History of Seoul
Encyclopedia
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
can be traced back as far as 18 BC. But humans have occupied the area now as Seoul since Paleolithic Age. Counting from now, Seoul has been a major settlement for over 2,000 years. It has been the capital of numerous kingdoms on the Korean Peninsula
Korean Peninsula
The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...
since it was established.
Prehistoric
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
along the lower reaches of the Han River
Han River (Korea)
The Han River is a major river in South Korea and the fourth longest river on the Korean peninsula after the Amnok, Duman, and Nakdong rivers. It is formed by the confluence of the Namhan River , which originates in Mount Daedeok, and the Bukhan River , which originates on the slopes of Mount...
during the Paleolithic Age and archaeological research shows that people began to lead settled lives starting in the Neolithic Age. Prehistoric remains that are unearthed in the Amsa Prehistoric Site (암사선사유적지, Amsa Seonsa Yujeokji), located in Amsa-dong
Amsa-dong
Amsa-dong is a dong, neighbourhood of Gangdong-gu in Seoul, South Korea. The dong is well-known for the Amsa-dong Preshistoric Settlement Site in which Neolithic remains were excavated after a large number of diagonal-line patterned earthenware underneath the earth were accidentally uncovered by a...
, Gangdong-gu
Gangdong-gu
Gangdong-gu is one of the 25 gu which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. It is located on the east side of the city....
, date back to about 3,000 to 7,000 years ago. With the introduction of bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
ware from about 700 BC, settlements gradually began to spread from the river basin toward inland areas.
Three Kingdoms and Unified Silla period
In 18 BC, the kingdom of BaekjeBaekje
Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....
founded its capital city, Wiryeseong
Wiryeseong
Wiryeseong was the name of two early capitals of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. Both are believed to have been in the modern-day Seoul area...
(위례성), which is believed to be inside modern-day Seoul. Baekje
Baekje
Baekje or Paekche was a kingdom located in southwest Korea. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla....
subsequently developed from a member state of the Mahan confederacy
Mahan confederacy
Mahan was a loose confederacy of statelets that existed from around the 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE in the southern Korean peninsula in the Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces. Arising out of the confluence of Gojoseon migration and the Jin state federation, Mahan was one of the Samhan , along...
into one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...
. There are several city wall remains in the Seoul area dating from this time. Among them, Pungnap Toseong
Pungnap Toseong
Pungnaptoseong is a flat earthen wall built at the edge of the Han River, with a circumference of 3.5km. It is located in modern-day Pungnap-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, and previously was included in the neighboring city of Gwangju. It has a long oval shape, spreading to north and south, and leaning...
(풍납토성), an earthen wall in the southeastern part of modern-day Seoul, (in Pungnap-dong, just near Jamsil
Jamsil
Jamsil may refer to:* Jamsil Arena, an indoor sporting venue in Seoul, South Korea* Jamsil Baseball Stadium, in Seoul, South Korea* Jamsil Station, a station on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway...
area) is widely believed to be the main Wiryeseong site. Yet another earthen wall, Mongchon Toseong (몽촌토성), located nearby, is also dated from the early Baekje era.
All of these sites are in the south of the Han River, and do not belong to the historic Seoul district (centered in modern-day Jongno
Jongno
Jongno is one of the oldest major east-west thoroughfares in central Seoul, South Korea, connecting Sejongno to Dongdaemun. It remains one of Seoul's most important financial and cultural areas to this day...
), which is well in the north of the river.
As the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms of Korea
The Three Kingdoms of Korea refer to the ancient Korean kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, which dominated the Korean peninsula and parts of Manchuria for much of the 1st millennium...
competed for this strategic region of the Korean Peninsula
Korean Peninsula
The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...
, control passed from Baekje to Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....
in 392 and from Goguryeo
Goguryeo
Goguryeo or Koguryŏ was an ancient Korean kingdom located in present day northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula, southern Manchuria, and southern Russian Maritime province....
to the Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...
-Baekje alliance in 551.
Silla
Silla
Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...
soon gained full control of the city and then the peninsula, and during the Unified Silla
Unified Silla
Unified Silla or Later Silla is the name often applied to the Korean kingdom of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, when it conquered Baekje in 660 and Goguryeo in 668, unifying the southern portion of the Korean peninsula...
period, Hanyang (한양; ) first referred to a district in the city, and later the city itself.
Goryeo period
It was thought that the kingdom that controlled the Han River valley would also have strategic control of the whole peninsula, because it was a center of transportation.In 1104, King Sukjong
Sukjong of Goryeo
Sukjong of Goryeo was the 15th ruler of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. He was the younger brother of Sunjong. He married Myeongui, the daughter of Yu Hong....
of the Goryeo Dynasty built a palace in Seoul, which was then referred to as Namgyeong (남경; ) or "Southern Capital". Seoul grew into a full-scale city with political significance during this time.
Joseon period
At the beginning of the Joseon DynastyJoseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
in 1394, the capital was moved to Seoul, also known as Hanyang and later as Hanseong (한성, 漢城, "Fortress city [on] the Han [River]"), where it remained until the fall of the dynasty.
Originally entirely surrounded by a massive circular wall
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
(a 20 feet (6.1 m)-high circular stone fortress) to provide its citizens security from wild animals such as the tiger, thieves and attacks. The city has grown beyond those walls and although the wall no longer stands (except in the mountains north of the downtown area), the gates remain near the downtown district of Seoul, including most notably Sungnyemun
Sungnyemun
Namdaemun, officially the Sungnyemun, is a historic pagoda-style gateway located in the center of Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The gate, which was begun in the 14th century, is now listed first among the National Treasures of South Korea...
