SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Aju News) -- "Train One", a special train used exclusively by President Moon Jae-in, made its first public appearance this week, running on a new rail line built for South Korea's first Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The presidential train was put into service in 1979, but its operation has been a top secret for security reasons because the two Koreas are still technically at war with no peace treaty signed at the end of the 1950-53 war.
Moon opened the lid in a bold campaign to promote the Winter Games, allowing a selected group of citizens and journalists to travel together on his presidential train for the first time on Tuesday.
The presidential train traveled from Seoul to the eastern port city of Gangneung, a major Winter Olympic hub, for a test ride on the high-speed rail network that will make visitors travel directly from an international airport west of Seoul to Pyeongchang in about two hours.
Moon's office said the eight-carriage train was pulled by two KTX engines used for the country's high-speed rail system. Two carriages are bulletproof with one of them used as an office and the other for a meeting room.