Congress City
Location
Located at 126 59' E and 37 34' N, Seoul is at the heart of the Korean Peninsula. The city is nearly equidistant from the southeastern port of Busan and the northwestern town of Sinuiju on the China-North Korea border. The city is also conveniently located in the middle of several major northeast Asian metropolises such as Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei. The city is some 30.3 km from north to south and 36.78 km east to west. Its total area is 605.41 square kilometers, making it a truly large metropolis.
History
Old Seoul
While Seoul has been the capital of Korea for only a "mere" 600 years, the city itself is much older. Evidence exist that
settlements have where Seoul now stands since the prehistoric period. One of Korea`s greatest ancient states, the kingdom of Baekje,
was born where Seoul`s skyscrapers now stand. During the Three Kingdoms period, Seoul and the surrounding Hangang River Valley, with
their strategic importance, vital transportation routes and fertile agricultural land, were a rich prize in that epic struggle to
unify the Korean Peninsula under one banner.
With the rise of the Goryeo kingdom, the political and economic importance of Seoul would dramatically increase. The Goryeo kings
would designate the city a national subcapital, building within its confines palaces and other administrative facilities. Some kings
would even talk of moving the royal capital to the city, blessed as it was with an excellent defensive position and, according to
Korea`s traditional geomancy theories, a particular auspicious location.
The fall of Goryeo and the foundation of the Joseon kingdom, however, would set these plans in motion. The capital was officially
moved to Seoul, where it has remained for the last 600 years. The new royal authorities would set to work building the foundations
of the metropolis, establishing a basic city that it still in use today.
Modern Seoul
Seoulites welcomed the liberation of their country from Japanese colonial oppression, but the process of rebuilding the nation would
not be an easy one. Divisions plagued Korea as the shadow of the Cold War descended upon the country. The Korean War would leave Seoul
battered and overflowing with refugees. The problems facing the city seemed intractable. Yet from the 1960s, Seoul would be at the
center of one of the greatest economic "miracles" in the history of man. This city, scarred from colonial brutality and war and plagued
by endemic poverty, would rise almost literally from the ashes to become one of the world`s most important commercial and industrial
centers. As the population spiked, Seoul would spill out from its ancient cradle north of the Hangang River to include large swaths of
territory south of the waterway. On the ruins of old wounds grew a vibrant modern city on the vanguard of global urban trends.