(commonly known as Namdaemun, or South Gate) and Heunginjimun (commonly known as Dongdaemun, or East Gate) but also Sukjeongmun (commonly known as Bukdaemun, or North Gate) and four smaller gates included Changuimun and Hyehwamun. During the Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...
, the gates were opened and closed each day, accompanied by the ringing of large bells.
Korean Empire period
In the late 19th century, after hundreds of years of isolation, Seoul opened its gates to foreigners and began to modernize. Seoul became the first city in East Asia to have electricity, trolley cars, water, telephone, and telegraph systems all at the same time. Much of this was due to trade with foreign countries like France and United States. For example, the Seoul Electric Company, Seoul Electric Trolley Company, and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company were all joint Korean-American owned enterprises. In 1904, an American by the name of Angus Hamilton visited the city and said, "The streets of Seoul are magnificent, spacious, clean, admirably made and well-drained. The narrow, dirty lanes have been widened, gutters have been covered, roadways broadened. Seoul is within measurable distance of becoming the highest, most interesting and cleanest city in the East.”Colonial Korea
When Imperial Japan annexed Korean Empire, making Seoul its colonial capital. While under colonial ruleKorea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....
(1910–1945), the city was called Gyeongseong (경성; ; Japanese: Keijō). Gyeongseong was a urban prefecture (부 府) like present-day Kyoto or Osaka having 2 wards : Gyeongseong itself and Yongsan-gu
Yongsan-gu
Yongsan-gu is a district of Seoul, South Korea. Its name means "Dragon Hill", derived from the hanja characters for dragon and hill/mountain . It sits to the North of the Han River under the shadow of Seoul Tower. Geographically, it is located right in the center of Seoul. It is home to roughly...
. The Governor-General Government Building
Japanese General Government Building, Seoul
The Japanese Government-General Building was the chief administrative building in Keijo during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea and the seat of the Governor-General of Korea. It was a neo-classical building designed by German architect Georg De Lalande, and was completed in 1926...
served as the seat of the colonial government of Colonial Korea and was later torn down in 1995.
Division and Korean War
In 1950, the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
broke out and Seoul changed hands between the North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n forces and South Korean forces four times, leaving the city largely destroyed at the end of the war. One estimate of the extensive damage states that at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, there were a flood of refugees from the North, swelling the city's population to an estimated 2.5 million persons. More than half of them were homeless.
Following the war, Seoul became the focus of an immense reconstruction and modernization effort. Rapid economic growth achieved during the industrialization of the 1960s and 1970s raised living standards of residents considerably. High-rise office buildings and apartments began sprouting throughout the city during the construction boom of the 1980s. Pollution and traffic jams became major issues as urbanization in the country accelerated and more and more people began moving to Seoul and its surrounding areas. Despite a green belt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
established around the city to prevent urban sprawl, the Seoul metropolitan area soon became the third largest in the world in terms of population and one of the most crowded.
Today, the population of the Seoul area comprises 24% of the total population of South Korea.
Seoul was the host city of the 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
as well as one of the venues of the FIFA World Cup 2002.
During the 1990s, the city began to attract many workers from other countries, changing demographics. Previously, nearly all of Seoul's residents were Korean. Today, there are an estimated 200,000 foreign nationals living in Seoul. These include laborers from Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, China, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Indonesia, Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, Nigeria, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
In addition, there are many language instructors from English-speaking countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, United States, and the UK As a major business and financial center, Seoul also has many executives and analysts from North America, Europe, and Japan. Seoul ranks seventh in the world in terms of the number of Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
transnational companies headquartered there. It is also the world's second most expensive city, ahead of Tokyo and Hong Kong (ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively).
Relocation of the capital
On 11 August 2004, the South Korean Government announced that the capital city would be located in the GongjuGongju
Gongju , also spelt Kongju, is a city in South Chungcheong province, South Korea. It is located at .- History :Gongju was formerly named Ungjin and was the capital of Baekje from AD 475 to 538. In this period, Baekje was under threat from Goguryeo...
area as of 2007, to ease the population pressure on Seoul and to get the government to a safer distance from North Korea. Gongju is approximately 120 kilometers south of Seoul. The Government estimated that the move would probably not be completed before 2012. Although part of the election manifesto, this plan ignited nationwide controversy. On 21 October 2004, the Constitutional Court ruled that mostly based on custom law
Custom (law)
Custom in law is the established pattern of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Customary law exists where:...
, the special law for the relocation of the capital is unconstitutional since the relocation is a serious national matter requiring national referendum or revision of the constitution, thus effectively ending the dispute.
In late 2004, however, the South Korean Government announced plans to move most of the national government branches, except the Executive Branch, to Gongju, thus evading violation of the Constitutional Court ruling and still allow Seoul to be a National Capital. Since this plan was supported by the late president Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM GCB was the 16th President of South Korea .Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his...
and bitterly opposed by the current ruling party and the current president (Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak is the President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother is Lee Sang-deuk, a South Korean politician. He attends the...
– the former mayor of Seoul) the planned move was scaled back dramatically when Lee Myung-bak took office. As of 2011, some preliminary work has begun on construction of new government buildings in the Gonju area. Naturally, no government agencies want to move away from the center of power in Seoul so which agencies will be forced to move is the subject of intense behind-the-scenes debate.