of theJoseon Dynasty
in
1394. There were some modernization efforts by the late 19th century and Seoul
became the first city in East Asia to have electricity, trolley cars, water,
telephone, and telegraph systems all at the same time.
During the Japanese colonial period in
the early 20th century, the city was called
Gyeongseong.
After independence in 1946, Koreans renamed the city Seoul (which also means
"Capital City" in Korean). In 1949, Seoul was separated from Gyeonggi
Province and was granted status as "Seoul Special City". In 1950,
during the
Korean War, Seoul was
occupied by North Korean troops and the city was almost entirely destroyed. The
city was retaken by UN Forces on 14 March 1951. Since then, the city boundary
has steadily grown into surrounding administrative divisions of Gimpo, Goyang,
Gwangju, Shiheung, and Yangju counties. The current boundaries were established
in 1995.
Seoul proper is noted for its population density, which is almost
twice that of New York and eight times greater than Rome, though slightly less than Paris. Its metropolitan area is the
densest in the OECD. Nearly all
of Seoul's residents are Korean,
with some small Chinese
