President Lee Myung-bak on Wednesday traveled to the southern coastal city of Yeosu to celebrate the opening of a double-track electric railway that will enable the high-speed KTX trains to reach the host city of next year’s World Expo.

The 180-kilometer railway extended the electric tracks for KTX trains from Iksan in North Jeolla Province to Yeosu, some 450 kilometers south of Seoul, cutting travel time between Seoul and Yeosu by 103 minutes to three and a half hours, officials said.

The construction project, launched in 2001, cost 1.8 trillion won ($1.5 billion).

“I am glad we completed (the construction) two years earlier than scheduled,” Lee said in a speech at the opening ceremony in Yeosu.

He said the completion of the Iksan-Yeosu segment is expected to create 20,000 new jobs and have a production-inducing effect worth 2 trillion won.

The new tracks will be used to transport more than a million visitors to the Yeosu Expo, which will start in May for a 93-day run.

“The Yeosu Expo will be a golden opportunity for the southern coast to develop into a global attraction for recreation and tourism,” Lee said.

The Yeosu Expo organizing committee expects more than 8 million visitors from over 100 countries.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)