History of Seoul

With the introduction of bronze ware from about 700 BC, settlements gradually began to spread from the river basin toward inland areas.

In 18 BC, the kingdom of Baekje founded its capital city, Wiryeseong, which is believed to be inside modern-day Seoul.

Among them, Pungnap Toseong, an earthen wall in the southeastern part of modern-day Seoul (in Pungnap-dong, just near Jamsil-dong area), is widely believed to be the main Wiryeseong site.

[23] In 1104, King Sukjong of the Goryeo Dynasty built a palace near present-day Gyeongbokgung, which was then referred to as Namgyeong (남경; 南京) or "Southern Capital".

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.

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.

Rapid economic growth achieved during the industrialization of the 1960s and 1970s raised living standards of residents considerably in Seoul.

In 1963, Seoul greatly expanded in size by annexing a number of towns and villages from several surrounding counties in Gyeonggi Province, such as Bucheon, Siheung, Gwangju, Yangju, and Gimpo.

However, many newly annexed districts were still rural until Gangnam area began to be developed into urban neighborhoods from the late 1970s.

In 1973, some parts of Sindo Township in Goyang County (today's Jingwan-dong in the Eunpyeong District) were officially annexed to Seoul.

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 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.

In the same year, a building collapse killed over 500 people in Seoul, mainly due to rushed construction, lack of evacuation, and selfish management by the owners.

[28] 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.