Menu
- Home
- Search▼
- List▼
- Add▼
- My Relate▼
- Admin▼
ViewsWatchers |
Suwon is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a population close to 1.3 million, it is larger than Ulsan, although it is not governed as a metropolitan city. Suwon has existed in various forms throughout Korea's history, growing from a small settlement to become a major industrial and cultural center. It is the only remaining completely walled city in South Korea. The city walls are one of the more popular tourist destinations in Gyeonggi Province. Samsung Electronics R&D center and headquarters are in Suwon. The city is served by three motorways, the national railway network, and the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. Suwon is a major educational center, home to eleven universities. Suwon is home to several football, baseball, basketball and volleyball teams, including four-time K League champions and two-time AFC Champions League winner football club Suwon Samsung Bluewings and 2021 Korean Series champions KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization.
[edit] History
In ancient tribal times, Suwon was known as Mosu-guk of Mahan confederacy. During the Proto–Three Kingdoms period era, however, the area comprising modern Suwon and Hwaseong City was called Maehol-gun. In 757, under King Gyeongdeok of the Unified Silla, the name was changed to Suseong-gun. In 940 during the Goryeo dynasty changed again in to Suju. King Taejong of the Joseon dynasty renamed the city to Suwon in 1413. In 1592, during the Imjin wars, Commander Yi Kwang attempted to launch his army toward the capital city, Seoul (at the time called Hanseong). The army was withdrawn, however, after news that the city had already been sacked reached the commander.[1] As the army grew in size to 50,000 men with the accumulation of several volunteer forces, Yi Kwang and the irregular commanders reconsidered their aim to reclaim the capital, and led the combined forces north to Suwon.[1] [edit] Construction of HwaseongLater, during the Joseon Dynasty, King Jeongjo made a successful attempt to make Suwon the nation's capital in 1796. Part of this project was the construction of Hwaseong Fortress, a fortified wall running around the entire city partially intended to guard the tomb of his father, Prince Sado, which he had located there. The walls were one of Korea's first examples of paid labour, (corvée labour being common previously). The walls still exist today, though they (together with the fortress) were damaged severely during the Korean War. Hwaseong originally was constructed under the guidance of philosopher Jeong Yag-yong. Shortly after the death of King Jeongjo (1800), a white paper detailing the construction of the fortress was published. This proved invaluable during its reconstruction in the 1970s. The fortress walls once encircled the entire city, but modern urban growth has seen the city spread out far beyond the fortress. The walls are now a designated UNESCO World Heritage site,[2] and often are used in materials promoting the city. [edit] Korean WarThe Korean War really affected Suwon, as the city changed hands four times. Very shortly after the outbreak of war, the 49th Fighter Wing of the United States Air Force was dispatched to Korea from Japan. Its first task was to evacuate civilians from Suwon and Gimpo, but Suwon soon fell to the advancing North Koreans. Shortly before the Battle of Osan, the first conflict between United States and North Korean forces, on July 4, 1950, defenses were erected on the road between Suwon and nearby Osan (then still under Southern command). The next day, Northern troops advanced south. In the 3½-hour battle which followed, 150 American and 42 North Korean soldiers were killed and the United States troops were forced to retreat. The North Korean advance southwards to take Osan was delayed by an estimated seven hours. On December 16, 1950, the Greek Expeditionary Force relocated to Suwon, attached to the US 1st Cavalry Division. From November 6, 1951, the United States Air Force's top fighter pilot Gabby Gabreski was in charge of K-13 Air Base in Suwon. By the end of the war, Suwon was in South Korea. A memorial to the French military stands in Jangan-gu, near the Yeongdong Expressway's North Suwon exit. [edit] Recent history
[edit] Research Tips
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
