서울(Seoul, The capital city of the Republic of Korea)

Seoul (Korean pronunciation: [sʌ.ul] ( listen)), officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). With a population of over 10 million, it is one of the world's largest cities[4] and is by far the most densely populated city among OECD nations.[5] The Seoul National Capital Area, which includes the Incheon metropolis and most of Gyeonggi province, has 24.5 million inhabitants,[6] and is the world's second largest metropolitan area.[7] Almost half of South Korea's population live in the Seoul National Capital Area, and nearly a quarter in Seoul itself, making it the country's foremost economic, political, and cultural center.

Seoul is located on the Han River in the center of the Korean Peninsula, and was settled in 18 B.C. when Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, established its capital in what is now south-east Seoul. The city then became the capital of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty and the Korean Empire. The Seoul National Capital Area is home to four UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeokgung, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty.[8]

Seoul is considered to be a global city.[9] It hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and will host the November 2010 G-20 Summit. It is one of the world's top ten financial and commercial centers,[10] home to large conglomerates[11] such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai-Kia. In 2008, Seoul was named the world's sixth most economically powerful city by Forbes.com.[12] and 86th for quality of life by Mercer. [13]

Seoul is the 2010 World Design Capital and has a technologically advanced infrastructure.[14][15] Its Digital Media City has been a test-bed for some IT and multimedia applications.[16] Seoul was the first city to feature DMB, a digital mobile TV technology and WiBro, a wireless high-speed mobile internet service. It has a fast, high-penetration 100Mbps fibre-optic broadband network, which is being upgraded to 1Gbps by 2012.[17] Seoul Station houses the 350 km/h KTX bullet train and the Seoul Subway is the third largest in the world, with over 2 billion passengers every year.[18] Seoul is connected via AREX to Incheon International Airport.

Name
The city has been known in the past by the names Wirye-seong (위례성; 慰禮城, Baekje era), Hanju (한주; 漢州, Silla era), Namgyeong (남경; 南京, Goryeo era), Hanseong (한성; 漢城, Baekje and Joseon era), Hanyang (한양; 漢陽, Joseon era), Gyeongseong (경성; 京城, Japanese occupation era).[19] Its current name originated from the Korean word meaning "capital city," which is believed to be derived from Seorabeol (서라벌; 徐羅伐), which originally referred to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla.[20]

Unlike most place names in Korea, "Seoul" has no corresponding hanja (Chinese characters used in the Korean language). The recently chosen Chinese name for Seoul is 首尔 (simplified), 首爾 (traditional) (Shǒuěr), which sounds somewhat similar to "Seoul" when pronounced in Mandarin Chinese.


History
Settlement began in Baekje, Wirye-seong, in 17 BC. The location of that site is thought to be within the boundaries of modern day Seoul, and the remains may be at Pungnap Toseong or Mongchon Toseong. It became the capital of the Joseon Dynasty in 1394. In the Japanese colonization period in the early 20th century, during which time the city was called Gyeongseong (경성; 京城; Japanese: Keijō), many historical and traditional parts of Seoul were changed.[citation needed] After independence from Japan in 1945, Koreans renamed the city Seoul. In 1949, Seoul was separated from Kyeongki Province and became "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 on March 14, 1951. Since then, the surrounding administrative divisions (Kwangju Kun, Kimpo Kun, Koyang Kun, Shiheung Kun) around Seoul have steadily widened. The current boundaries were established in 1995.


Geography
Seoul is in the northwest of South Korea. Seoul proper comprises 605.25 km²,[2] roughly bisected into northern and southern halves by the Han River. The Han River and its surrounding area played an important role in Korean history. The Three Kingdoms of Korea strove to take control of this land, where the river was used as a trade route to China (via the Yellow Sea). However, the river is no longer actively used for navigation, because its estuary is located at the borders of the two Koreas, with civilian entry barred. The city is bordered by eight mountains, as well as the more level lands of the Han River plain and western areas.


