This paper deals with the levitation force characteristics of electromagnet for MAGLEV vehicle application. The magnetic flux density distribution and levitation force characteristics of the electromagnet are investigated by means of equivalent magnetic circuit model. Firstly, we defined the aligned and unaligned electromagnet module for the full-electromagnet, and magnetic flux paths are represented for each model including leakage and fringing flux paths. Because of the analysis model contains both the permanent magnet and electromagnet coil, we calculated the airgap magnetic flux density and levitation forces using flux superposition in electromagnetic circuit. The results are validated extensively by comparison with finite element analysis. Moreover, the 1/4 scaled magnetic levitation and propulsion test vehicle has been manufactured and tested in order to verify these predictions. The experimental results confirms the validity of the analytical prediction with equivalent magnetic circuit model for the description of a electromagnet.