Overview of Seoul

2010.8.23 | 지도 크게 보기 ©  NHN Corp.

                                        map of Seoul


 Seoul is the capital city in South Korea and the center of business, education, shopping, and culture. Also, it has the government and blue house where the president of South Korea lives. There is Han river flowing through Seoul, and which divides Seoul into two parts, north and south parts. The north part of Seoul is old city which is mainly covering the capital of Chosun Dynasty, and the south part of Seoul was newly developed as a business district to accommodate growing populations and business demands from 1980s. In the center of Seoul is Namsan Mountain where people take a walk.

 As I mentioned in the previous post, Seoul was the capital city of Chosun(Yi) dynasty as well. Therefore, there are several palaces of Chosun Dynasty. Also, Seoul has a very convenient and cheap transportation system such as unified subway and bus network which allows people to go anywhere in Seoul and its suburb. That's why I suggest tour with public transportation.

 Seoul has more than 10 million populations in the relatively small area and there are a lot of people in the street. Some people feel that it is too crowded but most people feel it is dynamic and active. When you come to Seoul, you will be one of them in the dynamic city and enjoy the active life.

night view of Seoul from Mt. Namsan

Overview of South Korea - historical information.

 Officially, Korea has very long history which is more than 5,000 years. However, some people say that it has more than 20,000 years' history based on an old book which was found recently. There is still a lot of controversials going on. However, up to now, 5,000 years' history is official opinion.

 According to the official opinion, Kochosun was the first dynasty in the Korean peninsula about 5,000 years ago. After Kochosun collapsed, there were a lot of small countries rose up and disappeared for a while until 3 strong countries came up about 2,000 years ago. The three countries were Koguryo, Paikje, and Shinla.
Koguryo governed north part of Korean peninsula and the north east part of current China, Paikje governed the south west part of Korean peninsula, and Shinla governed the south east part of Korean peninsula. After Koguryo and Paikje collapsed about 1,500 years ago by the attack of the allied forces of Shinla and Dang dynasty in China, Shinla was the only dynasty in Korean peninsula. The north part of Korean Peninsula and the northeast part of China which were a part of Koguryo's territory were governed by Balhae, new country which was built by people from Koguryo and other northern tribes.
 After Shinla, Koryo dynasty took over the Korean peninsula for about 400 years. After Koryo, Chosun Dynasty took over the peninsula for about 500 years until Japan invaded Korea in 1910.

 Here are the historic cities in Korea with relation to the above dynasties.
 Kyungju was the capital of Shinla and is located in the south east part of the peninsula. It takes 1 or 1 and half hours by car from Pusan which is the second largest city in Korea to Kyungju, and 5 hours' drive will take you from Seoul to Kyungju. Kyungju has a lot of remains of Shinla including national museum, temples, and ancient tombs.
 Buyeo was the capital of Paikje and is located in the south west part of the peninsula. It takes about 3 hours from Seoul to Buyeo. Buyeo has a lot of historical attractions as well.
 Seoul was the capital city of Chosun dynasty and is currently capital city of South Korea. It means you can enjoy modern and ancient attractions at the same time.
 Pyungyang which was the capital of Koguryo and Kaesung which was the capital of Koryo is in North Korea where we can not visit unfortunately.

Overview of South Korea - geographic information.

Before you go to a place for your tour, it would be worthy that you know the overview of the place. So, I like to introduce the overview of South Korea before I mention the details of the tour points.
First of all, I will begin with the geographic overview of South Korea.
South Korea is located in the north east region of Asia and in the south part of Korean peninsula which is between China and Japan. South Korea has 9 provinces and 6 big cities including Seoul, which is the capital of South Korea. The total population is about 45 million people and about 12 million people live in Seoul and 8 million people live in Kyeong-gi province which is adjacent to Seoul. It means almost the half of the total population live in Seoul and its suberb area. So, it is natural Seoul and its suberb is very crowded and dynamic. A lot of shopping malls, specialized markets such as Dongdaemoon and Yongsan market, museums, pups, theatres, restuarants, broad business districts and Palaces which was built in Yi Dynasty are available.
At the south east end of Korean peninsula, there is city of Pusan, the second largest city of South Korea which is faced with the south sea of Korea. Personally, I like this city because Pusan has relatively mild climate, lots of fine beaches, and fresh sea food by the seaside. It takes about 3 hours from Seoul to Pusan by KTX which is a express train.
Around Seoul, well organized subway system is available and it will take you to almost everywhere in Seoul and its suberb for very cheap fare. As long as you know the name of the places or stations you want to go to, it is a very cheap and convenient transportation system for you because it makes announcements to guide for passengers in English, Chinese, as well as Korean.