1.
Rapid transit
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Rapid transit, also known as heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, or underground, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. The stations typically have high platforms, without steps inside the trains and they are typically integrated with other public transport and often operated by the same public transport authorities. However, some transit systems have at-grade intersections between a rapid transit line and a road or between two rapid transit lines. It is unchallenged in its ability to transport large numbers of people quickly over short distances with little use of land, variations of rapid transit include people movers, small-scale light metro, and the commuter rail hybrid S-Bahn. The worlds first rapid-transit system was the partially underground Metropolitan Railway which opened as a railway in 1863. In 1868, New York opened the elevated West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway, china has the largest number of rapid transit systems in the world. The worlds longest single-operator rapid transit system by length is the Shanghai Metro. The worlds largest single rapid transit service provider by both length of revenue track (665 miles and number of stations is the New York City Subway. The busiest rapid transit systems in the world by annual ridership are the Tokyo subway system, the Seoul Metropolitan Subway, the Moscow Metro, the Beijing Subway, Metro is the most common term for underground rapid transit systems used by non-native English speakers. One of these terms may apply to a system, even if a large part of the network runs at ground level. In Scotland, however, the Glasgow Subway underground rapid transit system is known as the Subway, in the US, underground mass transit systems are primarily known as subways, whereas the term metro is a shortened reference to a metropolitan area. In that vein, Chicagos commuter rail system, serving the area, is called Metra. Exceptions in naming rapid transit systems are Washington DCs subway system the Washington Metro, Los Angeles Metro Rail, and the Miami Metrorail, the opening of Londons steam-hauled Metropolitan Railway in 1863 marked the beginning of rapid transit. Initial experiences with steam engines, despite ventilation, were unpleasant, experiments with pneumatic railways failed in their extended adoption by cities. Electric traction was more efficient, faster and cleaner than steam, in 1890 the City & South London Railway was the first electric-traction rapid transit railway, which was also fully underground. Both railways were merged into London Underground. The 1893 Liverpool Overhead Railway was designed to use electric traction from the outset, budapest in Hungary and Glasgow, Chicago and New York all converted or purpose-designed and built electric rail services. Advancements in technology have allowed new automated services, hybrid solutions have also evolved, such as tram-train and premetro, which incorporate some of the features of rapid transit systems
2.
Commuter rail
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Trains operate following a schedule, at speeds varying from 50 to 200 km/h. Distance charges or zone pricing may be used and they primarily serve lower density suburban areas, and often share right-of-way with intercity or freight trains. Some services operate only during peak hours and others uses fewer departures during off peak hours, average speeds are high, often 50 km/h or higher. These higher speeds better serve the longer distances involved, some services include express services which skip some stations in order to run faster and separate longer distance riders from short-distance ones. The general range of commuter trains distance varies between 15 and 200 km, sometimes long distances can be explained by that the train runs between two or several cities. Distances between stations may vary, but are much longer than those of urban rail systems. In city centers the train either has a station or passes through the city centre with notably fewer station stops than those of urban rail systems. Toilets are often available on trains and in stations. Their ability to coexist with freight or intercity services in the same right-of-way can drastically reduce system construction costs, however, frequently they are built with dedicated tracks within that right-of-way to prevent delays, especially where service densities have converged in the inner parts of the network. Most such trains run on the standard gauge track. Some light rail systems may run on a narrower gauge, some countries, including Finland, India, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil and Sri Lanka, as well as San Francisco in the USA and Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia, use broad gauge track. The fact that the terminology is not standardised across countries further complicates matters, most S-bahns typically behave like commuter rail with most trackage not separated from other trains, and long lines with trains running between cities and suburbs rather than within a city. The distances between stations however, are usually short, in larger systems there is usually a high frequency metro-like central corridor in the city center where all the lines converge into. Typical examples of large city S-Bahns include Munich and Frankfurt, S-Bahns do also exist in some mid-size cities like Rostock and Magdeburg but behave more like typical commuter rail with lower frequencies and very little exclusive trackage. A similar network exists in Copenhagen called the S-tog, in Hamburg and Copenhagen, other, diesel driven trains, do continue where the S-Bahn ends. Regional rail usually provides rail services between towns and cities, rather than purely linking major population hubs in the way inter-city rail does, Regional rail operates outside major cities. Unlike Inter-city, it stops at most or all stations between cities and it provides a service between smaller communities along the line, and also connections with long-distance services at interchange stations located at junctions or at larger towns along the line. Alternative names are local train or stopping train, examples include the former BRs Regional Railways, Frances TER, Germanys DB Regio and South Koreas Tonggeun services
3.
