| Page Views: 3,742 Last Visit to Taejon: February, 2006 I Used To Live Here | Daejeon by iwys - last update: Jun 6, 2006 |
Daejeon is a vibrant, youthful city. It has a massive student population, big stores are open 24/7 and many clubs and bars are open all night. |
|  | With nearly one and a half million people, Daejeon is the fifth largest city in Korea, after Seoul, Busan, Daegu and Incheon.
The size of the city is pretty remarkable, when you consider the fact that
Daejeon has only been in existence for 100 years. Prior to the opening of the Seoul-Busan railway through here in 1905, there was just a rural area called Hanbat, which means great field. The opening of a second line, the Honam railway, in 1914, which crossed the Seoul-Busan line in Daejeon, turned it into a railway boom town and by 1931 Daejeon had a population of 23,284, which by 1940 had trebled to 69,712.
Due to its strategic position, Daejeon was the scene of fierce fighting during the Korean War and in the summer of 1950 it was reduced to a heap of rubble and, worse still, the North Koreans executed thousands of civilians before they retreated. "For murderous barbarism, the Taejon massacre will be recorded in the annals of history along with the Rape of Nanking, the Warsaw Ghetto and other similar mass exterminations." (P. Chinnery 'Korean Atrocity'). Recovery after the war was swift, however, and by the 1980s the city's population had passed the million mark.
It is now the country's "science and technology capital" and hosts the National Science Museum, seven universities and numerous colleges. It has the highest number of schools per capita in the country and is sometimes described as Korea's "Silicon Valley".
Daejeon is a modern city, which due to its central location, developed rapidly as a transport hub during the twentieth century. Several national government departments are moving here from Seoul, which will further accelerate the city's growth. In many ways, Daejeon reminds me of Sim City! |
Daejeon is perhaps best known internationally, if at all, for hosting Expo 93 and for being one of the venues for the 2002 World Cup finals (South Korea scored their famous 2-1 victory over Italy here). The 41,000-capacity Daejeon World Cup Stadium now hosts Daejeon Citizen, who play in the K-League. The city also has the Hanbat Baseball Stadium, which is the home of the Hanhwa Eagles. Local tourist attractions include hot springs, mountains and temples. | | |
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| Pros: | "It's great here" | | Cons: | "You might meet me! Ha,ha,ha" |
 Comments for iwys about Taejon | | | | |
victorwkf Tue Aug 7, 2007 10:51 UTC
Great tips and photos of Daejeon! I may be going to korea in october this year and is thinking of going to daejeon :) | oradea_dream Mon May 28, 2007 07:52 UTC
Nice Korea photos. Congrats! Mircea | thedouglas Sat Jun 3, 2006 23:25 UTC
Looks like a great place to put your head down! Will await the additional info re where the not so good people marry! | hassan_abu Wed Apr 19, 2006 05:13 UTC
Kamsahamnida for sharing your homepage. Very interesting indeed. Kimchi ? Have you actually tried it. I don't think I could swallow those things. Abu |
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