Climate

Seoul lies in the border region between a humid subtropical and humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa/Dwa), depending on the definition. Summers are generally hot and humid, with the East Asian monsoon taking place from June until July. August, the warmest month, has an average temperature of 22.1 to 29.5 °C (72 to 85 °F) with higher temperatures possible. Winters are often relatively cold with an average January temperature of -6.1 to 1.6 °C (21 to 34.9 °F) and are generally much drier than summers, with an average of 28 days of snow annually.



source by. wikipedia

애국가(Ae-guk-ga, National anthem)

Aegukga is also the name of the national anthem of North Korea, although it is romanized differently. See Aegukka.
Aegukga is the national anthem of South Korea. The title literally means "The Song of Love for the Country," or "The Patriotic Song."

It is believed that the lyrics were written for the cornerstone-laying ceremony of the Independence Gate in Seoul in 1896 by Yun Chiho, a politician, or by An Chang-ho, a pro-independence leader and educator. Initially, Aegukga was sung to the tune of the Scottish folk song "Auld Lang Syne", introduced to Korea by Western missionaries. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (1919-1945) in Shanghai, China adopted it as their national anthem. At a ceremony celebrating the founding of South Korea on 15 August 1948, exactly three years after liberation from Japanese rule, the Scottish tune was finally replaced by the Finale of Korea Fantasia that Ahn Eak-tae had composed in 1935. The new "Aegukga" was later adopted by the Presidential Decree of 1948 by then-President Syngman Rhee (or Lee Seungman).

Lyrics


source by. wikipedia


※You can listen 'Aegukga' in this link.

한반도(Han-ban-do, Korean peninsula)

The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles (1,100 km) from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan (also called East Sea) on the east, the East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.

Until the end of World War II, Korea was a single political entity whose territory roughly coincided with the Korean Peninsula. Since the cessation of the Korean War in 1953, the northern half has been occupied by North Korea, while the southern half has been occupied by South Korea.

The northern boundaries for the Korean Peninsula are commonly (and tacitly) taken to coincide with today's political borders between North Korea and her northern neighbors, China (1,416 km along the provinces of Jilin and Liaoning) and Russia (19 km). These borders are formed naturally by the rivers Yalu/Amnok and Tumen/Tuman/Duman. Taking this definition, the Korean Peninsula (including its islands) has an area of 220,847 km2 (85,270 sq mi).

The peninsula is called Chosŏn Pando (조선반도; 朝鮮半島) in North Korea and Han Bando (한반도; 韓半島) in South Korea based on the respective names of the two countries. They both use "Korea" as part of their official English names.

source by. widipedia

*Spot of Korea






* Tiger figuration of Korean peninsula

태극기(Tae-geuk-gi, Korean flag)

The flag of South Korea, or Taegeukgi (also spelled Taegukgi in convention) was taken from the Chinese design of the yin and yang symbol and has three parts: a white background; a red and blue taegeuk ("Taijitu" or "Yin and Yang") in the center; and four black trigrams, one in each corner of the flag.

The four trigrams originate in the Chinese book of I Ching, representing the four Taoist philosophical ideas about the universe: harmony, symmetry, balance, circulation. The general design of the flag also derives from traditional use of the tricolor symbol (red, blue and yellow) by Koreans starting from the early era of Korean history. The white background symbolizes "cleanliness of the people." The taegeuk represents the origin of all things in the universe; holding the two principles of "Yin", the negative aspect rendered in blue, and "Yang", the positive aspect rendered in red, in perfect balance. Together, they represent a continuous movement within infinity, the two merging as one. The four trigrams are


Traditionally, the four trigrams are related to the Five Elements of fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. An analogy could also be drawn with the four western classical elements.

source by. wikipedia

My School

This is my school! Kyunggi Girls' High school. I love my school ♥.♥ It's big, so sometimes it is like Hogwarts School! x) and we can see the beautiful sight in here. There are also beautiful fountain. There are some benches, so we run it there with beautiful sights :) when the spring comes, we can see the beautiful flowers like in that pic. there are many bees, but it's okay cuz it's looks like facsinating!