Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital and largest city of South Korea, and the largest city in the whole of Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's sixth largest metropolitan economy in 2022, behind New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Paris, and London, and hosts more than half of South Korea's population. Although Seoul's population peaked at over 10 million, it has gradually decreased since 2014, standing at about 9.6 million residents as of 2024.
Seoul's history traces back to 18 BC when it was founded by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. During the Joseon dynasty, Seoul was officially designated as the capital, surrounded by the Fortress Wall of Seoul. In the early 20th century, Seoul was occupied by the Empire of Japan, temporarily renamed "Keijō" ("Gyeongseong" in Korean). The Korean War brought fierce battles, with Seoul changing hands four times and leaving the city mostly in ruins. Nevertheless, the city has since undergone significant reconstruction and rapid urbanization.
The de facto administrative capital has gradually switched to the planned city of Sejong City, which opened in 2012 and is located about 121 kilometers further south. As of 2019, Sejong hosts 10 out of the South Korean government's 18 ministries. Despite this, the Constitutional Court of Korea declared in 2004 that Seoul must remain the national capital due to it being an "unwritten constitutional custom", unless otherwise changed by a nationwide referendum.
Seoul was rated Asia's most livable city, with the second-highest quality of life globally according to Arcadis in 2015 and a GDP per capita (PPP) of approximately $40,000. 15 Fortune Global 500 companies, including industry giants such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai, are headquartered in the Seoul Capital Area, which has major technology hubs, such as Gangnam and Digital Media City. Seoul is ranked seventh in the Global Power City Index and the Global Financial Centres Index, and is one of the five leading hosts of global conferences. The city has also hosted major events such as the 1986 Asian Games, the 1988 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 G20 Seoul summit, in addition to three matches at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Seoul is geographically set in a mountainous and hilly terrain, with Bukhansan positioned on its northern edge. Within the Seoul Capital Area lie five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeokgung, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo, Namhansanseong, and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon dynasty. Furthermore, Seoul has witnessed a surge in modern architectural development, with iconic landmarks including the N Seoul Tower, the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, the Trade Tower, COEX, IFC Seoul, and Parc1. Seoul was named World Design Capital 2010 and has served as the national hub for the music, entertainment, and cultural industries that have propelled K-pop and the Korean Wave to international prominence.
Toponymy
Traditionally, seoul (서울) has been a native Korean (as opposed to Sino-Korean) common noun simply meaning 'capital city.' The word seoul is believed to have descended from Seorabeol (서라벌; historically transliterated into the Hanja form 徐羅伐), which originally referred to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla.
Wiryeseong (위례성; 慰禮城), the capital settlement of Baekje, was located within the boundaries of modern-day Seoul. Seoul was also known by other various historical names, such as Bukhansan-gun (북한산군; 北漢山郡, during the Goguryeo era), Namcheon (남천; 南川, during the Silla era), Hanyang (한양; 漢陽, during the Northern and Southern States period), Namgyeong (남경; 南京, during the Goryeo era), and Hanseong (한성; 漢城, during the Joseon era). The word seoul was used colloquially to refer to the capital as early as the 17th century. Thus, the Joseon capital of Hanseong was widely referred to as the seoul. 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.
Under subsequent Japanese colonization, Hanseong was renamed Keijō (京城, literally 'capital city') by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja 漢 (a transliteration of a native Korean word 한; han; lit. 'great'), which may also refer to the Han people or the Han dynasty in Chinese and is associated with China in Japanese context. After World War II and the liberation of Korea, Seoul became the official name for the Korean capital. The Standard Korean Language Dictionary still acknowledges both common and proper noun definitions of seoul.
Unlike most place names in Korea, as it is not a Sino-Korean word, Seoul has no inherently corresponding Hanja (Chinese characters used in the Korean language). Instead of phonetically transcribing Seoul to Chinese, in the Chinese-speaking world, Seoul was called Hànchéng (汉城; 漢城), which is the Chinese pronunciation of Hanseong. On 18 January 2005, the Seoul Metropolitan Government changed Seoul's official Chinese name from the historic Hànchéng to Shǒu'ěr (首尔; 首爾). Shǒu'ěr is a phono-semantic match incorporating both sound and meaning (through 首 meaning 'head', 'chief', 'first').
