According to the ministry of Construction and Transportation Friday, the opening ceremony for the Gyeongbu High Speed Rail, a high-speed train linking Seoul and Busan, is scheduled for March 30th.

Attending the ceremony will be diplomatic envoys from all over the world as well as officials from the government, French National Railways and France's Alsthom Co.

The ministry also plans to begin advance ticket sales on March 25th, which will be made available over the phone and Internet and through ticketing dispensers.

A ceremony for the completion of the Honam line connecting the capital with Mokpo is slated for March 24th or 25th.

The French-built Korea Train Express (KTX) will connect Seoul with two major cities in the southeast, including Busan, and in the southwest, including Mokpo. The train service was completed after 12 years of construction.

Trains will run at an average speed of 300 kilometers per hour between Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, and Daegu on newly built rails. However, the speed will be limited to 140 kilometers per hour on the Seoul-Gwangmyeong and Daegu-Busan sections, which will use existing railways.

The Seoul-Busan journey will take 2 hours and 40 minutes and cost 49,900 won (US$42.10), while that from Seoul to Mokpo will take nearly 3 hours and cost 42,900 won ($36.10).