According to his essay, he was interested in cities when he traveled from Bangkok to London as a backpacker.

When he was a student, he also studied at Shaanxi Normal University and received guidance under Shi Nianhai(史念海).

In 1979 he received a master's degree from Osaka University Graduate School of Letters.

From 1989 to 2000, he was a professor at University of Tsukuba (Department for History and Anthropology).

Seo was the author of many books, including "The Urban Social Structure of Chang'an, 583-904"(『長安の都市計画』), in 1983.