Insa-dong
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Insa-dong is a dong, or neighborhood of the Jongno-gu district of the South Korean city of Seoul. The main street is Insadong-gil, which is connected to a multitude of alleys that lead deeper into the district, with modern galleries, at one time it was the largest market for antiques and artworks in Korea. In area,12.7 hectares, the district is bordered by Gwanhun-dong to the north, Nagwon-dong to the east, and Jongno 2-ga and Jeokseon-dong to the south, Insadong was originally two towns whose names ended in the syllables In and Sa. They were divided by a stream which ran along Insadongs current main street, Insadong began 500 years ago as an area of residence for government officials. During the early period of the Joseon Dynasty, the place belonged to Gwanin-bang and Gyeonpyeong-bang - bang was the name of a unit during the time - of Hanseong. During the Japanese occupation, the wealthy Korean residents were forced to move and sell their belongings, after the end of the Korean War, the area became a focus of South Koreas artistic and cafe life. It was a popular destination among visitors to South Korea during the 1960s. It gained in popularity with tourists during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In 2000 the area was renovated, and, after protest, in recent years the backstreets of Insadong have continued to be gentrified with cafes, garden restaurants, and traditional pension-style accommodations. Insadong-gil is well known as a street to both locals and foreigners and represents the culture of the past and the present. It contains a mixture of historical and modern atmosphere and is an area of Seoul that truly represents the cultural history of the nation. The majority of the traditional buildings originally belonged to merchants and bureaucrats, some larger residences, built for retired government officials during the Joseon period, can also be seen. Most of these buildings are now used as restaurants or shops. The area is known for sightseeing, with approximately 100,000 visitors on Sundays reported in 2000. Insadong is also a spot for foreign dignitaries such as Queen Elizabeth II and the princes of Spain. It contains 40 percent of the antique shops and art galleries as well as 90 percent of the traditional stationery shops. Particularly noteworthy is Tongmungwan, the oldest bookstore in Seoul, and Kyung-in Art Gallery, there are daily calligraphy demonstrations and pansori dancing performances. Ssamzigil, a mall that concentrates in specialty stores of handcrafts, is also a prominent destination in Insadong
4.
Seoul Subway Line 1
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The central underground portion of this rail line is the oldest subway section in the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system, the entire rail line covers a large part of the Seoul Capital Area. The underground section between Seoul Station and Cheongnyangni Station, which is referred to as Seoul Metro Line 1, is operated by Seoul Metro. The line first opened in 1974 as the Korean National Railroad of Seoul with through services to overground national railroad tracks from Seongbuk Station to Incheon and Suwon Stations. At the time, the 7.8 km underground portion was run by Seoul Metro was called Line 1, on the other hand, the remaining sections of the rail line run by Korail were labeled either blue or gray on maps, and the express lines were red. In 2000, the adjacent through-running Korail lines were officially bundled together as part of a greater Line 1, commuter railway service was extended to Sinchang in December 2008. Frequent service is provided between Soyosan, Dongducheon, Uijeongbu, Cheongnyangni, Seoul, Yongsan, and Guro, where trains split between Incheon in the west and Byeongjeom and Cheonan in the south, express trains operate from Yongsan and Seoul Stations to Dongincheon and Cheonan stations. Trains travel along Gyeongbu, Gyeongin, Janghang and Gyeongwon, in June 2006, Jinwi and Jije Stations opened on the Gyeongbu Line. In January 2010 Dangjeong Station opened, between Gunpo and Uiwang Stations, part of the Gyeongwon Line from Dongducheon to Uijeongbu was merged into Line 1 in December 2006. The line runs on the side of the track, as opposed to the right-hand side of the track like all of the other Seoul Metropolitan Subway lines do. Korail operates a variety of rapid trains for long distance commuter services on Line 1. These services include, Gyeongin line express services from Yongsan to Dongincheon and this service was introduced on January 29,1999. Jemulpo Station and Gaebong Station have begun serving express trains on February 1,2016, Gyeongwon line express services from Dongducheon to Incheon, operating express between Dongducheon and Kwangwoon University and run local train between Incheon and Kwangwoon University. Gyeongbu line express services, including, Yongsan-Cheonan, with B express services making fewer stops than the A services and this service was introduced on October 20,1982. Yeongdeungpo-Byeongjeom, skipping all stations between Yeongdeungpo and Anyang and then following the A express service pattern until Byeongjeom and this service was introduced on August 25,2014. Korail is named Korean National Railroad, with Line 1 just referring to the Seoul–Cheongnyangni section,1978 December 9, The Gyeongwon Line from Yongsan to Seongbuk opens as a new branch, with Ichon and Seongsu. 1979 February 1, Yuljeon Station is opened,1980 January 5, Sinimun Station is opened. April 1, Seobinggo, Hannam and Hoegi are opened, July 10, Seongsu is renamed Eungbong Station 1982 August 2, Seoksu Station is opened. 1984 January 1, Yuljeon Station is renamed Seongdae-ap Station, may 22, Sindorim Station is opened
5.
