One of our more interesting days in Korea was a visit to a TV and computer CRT recycling plant in Nonsan, a smaller city and hour and a half south of Seoul. It was actually some distance away, because we travelled there at 300 kph in Korea’s new fast train, built by French engineers.
New stations for a new train.
Our first-class cabin had wireless internet access, free snacks and drinks. The drop-down video screens gave information including the current speed. The photo below shows 302 kph and I saw it reach 304 kph. The wide-track train travelled very smoothly and it was hard to appreciate just how fast we were going.
Interior of the first class cabin.
We returned by conventional train, on a different track. It was interesting in its own way – being slower we had a longer look at everything, and we were also closer to ground level. Much of the fast train track was well elevated above the ground.
Fast train track seen from the slow train track on the way back to Seoul. Paddy fields and other intensive agriculture and horticulture covered every available corner of space not occupied by roads and buildings. I saw no outdoors livestock farming.
Nonsan is a city of about 200,000 people that is low-rise and funky compared with Seoul.
Driving down Nonsan's main street.
Main street shops in Nonsan.
Nonsan shops
Hamburgers to go at Lotteria, Korea's equivalent of McDonalds. Right: young woman feeding her child in the Lotteria restaurant.
The Nonsan station was more crowded and somewhat less salubrious than the Seoul stations. Many of the young men were national service soldiers travelling to Seoul on leave. Nonsan has an army training camp.
Trainee soldiers at Nonsan Station. All South Korean males do two years of military training at age 18. This can be deferred up to the age of 30 if the person is doing academic study. Thre's a powerful incentive to study hard: fail and exam and you're straight into the army.
One of many golf driving ranges we saw from cars and trains in Korea. Far more golf is 'played' on driving ranges than on real golf courses, where memberships and green fees are ruinously expensive.
We saw several ersatz castles and chateaux from the train. Later I was told this was probably a 'love hotel'.
Martinborough Musings 
I was looking for pictures of the Nonsan train station and stumbled across this post. So much has changed here, this makes me nostalgic. Haha I think the Lotteria is the only place that looks exactly the same.