Currently, KTX and the new Super Rapid Train take between two hours and 15 minutes and two hours and 48 minutes, stopping at two to seven stations.

Bullet trains will start a nonstop premium service from Seoul to Busan in June that will take just an hour and 50 minutes, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday. That will cut travel time by 25 to 58 minutes.

The new service will make it faster to take a train than to fly. How many will run nonstop remains to be worked out.

The ministry is also considering nonstop services between Seoul and Mokpo and Gwangju, shortening the journeys by about 20 minutes.

Nonstop fares will be higher than the current W59,800 for the KTX and W52,600 for the SRT (US$1=W1,189).

"We'll keep the overall balance by cutting fares for some trains that stop often and take longer," a ministry official said.