Daejeon to Busan
Leaving Seoul aboard South Korea’s high-speed KTX train, Michael travels south through the heart of the country to explore how rail has shaped both its economy and identity.
Leaving Seoul aboard South Korea’s high-speed KTX train, Michael travels south through the heart of the country to explore how rail has shaped both its economy and identity.
His first stop is Daejeon, a centre of science and education, where a local bakery founded by a North Korean refugee offers a small but telling story of post-war resilience. Nearby, in Geumsan, Michael visits a ginseng research institute to discover how Korea’s most prized root, cultivated for over 1,500 years, has evolved from traditional medicine into a global health and skincare industry.
Continuing east along the historic Gyeongbu Line, Michael learns how Korea’s railways, first laid at the end of the 19th century, became the backbone of the modern nation. In Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla dynasty, he joins archaeologists excavating royal burial mounds, uncovering gold artefacts that reveal the story of Korea’s first unification.
The journey ends in Busan, where Michael explores a hillside community built by war refugees and meets an artist whose work reflects the city’s enduring legacy of displacement, creativity and renewal.
On TV