History
Prehistory
There is evidence of human habitation in the area now corresponding to Seoul from 30,000 to 40,000 years before the present. Around 4,000 B.C., people of the area lived in huts with lowered floors called umjip. There is evidence of the consumption of cooked grain and fish by 3,000 B.C. Around 1,500 B.C., communities began transitioning into the Bronze Age and farming at scale.
Due to modern Seoul's significant urbanization, Amsa-dong Prehistoric Site is the only known major archaeological site in Seoul where Stone Age materials have been found, although such materials have also been found in minor sites throughout the city (and all around the surrounding Han River basin), often through rescue archaeology.
Samhan and Baekje periods
Around the collapse of Wiman Joseon (194–108 B.C.) in the northern part of Korea, numerous refugees went south to the Han River basin, which was then controlled by Jin (4th–2nd century B.C.). These diverse peoples brought with them culture and technology of the Chinese Warring States that accelerated the region's progress into the Iron Age. Their arrival destabilized the region; Jin disintegrated, and dozens of statelets emerged that competed for influence in the Han River basin.
Baekje (18 B.C. – 660 A.D.), once one of the statelets in the Mahan confederacy, became the dominant local power by the 2nd century A.D. Its capital was in Wiryeseong; Wiryeseong specific location is not known with certainty, but it is believed to have been within the bounds of the ramparts P'ungnapt'osŏng and Mongchontoseong. This area is now in southeastern Seoul.
Silla period
In July or August 553, Silla took the control of the region from Baekje, and the city became a part of newly established Sin Province (신주; 新州). Sin (新) has both meaning of "New" and "Silla", thus literally means New Silla Province.
In November 555, Jinheung Taewang made a royal visit to Bukhansan, and inspected the frontier. In 557, Silla abolished Sin Province, and established Bukhansan Province (북한산주; 北漢山州). The word Hanseong (한성; 漢城; lit. 'Han Fortress') appears on the stone wall of "Pyongyang Fortress", which was presumably built in the mid to late 6th century AD over period of 42 years, located in Pyongyang, while there is no evidence that Seoul had name Hanseong dating the three kingdoms and earlier period.
In 568, Jinheung Taewang made another royal visit to the northern border, visited Hanseong, and stayed in Namcheon on his way back to the capital. During his stay, he set Jinheung Taewang Stele, abolished Bukhansan Province, and established Namcheon Province (남천주; 南川州; lit. 'South River Province'), appointing the city as the provincial capital. Based on the naming system, the actual name of Han River during this time was likely Namcheon (Nam River) itself or should have the word ending with "cheon" (천; 川) not "gang" (강; 江) nor "su" (수; 水). In addition, "Bukhansan" Jinheung Stele clearly states that Silla had possession of Hanseong (modern day Pyongyang), thus Bukhansan has to be located north of Hanseong. Modern day Pyongyang was not Pyongyang, Taedong River was likely Han River, and Bukhansan was not Bukhansan during the three kingdoms period. Moreover, Pyongyang was a common noun meaning capital used by Goguryeo and Goryeo dynasties, similar to Seoul.
In 603, Goguryeo attacked Bukhansanseong, which Silla ended up winning. In 604, Silla abolished Namcheon Province, and reestablished Bukhansan Province in order to strengthen the northern border. The city lost its provincial capital position and was put under Bukhansan Province once again. This further proves that Bukhansan was located in the North of modern-day Pyongyang as changing the provincial name and objective would not be required if Bukhansan was located within Seoul.
In the 11th century Goryeo, which succeeded Unified Silla, built a summer palace in Seoul, which was referred to as the "Southern Capital". It was only from this period that Seoul became a larger settlement.
Joseon dynasty
Seoul became the planned capital of Korea by Yi Seong-gye, the founding father of the Joseon dynasty. After enthroning himself as King at the capital of old Goryeo in 1392, Yi Seong-gye changed the name of his Kingdom from Goryeo to Joseon in 1393 and began his search for a place for a new capital. After several governmental debates, Yi Seong-gye chose Hanyang (Sindo) instead of Muak in September 1394. As Joseon's new capital, Hanyang was planned as a geographic embodiment of Korean Confucianism. Construction of the city began in October 1394. During its early construction stages, some major palaces, including Gyeongbokgung, were finished in 1395. The Fortress Wall surrounding Hanyang was partially finished around 1396.
