It was built to make the Saemaul Class trains more streamlined before the 1988 Olympics.

The locomotives were built between 1986 and 1987 and were all retired between 2011 and 2012 when they reached the end of their 25-year lifespans.

However, dynamic braking was prohibited from use due to the aging of the traction motors.

However, the power supply caused many problems, and excessive noise and frequent maintenance led to the decision by Korail to remove HEP from the cars and instead use dynamo cars to provide the head-end power.

The front coupler was initially housed, but was converted to an external convex to resolve efficiency problems.