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Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has been called by a number of formal and informal names over time. The word seoul was originally a common noun that simply meant "capital city", and was used colloquially to refer to the capital throughout Korean history. Seoul became the official name of the South Korean capital after its liberation from ...
The word seoul was used colloquially to refer to the capital as early as the 17th century. [16] Thus, the Joseon capital of Hanseong was widely referred to as the seoul. [17] Due to its common usage, French missionaries called the Joseon capital Séoul (/se.ul/) in their writings, hence the common romanization Seoul in various languages today.
The name "Seoul" does not originate from hanja. The official Chinese translation is written as 首爾 / 首尔, which is a transcription based on the pronunciation of "Seoul", but 漢城 / 汉城 remains frequently used. As an affix or abbreviation, the character gyeong (京), which means "capital", is used.
Seoul in the age of Joseon was called Hanyang (or by official name of its administrative division and governing authority Hanseong-bu).As it was a walled city, presence of the Seoul City Wall made great influence on imagined geographies of Seoul, like the London Wall surrounding Londinium.
Today, the population of the Seoul area comprises 20% of the total population of South Korea. 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.
Known for its picturesque and well-preserved traditional Korean houses called “hanok,” Bukchon Hanok Village is one of Seoul’s most popular tourist hot spots – attracting thousands of ...
Seoul hosted the Olympic Games in 1988, widely regarded as successful and a significant boost for South Korea's global image and economy. [107] South Korea was formally invited to become a member of the United Nations in 1991. The transition of Korea from autocracy to modern democracy was marked in 1997 by the election of Kim Dae-jung, who was ...
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is willing to present his views himself during legal proceedings related to his short-lived declaration of martial law, a lawyer ...