork galbi over charcoal under a sign claiming a 25-year tradition, with doenjang stew and steamed egg on the side; office workers come at lunch for the 10,000-won beef soup. It is open daily 11:00–22:30. One stop on, Bokjeong has what our guide to Seoul’s strangest stations measured as the shortest transfer in the network: 14 seconds to the Suin-Bundang Line.

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Sanseong (822) — the bus to Namhansanseong

Seoul Metro’s records show this station opened as “Namhansanseong” and was renamed Sanseong on October 1, 1998; the next stop now carries the fortress name. The old name still tells you what Sanseong is for. Namhansanseong, the UNESCO-listed mountain fortress where King Injo held out through the winter of 1636–37, sits on the ridge above, and Gyeonggi Province’s Namhansanseong World Heritage Centre sends visitors out of Exit 2 for bus 9, with 9-1 added at weekends; the provincial guide also lists bus 52. All three climb to the fortress village inside the walls, about 30 minutes on bus 9 by the Korea Tourism Organization’s count, and the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization notes that the stop is a short walk from the exit itself. Inside the walls, Hanmadang (Namhansanseong-ro 792beon-gil 17-1), a Gyeonggi Eumtteum restaurant since 2014, serves rice steamed in a lotus leaf, a lighter choice than the usual whole 백숙 baeksuk chicken. Our Gwangju, Gyeonggi guide covers the palace and the circuit; for a 20-minute climb from the Seongnam side, get off at Namhansanseong Station, as our Seongnam guide explains.

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Moran (827) — the 5-day market at the end of the line

Seoul Metro’s note on the name is a small history of the city: in 1970 Kim Chang-suk, a former soldier from Pyongyang, began clearing the scrubland here, and when a neighbourhood grew he called it Moran, out of longing for the mother he had left behind in the North. Today Exit 5 opens onto the Moran 5-Day Market, which Seongnam city calls the largest in Korea. It runs on every date ending in 4 or 9 (the 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th and 29th), 09:00–19:00, with 554 stalls since a 2024 reorganization. On market days, eat at the stalls inside; beside the market is the sesame- and perilla-oil mill alley the city designates as its “Hundred-Year Oil” street. On other days, the blocks Seongnam calls the Moran Food Culture Street keep the old town fed. For a sit-down meal on any day, Sindaeman (Jeil-ro 35beon-gil 41), about 300 m from Exit 3, is the neighbourhood Chinese restaurant: the window reads “since 1988”, and an older couple run it, one at the wok and one at the tables. At lunch it fills with local regulars. Order 간짜장 ganjjajang, black-bean noodles with the sauce stir-fried to order and served on the side (10,000 won in a September 2026 post), and the old-style sweet-and-sour pork in a ketchup sauce. It does not deliver; 2026 posts give 11:00–20:30, and some list Monday as the day off. Our Seongnam guide has more on the old town.

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What should you know before riding Line 8?

It is the simplest line in Seoul to ride: one route, two directions, no branches. What catches people out is the calendar, not the map.

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One-day route along Line 8

Start with the royal tombs in the north and work south through 6,000 years of history. Go Tuesday to Sunday; on a date ending in 4 or 9, swap the morning for Moran market instead (about 25 minutes from Jamsil).

• 09:30 — Donggureung, Exit 3. Ten minutes' walk to the tombs; give them two hours.
• 12:00 — Eorangchu, by Exit 3. Kimchi-braised mackerel before the lunch queue peaks.
• 13:30 — Amsa History Park, Exit 3. Nine minutes south: the Neolithic village and its pit houses.
• 15:00 — Cheonho, Exit 10. Six minutes on: walk Pungnaptoseong, then cross to Exit 1 for the toy street.
• 16:30 — Mongchontoseong, Exit 1. Four minutes on: follow the fortress to the Hanseong Baekje Museum before it closes at 18:00.
• 18:30 — Dinner. Bangi-dong's food alley outside South Gate 2, or two stops back to Cheonho for naengmyeon or jjukkumi.