South Korea plans to develop a high-speed train system in the next three years which can travel at a speed of up to 1,000 kmph (621mph), almost the speed of sound. The train, which is based on hyper-tube technology that propels floating pod-like vehicles through tubes under partial vacuum, will connect Seoul to Busan covering the distance in half an hour, instead of the current time of three hours.

"We hope to create an ultra-fast train that will travel inside a state-of-the-art low-pressure tube at lightning speeds, in the not-too-distant future," a Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) official told the Korea Times on Tuesday.

The state-run institute will join forces with other research groups as well as Hanyang University to develop the new ground transport and check the viability of the various related technologies that will enable South Korea to take its place among countries "competing in futuristic technology," the official added.

The open-sourced hyper-tube technology, first proposed by Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, is being developed by a number of companies, university students, and independent engineers. However, US-based Hyperloop took the lead last year by raising $80 million to develop the technology. The company conducted its first-ever propulsion open air test in the Las Vegas desert in May 2016 along a half-mile track.

Drawbacks of the hyper-tube technology

Stating the drawbacks of the technology, KRRI said that it is vulnerable to engineering flaws. For instance, a damage to the tube in as a result of a natural disaster or an explosion can lead to the pods crashing due to the loss in negative pressure, resulting in tragedy. The Institute, however, is looking for ways to overcome these challenges.

If successful, the train will be twice as fast as the fastest existing ground transport in the world, which is a magnetic levitation (maglev) train that uses magnetic levitation to move the vehicle without contact with the ground. Maglev trains can travel at speeds of up to 500km per hour.