Jung District, Seoul
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Jung District, literally meaning Central District, is one of the 25 gu which make up the city of Seoul, South Korea. It is located on the side of the Han River. Located in the heart of Seoul, Jung District is an area with a variety of old, located here is the Gwangtonggwan, the oldest continuously-operating bank building in Korea. It was registered as one of protected monuments on March 5,2001. In addition, together with sites as Myeongdong Cathedral and the Bank of Korea Museum. And Myeongdong is one of the most famous shopping areas in South Korea, Jung District is one of the most significant business cores of Seoul. Major newspapers such as The Chosun Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo, The Dong-a Ilbo are also based in Jung District, the headquarters of South Korean food company CJ Cheil Jedang is in the CJ Cheiljedang Building in Ssangnim-dong, near the Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station. Air France operates an office on the 11th floor of the Korean Air Building in Jung District. Air China has an office on the 1st and 2nd floors of the Hansuang Building in Seosomun-dong in Jung District, all Nippon Airways operates the Seoul Office in Room 1501 on the 15th floor of the Center Building in Sogong-dong, Jung District. Hainan Airlines operates its South Korea office in Suite 1501 of the Samyoung Building in Sogong-dong, MIAT Mongolian Airlines has its Seoul Branch Office in the Soonhwa Building in Sunhwa-dong. In the 1980s Korean Air had its headquarters in Jung District, color, Green Tree, Pine tree Flower, Rose Bird, Korean magpie Jung District is the center of Seoul. Because this, historically it was a place for many scholars who stayed in Seoul to discuss. Han Myeong Hoe, scholar and tactician in the early Joseon Dynasty Park Ji won, namgung Uk, activist for the Korean independence movement The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has its headquarters in the Gumsegi Building in Jung District. The Korean Maritime Safety Tribunal formerly had its headquarters in the S1 Building in Sunhwa-dong, Jung District, the offices of the KMST are now in Sejong City. Jung District, Seoul travel guide from Wikivoyage Jung-gu Official site in English Resident offices and maps of Jung-gu
6.
Chungmuro Station
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Chungmuro Station is a station on the Seoul Subway Line 3, the orange line, and Line 4, the sky-blue line. Both the Line 3 and 4 platforms are located in Chungmuro-4-ga, Jung-gu and this station is named after the road under which it passes, in honor of the Chosun general Yi Sunsin, who was also known by the title of Chungmugong. Chungmuro is considered the best place to view Korean movies, just outside the exit by the rear entrance to Dongguk University is Daehan Cinema, where Chungmuro Film Festival in Seoul was first held
7.
Seoul
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The Seoul Capital Area houses up to half of the countrys population of 50.22 million people with 678,102 international residents. Situated on the Han River, Seouls history stretches back more than two years when it was founded in 18 BCE by Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It continued as the capital of Korea under the Joseon Dynasty, the Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by mountains, the tallest being Mt. Bukhan, in 2015, it was rated Asias most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis. In 2014, the citys GDP per capita of $39,786 was comparable to that of France and Finland. Ranked sixth in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, Seoul is the worlds most wired city and ranked first in technology readiness by PwCs Cities of Opportunity report. It is served by the KTX high-speed rail and the Seoul Subway, providing 4G LTE, WiFi, Seoul is connected via AREX to Incheon International Airport, rated the worlds best airport nine years in a row by Airports Council International. Lotte World Tower, a 556-metre supertall skyscraper with 123 floors, has built in Seoul and become the OECDs tallest in 2016. Its Lotte Cinema houses the worlds largest cinema screen, Seouls COEX Mall is the worlds largest underground shopping mall. Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games,1988 Summer Olympics,2002 FIFA World Cup, the Miss Universe 1980 pageant, a UNESCO City of Design, Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. The city has known in the past by the names Wirye-seong, Hanju. During Japans annexation in Korea, Hanseong was renamed to Keijō by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja 漢, in reality, the ancient name of Seoul, Hanseong, originally had the meaning of big or vast. Its current name originated from the Korean word meaning city, which is believed to be derived from the word Seorabeol, which originally referred to Gyeongju. Unlike most place names in Korea, Seoul has no corresponding hanja, on January 18,2005, Seoul government officially changed its official Chinese language name to Shouer from the historic Hancheng, of which use is becoming less common. Settlement of the Han River area, where present-day Seoul is located, Seoul is first recorded as Wiryeseong, the capital of Baekje in the northeastern Seoul area. There are several city walls remaining in the area date from this time. Pungnaptoseong, a wall just outside Seoul, is widely believed to have been at the main Wiryeseong site. As the Three Kingdoms competed for this region, control passed from Baekje to Goguryeo in the 5th century
8.
