Daejeon

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

Historically, Daejeon was a small village without many residents.^{[not specific enough to verify]} 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 transportation hub.^{[verification needed]} 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 numerous changes were made to the city boundaries, among them one that effectively made the nearby town of Daedeok a part of the city in 1983, Daejeon became a metropolitan city in 1995.

In 1997, the Daejeon Government Complex was constructed in order to decentralize the population of South Korea from Seoul.^[2] The population of Daejeon increased dramatically as a result.^[3]

Today, Daejeon's population growth is the second highest in the country, after Seoul, resulting in a large number of new apartment complex projects and hi-tech industries in Yuseong-gu.^{[dubious – discuss]}

[edit] Geography

Daejeon lies between latitudes N36°10'50" to N36°29'47" and longitudes E127°14'54" to E127°33'21" near the middle of South Korea. It is 167.3 km from Seoul, 294 km from Busan and 169 km from Gwangju. Sejong City, which is planned to be the new administrative capital of South Korea, will also be close by.^{[citation needed]} The city is surrounded by several mountains, and Gyeryongsan National Park straddles the city border to the west. Three streams which eventually join with Geum River, called Gapcheon (갑천), Yudeungcheon (유등천), and Daejeoncheon (대전천), flow through the city from south to north.

[edit] Administrative divisions

[edit] Education

[edit] Culture

In 1993, an international exposition (Expo '93) was held at Daejeon. Several landmarks such as the Hanbat Tower and the Expo Bridge were built at this time. After the exposition ended, the grounds were refurbished as Expo Science Park. Next to the park is the National Science Museum, which had moved to its current location in 1990.^[6]

There are a lot of sight seeing locations in Daejeon. Most of the cultural centres and sight seeing places are located in Yuseong-gu district with the exception of Ppun park and Daejeon Zoo. The Daejeon Museum of Art, located in Dunsan Grand Park, is an art museum focused on the convergence of art and technology. Since it was established in 1998, numerous exhibitions on contemporary art have been held. Other cultural landmarks include the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, which recently began touring internationally as a cultural symbol of the city.

[edit] Transportation

Daejeon is a center of transportation in South Korea, where two major expressways, Gyeongbu highway and Honam highway, and two major railways, Gyeongbu railway and Honam railway, are joined. Travel time between Daejeon and Seoul using the high-speed railway system, otherwise known as KTX, is about fifty minutes. The nearest airport to Daejeon is Cheongju Airport, about a thirty-minute drive north of Daejeon.

[edit] Subway

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 on March 16, 2006, and entire line was operating as of April 17, 2007. It is notably different from the system used in Seoul in its smaller car width; lack of doors between cars; fewer number of cars, use of four cars to a train instead of ten; and free space under the seats.^[7] The subway also uses round tokens instead of flat magnetic tickets as is the case with Seoul - the tokens are pressed into a sensor when passing the turnstiles, and inserted into a slot on the other side when getting out. The nature of the tokens allows them to be used for advertising as well.^[8] Platform screen doors are installed in the subway stations.

[edit] Central business district

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 central business district called Dunsan is where the effort has manifested itself. Newer apartment complexes, albeit structurally similar 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Sister cities