Seoul Subway Station Names: Twins, Misnomers & Old Words

Seoul’s subway names are supposed to be simple. A city ordinance tells the naming committee to use the old local place name first. If there isn’t one, it uses a historic site, and after that a well-known public building. In practice, universities campaigned for stations, residents got some names changed, and new lines arrived with names the old lines were already using. The result is a map with a few traps on it and some interesting history.

This is Part 1 of our four-part series on the subway. It covers the stations whose names have a story to tell.

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Why does one Seoul station have two names?

Because a university wanted the name and the city wanted the neighborhood’s. The result is the only station on the network whose name depends on which line you ride.

1. Chongshin Univ. (Isu) / Isu — Lines 4 and 7

On Line 4 the station is 총신대입구(이수) Chongshin Univ. (Isu). Walk through the transfer corridor to Line 7 and it becomes 이수 Isu. Wikitree, a Korean news site, described it in 2018 as the only station whose name differs from line to line. It also pointed out that Chongshin University is much closer to Namseong Station, one stop away on Line 7, than to the station that carries its name.

The backstory, involving a university, money and a long dispute with the city, is told in our guide to why Seoul stations carry names in brackets, so we won’t repeat it here. What matters to a traveler is that Isu and Chongshin Univ. are the same place, whichever name your app shows.

Get off and look: read the station boards on the Line 4 platform and then on the Line 7 platform. They give the same station two different names.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Which Seoul stations share a name but aren't the same?

Sinchon, Yangpyeong and Noryangjin. In 2012 Seoul’s own news service warned that each of these names covers two separate stations: Line 2 and Gyeongui Line Sinchon, Line 5 and Jungang Line Yangpyeong, and Line 1 and Line 9 Noryangjin. Noryangjin at least has a transfer between its two halves. The other two are the ones that catch people out.

2. Sinchon — Line 2 and the Gyeongui–Jungang Line

Line 2 Sinchon is the one most visitors want. Yonsei University directs visitors to its Exits 2 and 3. The Gyeongui–Jungang Line’s Sinchon is a separate station with its own gates, on the Ewha side of the neighborhood in Seodaemun-gu. Ewha Womans University’s directions even list a “Sinchon train station” bus stop. Even so, Ewha sends subway riders to Ewha Womans Univ. Station on Line 2, Exits 2 and 3, followed by a 300 m walk.

The rail station is the older of the two. Its triangular-roofed station building opened in December 1920 and is a registered cultural heritage site. According to Seoul’s media hub, it is five years older than the old Seoul Station building. We look at it more closely in Part 2 of this series.

Get off and look: come out of the Gyeongui–Jungang station and find the small 1920 building with the steep triangular roof, now dwarfed by the shopping complex beside it.

📍 Open in Naver Map (Line 2) 📍 Open in Naver Map (Gyeongui–Jungang)

3. Yangpyeong — Line 5 and the Gyeongui–Jungang Line

This mix-up costs more time. Line 5 Yangpyeong is in Yeongdeungpo-gu, in southwest Seoul. According to the district office, Yangpyeong-dong (楊坪) takes 楊 from Yanghwajin, the old Han River ferry crossing nearby, and adds 坪, “plain”: the village on the flat land by the ferry.

Gyeongui–Jungang Yangpyeong is the main station of Yangpyeong County, out in the Gyeonggi countryside. Its name is written 楊平, and Seoul Shinmun traces it to the merger of two old counties, Yanggeun and Jipyeong, in 1908. In Hangeul the two names are identical, and Korean speakers mix them up too.

Get off and look: if you really meant the county, the Yangpyeong Mulmalgeun Market starts right outside Yangpyeong Station. Gyeonggi Province says it runs a five-day market on dates ending in 3 and 8.

📍 Open in Naver Map (Line 5, Seoul) 📍 Open in Naver Map (Yangpyeong County)

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Why isn't Seoul National Univ. Station near the university?

Because the name points toward the campus rather than marking it. 입구 ipgu means “entrance,” and on a station name it usually means “the way in to.” Sometimes the way in is quite long.

4. Seoul Nat’l Univ. — Line 2

SNU’s own transport page tells visitors to leave by Exit 3 and then take city buses 5511 or 5513 or the campus shuttle. It also lists two alternatives: Nakseongdae Station (Line 2) Exit 4 with local buses, and the newer Gwanaksan (Seoul Nat’l Univ.) Station on the Sillim Line, Exit 1. Wikitree put the distance from the station to the university’s gate at about 1.8 km, a 20–30 minute walk.

Get off and look: from Exit 3, follow the stream of students to the bus stop and ride the 5511 or 5513 through the campus.

📍 Open in Naver Map

5. Taereung-ipgu — Lines 6 and 7

Taereung is the tomb of Queen Munjeong, third queen of King Jungjong. It shares a site with Gangneung, the tomb of King Myeongjong and Queen Insun, and both are part of the UNESCO-listed Joseon royal tombs. The station named after it isn’t the nearest one, though. Wikitree measured about 2.4 km from Taereung-ipgu to the tomb entrance, compared with about 1.6 km from Hwarangdae Station on Line 6.