Hangul
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The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul in South Korea and as Chosŏngŭl/Chosŏn Muntcha in North Korea is the alphabet that has been used to write the Korean language since the 15th century. It was created during the Joseon Dynasty in 1443 by King Sejong the Great, in South Korea, Hangul is used primarily to write the Korean language as using Hanja in typical Korean writing had fallen out of common usage during the late 1990s. In its classical and modern forms, the alphabet has 19 consonant and 21 vowel letters, however, instead of being written sequentially like the letters of the Latin alphabet, Hangul letters are grouped into blocks, such as 한 han, each of which transcribes a syllable. That is, although the syllable 한 han may look like a single character, each syllabic block consists of two to six letters, including at least one consonant and one vowel. These blocks are arranged horizontally from left to right or vertically from top to bottom. Each Korean word consists of one or more syllables, hence one or more blocks, of the 11,172 possible Hangul syllables, the most frequent 256 have a cumulative frequency of 88. 2%, with the top 512, it reaches 99. 9%. The modern name Hangul was coined by Ju Sigyeong in 1912, han meant great in archaic Korean, and geul is the native Korean word for script. Taken together, then, the meaning is great script, as the word han had also become one way of indicating Korea as a whole the name could also potentially be interpreted as Korean script. Korean 한글 is pronounced, and in English as /ˈhɑːn. ɡʊl/ or /ˈhɑːŋɡʊl/, when used as an English word, it is often rendered without the diacritics, hangul, and it is often capitalized as Hangul, as it appears in many English dictionaries. Hankul in the Yale romanization, a system recommended for technical linguistic studies, North Koreans call it Chosŏngŭl, after Chosŏn, the North Korean name for Korea. Because of objections to the names Hangeul, Chosŏngŭl, and urigeul by Koreans in China, until the early 20th century, Hangul was denigrated as vulgar by the literate elite, who preferred the traditional hanja writing system. They gave it such names as these, Achimgeul, in the original Hanja, it is rendered as 故智者不終朝而會，愚者可浹旬而學。 Gugmun Eonmun Amgeul. Am is a prefix that signifies a noun is feminine Ahaetgeul or Ahaegeul Hangul was promulgated by Sejong the Great, the Hall of Worthies, a group of scholars who worked with Sejong to develop and refine the new alphabet, is often credited for the work. The project was completed in late December 1443 or January 1444, the publication date of the Hunmin Jeong-eum, October 9, became Hangul Day in South Korea. Its North Korean equivalent, Chosongul Day, is on January 15, various speculations about the creation process were put to rest by the discovery in 1940 of the 1446 Hunmin Jeong-eum Haerye. This document explains the design of the consonant letters according to articulatory phonetics, to assuage this problem, King Sejong created the unique alphabet known as Hangul to promote literacy among the common people. However, it entered popular culture as Sejong had intended, being used especially by women, the late 16th century, however, saw a revival of Hangul, with gasa literature and later sijo flourishing. In the 17th century, Hangul novels became a major genre, by this point spelling had become quite irregular
9.
