Sentetsu Matei-class locomotive

After the Liberation and subsequent partition of Korea, both the Korean National Railroad (KNR) in the South and the Korean State Railway (Kukch'ŏl) in the North operated Matei-class locomotives. Not all survived the Pacific War, as there were only 77 of 83 built of both classes that remained in 1946; of these, 33 went to the Korean National Railroad in the South, and 44 to the Korean State Railway in the North.^[2] The six locomotives of both classes that remain unaccounted for were likely either destroyed during the Pacific War or were possibly taken by Soviet Army, which during its occupation of North Korea took a large number of locomotives back to the USSR.^[3]

Of the 33 4-8-2s that went to the KNR in the 1947 division of assets, most were likely Matei-class, which were designated 마터1 class by the KNR;^[2] the identities of twelve of these are known for certain.

Around eleven Matei class locomotives went to the north, where they were initially designated 마더하 class (Madŏha) by Kukch'ŏl; later, around the 1970s, they were renumbered in the 7100 series, retaining their original running number but replacing the "마더하" with a "7". The identities of two are known for certain.

On 31 December 1950, a passenger train operated by Kukch'ŏl, consisting of マテイ10 - still wearing Sentetsu number plates - and 25 cars, running on the former Kyŏngŭi Line from Hanp'o to Munsan, was ordered to stop at Changdan by the US Army and was destroyed. The locomotive is now on display at Imjingak.^[4]