I would say planning ahead (if just a little) is relevant in any country. I flew into Seoul last year thinking I could easily book a rail trip to Busan (intern

I would say planning ahead (if just a little) is relevant in any country. I flew into Seoul last year thinking I could easily book a rail trip to Busan (international flight arrivals are always uncertain so I didn't want to pre-book train tickets and risk missing my train due to a delayed flight). Given that the Seoul-Busan route is the most popular and frequent plus transportation in Korea is amazing, I figured surely there'd be an abundance of connectivity options between its two largest cities, so I didn't think I'd have any trouble getting on a train. But nooo, they'd sold out for the evening. [1] I had to spend the night in Seoul and try again the next day. Train tickets do sell out in every country, not just in America. [1] they did have a standing-only (i.e no seat) ticket on a 5-hour local train. I had luggage, was jetlagged, so there was no way I would have been able to stay standing for a 5-hour journey