South Korea's first locally-developed bullet train is getting ready for a speed test next month.

Attention is focused on whether the high-speed train will be able to break the 350 kilometer per hour mark.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said Thursday that if the train breaks the speed of 350 kilometers per hour in the test run, scheduled for mid-December, South Korea will be the world's fourth nation to possess such technology.

The bullet train was jointly manufactured by Rotem Company and Hyundai Heavy Industries Company.

The bullet train, unlike existing bullet trains, built by French company, Alstom, and in service since April, is made of compressed aluminum instead of steel.

The French-built trains travel at the maximum speed of 300 kilometers per hour.

A ministry official said he expects the locally-built bullet train will easily break the 350 kilometer-per-hour speed.

Nearly 210 billion won or 190 million dollars have been spent on developing the train since 1996. The train will begin commercial service from 2007.