Gyeonggi Province
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Gyeonggi-do is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, Gyeonggi means the surrounding capital. Thus Gyeonggi-do can be translated as province surrounding Seoul, seoul—South Koreas largest city and national capital—is in the heart of the province but has been separately administered as a provincial-level special city since 1946. Incheon—South Koreas third largest city—is on the coast of the province and has been administered as a provincial-level metropolitan city since 1981. The three jurisdictions collectively cover 11,730 km2, with a population of 25.6 million—amounting to over half of the entire population of South Korea. Gyeonggi-do has been an important area since 18 BCE, when Korea was divided into three nations during the Three Kingdoms period. Afterward, the current location of Gyeonggi-do, one of the nine states of Later Silla, was called Hansanju, the Gyeonggi region started to rise as the central region of Goryeo as King Taejo of Goryeo set up the capital in Gaesong. Since 1018, this area has been officially called Gyeonggi, since the period of King Taejong and Sejong the Great, the Gyeonggi region has been very similar to the current administrative area of Gyeonggi-do. In 1895 the 23-Bu system, which reorganized administrative areas, was effected, the Gyeonggi region was divided into Hanseong, Incheon, Chungju, Gongju, and Kaesong. During the Japanese colonial period Hanseong-bu was incorporated into Gyeonggi-do, on October 1,1910, it was renamed Keijo and a provincial government was placed in Keijo according to the reorganization of administrative districts. After liberation and the foundation of two Korean governments, Gyeonggi-do and its capital, Seoul, were separated with partial regions of Gyeonggi-do being incorporated into Seoul thereafter. Additionally, Kaesong became North Korean territory, the city to change control after the countries were divided at the 38th parallel. In 1967 the seat of the Gyeonggi provincial government was transferred from Seoul to Suwon, after Incheon separated from Gyeonggi-do in 1981, Gyeonggi regions such as Ongjin County and Ganghwa County were incorporated into Incheon in 1995. Gyeonggi-do is the central region of the Korean Peninsula, which is vertically situated in Northeast Asia and is between east longitude of 126 and 127, and north latitude of 36 and 38. Its dimension is 10% of Korea’s territory,10,171 square kilometres and its provincial government is in Suwon, but some of its government buildings are in Uijeongbu for the administrative conveniences of the northern region. The climate of Gyeonggi-do is the climate, which has a severe differentiation of temperature between summer and winter, and has distinctions of four seasons. Spring is warm, summer is hot and humid, autumn is cool, the annual average temperature is between 11–13 °C, where the temperature in the mountainous areas to the northeast is lower and the coastal areas to the southwest is higher. For January’s average temperature, the Gyeonggi Bay is −4 °C, the Namhangang Basin is −4 – −6 °C, and it becomes colder and higher in temperature differentiation from coastal to inland areas
10.
Jongno District
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Jongno District is a gu, or district, in central Seoul, South Korea. It takes its name from a local street, Jongno. Jongno District has been the center of the city for 600 years, Jongno District is commonly referred to as the face and heart of Korea because of its important roles in the politics, economics, culture, and history as the capital city. Jongno District is home to palaces in which the kings used to reside and work, such as Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace, Changgyeong Palace, the South Korean presidents current residence, the Cheongwadae, is also located in Jongno District. With the historical value and cultural properties, Jongno District attracts visitors attention and these include the restored Cheonggyecheon stream, the traditional neighborhood of Insa-dong, and the Jongmyo shrine. Art Center Nabi and Gahoe Museum, a museum is also located in the district. A number of colleges and universities are located here, these include the main campuses of Sungkyunkwan University, Jongno District is also home to Jogyesa, the chief temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It is also of historical significant as the location for administrative buildings and features statues of the Admiral Yi Sun-sin of Joseon Dynasty. As the traditional heart of Seoul, Jongno is still an important business center, notable companies based in Jongno include Kumho Asiana Group, Kyobo Life. Lotte Group, SK Group, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Daewoo E&C, Daelim Group, East Asia Daily, the headquarters of South Korean skincare retailer The Face Shop is located in the LG Gwanghwamun Building on sinmunno 2-ga. The head office of Air Seoul is in the Kumho Asiana Main Tower in Sinmunno 1-ga, the headquarters of the Ministry of Security and Public Administration is located in the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno District. The third and fourth floors of the building house the Ministry of Unification. The headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located in the MOFA Building in Jongno District, previously the Ministry of Education had its headquarters in the Central Government Complex in Jongno District. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism also had its headquarters in Jongno District, the Ministry of Health and Welfare had its headquarters in the Hyundai Building. The offices of those ministries have moved to Sejong City, before merged into another ministry in 2008, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries was located in Jongro-gu. It was re-established in Sejong City and those are some of the district administrative dongs. For a complete list, see here, the current mayor of Jong-no district is Kim Yeong-jong