The city of Hanyang was governed by the Hanseongbu (한성부; 漢城府), an agency of the national government dedicated to affairs on the administration of the capital city. The Hanseongbu divided Hanyang into two major categories: areas inside the Fortress Wall, which were typically named Seong-jung (성중; 城中) or Doseong-an (도성 안; lit. 'Inside the fortress'), and areas 10 Ri (Korean mile) around the Fortress Wall, which were named as Seongjeosimni (성저십리; 城底十里; lit. '10 Ris around the fortress'). The Doseong-an area later gained the informal but popular name Seodaemun-an (사대문 안), which literally means 'areas inside of the Four Great Gates', and became the one and only downtown (city center) of Hanyang city.
In the late 19th century, after hundreds of years of isolation, Seoul opened its gates to foreigners and began modernization. Seoul became the first city in East Asia to introduce electricity in the palace, which was established by the Edison Illuminating Company. A decade later the city also implemented electrical street lights.
Korean Empire
After Gojong's proclamation of Korea as the Korean Empire in 1897, Seoul was temporarily called Hwang Seong (황성; 皇城; lit. 'the imperial city'). Much of modern development around this era was propelled by trade with foreign countries like France and the United States. For example, the Seoul Electric Company, Seoul Electric Trolley Company, and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company were all joint Korean–U.S. owned enterprises. Through these efforts, there were some modernization efforts by the late 19th century prior to annexation. Seoul became the first city in East Asia to have electricity, trolley cars, water, telephone, and telegraph systems all at the same time,
Japanese annexation of Korea
After the annexation treaty in 1910, Japan annexed Korea and renamed the city Gyeongseong ("Kyongsong" in Korean and "Keijō" in Japanese). The city saw significant transformation under Japanese colonial rule. Imperial Japan removed the city walls, paved roads, and built Western-style buildings.
Seoul was deprived of its special status as the capital city and downsized under imperial Japan, compared to the traditional notion among people of the Joseon dynasty that Seoul included the area of approximately 4 km (2.5 miles) radius surrounding the Fortress Wall (i.e., Seongjeosimni; 성저십리; 城底十里). On October 1, 1910, Imperial Japan demoted Seoul as no different than any other city within the Gyeonggi Province. After Imperial Japan's redistricting, Seoul only included the area inside the Fortress Wall and present-day Yongsan District. In the 1930s, as part of Imperial Japan's war efforts leading up to the Second Sino-Japanese War, Yeongdeungpo District was annexed into Seoul on April 1, 1936, to function as an industrial complex for steel and other metalworking factories.
The city was liberated by U.S. forces at the end of World War II.
Contemporary history
In 1945, following the liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the American military assumed control of Korea, including its capital city, then referred to as Kyeongseongbu in line with Japanese nomenclature. The U.S. military government published the Charter of the City of Seoul in the official gazette on October 10 of the following year. The charter declared Seoul as the name of the city and established it as a municipal corporation. Seoul's status as a municipal corporation mirrored the independent cities in the United States that do not belong to any county, and Seoul was established as an independent administrative unit, separate from the existing provinces. The Korean version of the Charter translated "municipal corporation" as "special free city" (특별자유시; 特別自由市), which later became special metropolitan city (or special metropolitan city; 특별시; 特別市) in the Local Autonomy Act of 1949. Seoul has retained its status as the only special metropolitan city in South Korea.
The City of Seoul is hereby constituted a municipal corporation to be known as SEOUL. The boundaries of the municipal corporation are the present limits of the City of Seoul consisting of the following eight districts: Chong Koo, Chong No Koo, Sur Tai Moon Koo, Tong Tai Moon Koo, Sung Tong Koo, Ma Po Koo, Yong San Koo, and Yang Doung Po Koo, and as such may be extended as provided by law.
— U.S. Army Military Government in Korea, Charter of the City of Seoul
Seoul under the U.S. military government between 1945 and 1948 was much smaller than it is today. It only covered the Fortress Wall, marked by the Eight Gates, and the districts incorporated during Japanese rule to prosecute imperial Japan's war efforts.