The neighborhood’s names have moved before. The old Gyeongchun Line station nearby opened as Taereung Station. According to Seoul’s media hub, it was renamed Hwarangdae in 1958, when the Korea Military Academy moved in. That station is now Hwarangdae Railroad Park.

Get off and look: take Line 6 one stop further to Hwarangdae. The railroad park is about 858 m from Exit 4, and Taereung is roughly 15 minutes’ walk beyond it. Taereung and Gangneung (Hwarang-ro 681) open Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00–18:00, and one 1,000-won ticket covers both. For food on the way, see our Gyeongchun Line local eats guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map 📍 Open in Naver Map (Taereung & Gangneung)

6. Seonjeongneung — Line 9 and Suin–Bundang Line

This name combines two tombs: 선릉 Seolleung, where King Seongjong and Queen Jeonghyeon are buried, and 정릉 Jeongneung, the tomb of King Jungjong. Together the site is known as Seonjeongneung (宣靖陵). The station opened on 28 March 2015 with the second phase of Line 9. The older Seolleung Station on Line 2 is named after just one of the two tombs.

There is a catch. The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s own visitor listing for the tombs tells you to use Seolleung Station, Exit 10, which it says is five minutes away, rather than Seonjeongneung Station. Seoul also has a second Jeongneung: the tomb of Queen Sindeok (貞陵) in Seongbuk-gu, on the other side of the city.

Get off and look: walk the wooded path between the two tombs. It feels a long way from Teheran-ro, although the office towers are just outside the walls.

📍 Open in Naver Map 📍 Open in Naver Map (the tombs)

7. Sangwangsimni — Line 2

상왕십리 Sangwangsimni means “Upper Wangsimni.” Seoul’s media hub points out that the station is actually in Hawangsimni-dong, “Lower Wangsimni.”

The name Wangsimni (往十里) comes with a legend. While the monk Muhak was searching for a site for the new Joseon capital, an old man is said to have told him to “go ten ri more to the northwest.” Wang-sim-ni literally means “go ten ri.” The story goes that the site he found that way became Seoul.

Get off and look: check the address plates on the buildings by the exits. They say Hawangsimni-dong, not Sangwangsimni-dong.

📍 Open in Naver Map

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Which Seoul subway stations have been renamed?

Plenty of them have. The three below are the ones you’re most likely to see under their old names on an old map, in a guidebook or in a taxi driver’s directions.

8. Jamsil Saenae (formerly Sincheon) — Line 2

Until 2016 this station was Sincheon (신천). On a Line 2 map that is one vowel away from Sinchon (신촌), on the same line. Seoul Shinmun reported that the city’s naming committee approved the change in October 2015, citing the confusion with Sinchon and the fact that the station isn’t in Sincheon-dong. The new name, 새내 saenae, is the native Korean form of the same idea. Seoul’s media hub explains that Sincheon meant a “new stream,” a channel the Han River opened when it split.

Weekly Kyunghyang adds a further detail. The station’s neighborhood is legally Jamsilbon-dong, and Sincheon-dong lies across Songpa-daero. According to the magazine, the name Sincheon came with villagers who moved here when the old riverside village on Jamsil Island was cleared.

Get off and look: the lanes of bars and cheap restaurants around the station, and the old Saemaul Market, which Weekly Kyunghyang says dates from the time those villagers arrived.

📍 Open in Naver Map

9. Jamsillaru (formerly Seongnae) — Line 2

Two stops away, Seongnae became Jamsillaru in 2010. Seoul explains 나루 naru as a ferry landing, and this one marks an old crossing on the Han. The odd part is that, according to Seoul’s own description, Jamsillaru Station stands in Sincheon-dong. So the area’s old name ended up on neither of the stations around it.

Get off and look: look for naru elsewhere on the map. Yeouinaru and Gwangnaru on Line 5 are also named after old ferry landings.

📍 Open in Naver Map

10. Dongdaemun History & Culture Park — Lines 2, 4 and 5

This station has had three names, each named after whatever was standing on the site at the time:

• 1983: opens as Seoul Stadium Station. The stadium had opened in 1925 as Gyeongseong Stadium and was renamed Seoul Stadium in 1945.
• 1985: the stadium becomes Dongdaemun Stadium, and the station follows.
• December 2007: demolition begins after 82 years of sport on the site.
• 2009: the station is renamed after the park that replaced the stadium, next to what became Dongdaemun Design Plaza.

Clearing the site exposed the Igansumun water gate and the remains of Hadogam, a Joseon military post. Both are now displayed in the park. Part 2 covers what was found underground in detail.

Get off and look: the Dongdaemun Stadium Memorial and Dongdaemun History Museum inside the park. Both are free and open 10:00–18:00, closed on Mondays.

