Daejeon

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Daejeon

Daejeon Metropolitan City is a metropolitan city in the centre of South Korea, and the capital of South Chungcheong Province. It is the fifth largest city of South Korea, with a population of 1,438,778 at the end of 2003.

History

The Daejeon area was historically known as Hanbat, a native Korean term for "large field." The term "Daejeon" simply means the same thing in Hanja.

Historically, Daejeon was a small village without many residents. However, in 1905, the Gyeongbu railway began operations from Seoul to Busan, opening a station at Daejeon. Soon after, in 1926, under rule of the Japanese government, the Honam railway was built between Daejeon and Mokpo, transforming the latter into a major transportational hub. Because of its geographical location and proximity to means of transportation, Daejeon grew quickly.

In 1932, the capital of Chungnam province moved from Gongju to Daejeon. After two changes in the city boundaries that effectively made the nearby town of Daeduk a part of the city, Daejeon became a metropolis in 1993.

In 1999, in order to decentralize the population of Seoul, the Daejeon Government Complex was constructed and, as a result, Daejeon's population has increased dramatically.

Today, Daejeon's population growth is the 2nd highest in the country, after Seoul, resulting in a large number of new apartment complex projects and hi-tech industries in Yuseong-gu.

Geography

Latitude : N 36° 10' 50" ~ 36° 29' 47", Longitude : E 127 14' 54" ~ 127 33' 21"

Daejeon is located near the middle of South Korea. It is 167.3 km from Seoul, 294 km from Busan and 169 km from Gwangju.

Transportation

Daejeon is the center of transportation, where two major expressways, Gyeongbu highway and Honam highway, and two major railways, Gyeongbu railway and Honam railway, are joined. The high-speed railway system, otherwise known as KTX, has reduced the trip between Daejeon and Seoul from almost two hours to around fifty minutes. Daejeon is served by Cheongju Airport which is north of Cheongju, about a thirty-minute drive north of Daejeon.

A subway system with five lines is undergoing planning and construction in Daejeon. The first part of this system, Daejeon Subway Line 1 began operation in March 2006. It is notably different from the system used in Seoul in its smaller car width; lack of doors between cars; less number of cars, using a total of four cars to a train instead of ten; and free space under the seats.

Culture

In 1993, an international exposition (Expo '93) was held at Daejeon, with created several symbols of Daejeon, including the Hanbit Tower and the Expo Bridge.

The city is home to LPGA golfers Se Ri Pak and Jang Jeong as well as the South Korean actor Kwon Sang-woo. Daejeon is also the hometown of former New York Mets left-handed reliever Dae-Sung Koo.

The Daejeon Museum of Art, located in Dunsan Park, is a noted Korean art museum, focused on the convergence of art and technology. Since it was established in 1998, numerous exhibitions on contemporary art have been held.

The new Daejeon World Cup Stadium was constructed in preparation for the 2002 World Cup. Several games have been held there, including the controversial South Korea vs. Italy match in the second round. It is also the current home for the K-League football club Daejeon Citizen.

Downtown

Daejeon has become the recipient of the country's effort to decentralize certain ministries of the national government. The middle of the city or the new downtown called Dunsan is where the effort has manifested itself. Newer, shinier, albeit structurally similar apartment complexes to that of the rest of the city, sprung up around the new government structures being constructed concurrently in just a few short years starting from the mid-1990s. Newer municipal buildings including the city's courts and the province's main parliamentary building soon followed. The result is a several square mile neighbourhood full of restaurants, standard Korean western-type bars and coffee shops. The area is a place for the workers of the new Daejeon to live close to their offices, most able to walk to work, and dine and shop in a new urban environment.

Administrative divisions

Daejeon is divided into 5 wards ("Gu").

Name	Hangul	Hanja
Daedeok-gu	대덕구	大德區
Dong-gu	동구	東區
Jung-gu	중구	中區
Seo-gu	서구	西區
Yuseong-gu	유성구	儒城區

External links

Cities in South Korea | Daejeon

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