Seoul Subway Transfers 2026: No Transit Card, No Discount

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government transportation website's "Integrated Transfer Discount System" page, the transfer discount applies when one person uses a single card to board a different mode of transport within 30 minutes of tapping out (60 minutes overnight), for up to 4 transfers — 5 rides total — and does not apply to transfers on the same line or the same vehicle. The distance-based surcharge for metro-area subways is the base fare up to 10km, then 100 won per 5km from 10–50km, and 100 won per 8km beyond 50km. For the transfer system to work, you must tap your card at the reader on both boarding and alighting; skipping the tap-out breaks the transfer chain from that point, and the base fare is charged again on the next ride. The transit-card base fare rose from 1,400 won to 1,550 won starting with the first train on June 28, 2025. All three regions — Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi — share the same area-code-plus-120 transit inquiry line. Where to buy a physical transit card and exactly how much it costs varies by retailer, so no single official price could be confirmed — they're sold at subway station vending machines and convenience stores. This was confirmed on 2026-11-02 on the Seoul Metropolitan Government transportation website's (news.seoul.go.kr/traffic) "Integrated Transfer Discount System" page, and on the Etoday (etoday.co.kr) article reporting the 2025 metro-area subway fare increase.