📍 Open in Naver Map

11. Chungjeongno — Lines 2 and 5

This is a street name that was changed back. Under Japanese rule the area was called Takezoe-machi (竹添町, Jukcheom-jeong in Korean), after the Japanese diplomat Takezoe Shin’ichirō. In 1946 it was renamed to honor Min Yeong-hwan (1861–1905), who took his own life in protest at the 1905 Eulsa Treaty. His posthumous title was Chungjeong-gong, and the road became 충정로 Chungjeong-ro.

Get off and look: the statue of Min Yeong-hwan by the station, where the Seodaemun-gu “walking tour course 1” begins. Ahyeon, the next stop toward Sinchon, has its own naming story, told in our Ahyeon food guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

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Which Seoul station names are old Korean words?

In 2014, Seoul counted 29 of its 302 subway stations with names that are fully or partly native Korean rather than Sino-Korean. Many of them are older than anything else in their neighborhoods.

12. Hangnyeoul — Line 3

학여울 Hangnyeoul combines 학 (鶴, crane) with 여울 yeoul, a native word for a stretch of fast water. According to Seoul, egrets used to gather near Daechi-dong, where the Tancheon and Yangjaecheon streams meet, and the spot appears as 학탄 (鶴灘, “crane rapids”) on the 19th-century Daedongyeojido map. The station uses the Korean form of the name.

Get off and look: go out of Exit 1 and walk about 400 m along Yangjaecheon to the confluence itself. There’s a visitor center there, and a riverside path continues to the Han.

📍 Open in Naver Map

13. Nodeul — Line 9

노들 Nodeul was the native name for Noryangjin when it was a riverbank of weeping willows and wading egrets. Now the name belongs to a Line 9 station and to the island in the middle of the Han.

Get off and look: Nodeul Island, about eight minutes’ walk from Exit 2. The outdoor spaces are open around the clock, and the indoor venues close on Mondays. The island sits under the Hangang Bridge, which features in our Han River bridges guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

14. Ttukseom — Line 2

The name looks like it should mean “Embankment Island,” but Seoul gives a different origin. In Joseon times the army raised 둑기 dukgi, great military banners (纛), here when troops marched out, and the place was called Dukdo (纛島). The second part, seom (“island”), came from the water that surrounded it on three sides.

Here is the trap. Ttukseom Hangang Park is not at Ttukseom Station. Seoul’s Hangang parks office sends visitors to Jayang Station on Line 7, Exits 2 and 3, one minute from the park. Jayang itself was called Ttukseom Resort until February 2024, as our beautiful stations guide notes.

Get off and look: Ttukdo Market near the station, which keeps the old “Ttukdo” form of the name, and Seoul Forest just beyond it. Both are in our Seoul Forest–Ttukseom guide.

📍 Open in Naver Map

The same 2014 list includes Madeul (Line 7), which Seoul links either to horses kept in the fields or to an old word for hemp fields, and Aeogae (Line 5), the “child’s pass.”

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Quick reference: all 14 stations

🚇 Seoul subway station name stories at a glance

#	Station	Korean	Line(s)	The name story	Get off for
1	Chongshin Univ. / Isu	총신대입구 / 이수	4, 7	Same station, different name on each line	Compare the platform signs
2	Sinchon (×2)	신촌	2; Gyeongui–Jungang	Two separate stations, no transfer	1920 Sinchon station building
3	Yangpyeong (×2)	양평	5; Gyeongui–Jungang	楊坪 in Seoul vs 楊平 county in Gyeonggi	Five-day market at the county station
4	Seoul Nat’l Univ.	서울대입구	2	“Entrance” still means a bus ride	Buses 5511 and 5513 into campus
5	Taereung-ipgu	태릉입구	6, 7	Hwarangdae is nearer the tomb	Taereung and Gangneung via Hwarangdae
6	Seonjeongneung	선정릉	9, Suin–Bundang	Two royal tombs in one name	Seolleung and Jeongneung tombs
7	Sangwangsimni	상왕십리	2	“Upper” station sits in “Lower” Wangsimni	The Muhak “go ten ri” legend
8	Jamsil Saenae	잠실새내	2	Was Sincheon until 2016; too close to Sinchon	Saemaul Market and bar lanes
9	Jamsillaru	잠실나루	2	Was Seongnae until 2010; a ferry landing	Other “naru” ferry names
10	Dongdaemun History & Culture Park	동대문역사문화공원	2, 4, 5	Seoul Stadium, then Dongdaemun Stadium, renamed 2009	Stadium Memorial and History Museum
11	Chungjeongno	충정로	2, 5	Min Yeong-hwan’s title replaced a colonial name in 1946	Min Yeong-hwan statue
12	Hangnyeoul	학여울	3	Crane plus rapids, the 鶴灘 of old maps	Yangjaecheon and Tancheon confluence
13	Nodeul	노들	9	Old native name of Noryangjin	Nodeul Island
14	Ttukseom	뚝섬	2	Joseon army banners (纛)	Ttukdo Market and Seoul Forest