Suwon
Suwon is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, though it enjoys a lesser degree of self-governance as a 'special case city'.
Traditionally known as the 'City of Filial Piety', modern Suwon retains a variety of historical landmarks. As a walled city, it is a popular destination for day-trippers from Seoul, with the wall itself—Hwaseong Fortress—receiving 1½ million visits in 2015.
Suwon plays an important economic role as it is home to Samsung Electronics, Korea's largest and most profitable company. The company's research and development centre is in Yeongtong District in eastern Suwon, where its headquarters have also been located since 2016. Samsung's prominence in Suwon is clear: the company is partnered with Sungkyunkwan University, which has a campus in the city; it also owns the professional football team Suwon Samsung Bluewings. This team has won the K League four times and the Asian Super Cup twice. The city is also home to the K League 1 team Suwon FC and the KBO League baseball team KT Wiz.
Suwon houses several well-known universities, most notably Sungkyunkwan University and Ajou University. It is served by three expressways, the national railway network, and three lines on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway.
Name
Suwon means literally "water source". The area has gone by different names since antiquity, but almost all of them have this meaning. The name originally comes from the name of the statelet, from around the Proto–Three Kingdoms period. Afterwards, the area and what is now Hwaseong were together called Maehol, Maetkol, or Mulgol. In, the name was changed to Susŏng-gun, in order to disambiguate it from another territory with a similar-sounding name. In 940, its name was changed to Su-ju. In the 11th century, it went by either Susŏng or Hannam. In 1310, it received the name Suwon.In English, the name was formerly often spelt.
History
Early history
The area now corresponding to Suwon has been inhabited since at the latest the early Bronze Age. Artifacts from that period to the early Iron Age have been found in the area, and include objects such as pottery, sculpture, and arrowheads. One location where these materials have been found is at, which is now a.During the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, the area was described as being of the territory of the statelet Mosuguk, part of the Mahan confederacy. The area came under the influence of Goguryeo in the late 5th century CE, and then later became part of Unified Silla.
It became part of Goryeo after a military campaign led by King Taejo. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the area was promoted, demoted, merged, and made part of various administrative districts. The area then became a part of Joseon upon its founding, and in 1395 was made an administrative center of Gyeonggi Province.
Until the late 18th century, Suwon's administrative centre was in modern-day Annyeong-dong at the foot of Hwasan. In 1796, King Jeongjo relocated it to its current location at the foot of Paldalsan. To protect this new city, he commanded the building of Hwaseong Fortress—a protective wall around the town.
An 1899 administrative report had the population at 49,708 people in 12,579 households.
Japanese colonial period
During the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period, a number of prominent Korean independence activists came from or operated in Suwon. and Yi Sŏn-gyŏng were both arrested for their activities.Liberation to Korean War periods
On 15 August 1949, Suwon was promoted from a county to a city, with some of its former territory made into Hwaseong County.When the Korean War began, the United States Air Force 49th Fighter Wing, then stationed in Japan, was sent to Korea with an initial mission of evacuating civilians from Suwon and Gimpo. While on this mission, on 1950, US planes in Suwon were attacked by North Korean fighters. The ensuing Battle of Suwon Airfield became the first aerial combat of the war. Suwon Airfield was attacked again two days later while General Douglas MacArthur was on site. Though the US repelled both attacks, Suwon fell to the advancing North Koreans one week later, on 1950. The following day saw the first land conflict between United States and North Korean forces, the Battle of Osan.
North Korean troops were not the only threat to life: in the early days of the war, southern authorities feared left-leaning civilians, and many were killed. Suwon was a site of such killings: eyewitness account from US intelligence officer Donald Nichols places Suwon as the location of a massacre of approximately 1,800 in late June 1950.
Suwon was retaken, fell again to the North, before being recaptured for the final time. In total, the city changed hands four times during the war.
While under southern authority, Suwon hosted forces from several countries. For example, on 1950, the Greek Expeditionary Force relocated from Busan to Suwon, attached to the US 1st Cavalry Division. The city also appeared strategically important, as in late 1951, the US Air Force's top fighter pilot Gabby Gabreski was placed in charge of Suwon Air Base.
A memorial to French forces was erected in 1974 near the Yeongdong Expressway's North Suwon exit. This was renovated in 2013.
Recent history
In 1964, the headquarters of Gyeonggi Province began a process of relocation from Seoul to Suwon. Seoul had left the province in 1949. When the construction of the headquarters was completed on 23 June 1967, the date was set as a new annual holiday: Suwon Citizen's Day. The Hwahong Cultural Festival was established to celebrate the occasion.Suwon has experienced a number of administrative territory changes since the 1960s. In 1963, Suwon expanded greatly as 20 villages were incorporated from Hwaseong-gun. In 1983, two more villages were acquired from Yongin. In 1987, Suwon expanded westwards, acquiring another two villages from Hwaseong. Gwonseon District and Paldal District were established in 1988. It received more territory from Hwaseong and Yongin in 1994, and again from Hwaseong in 1995. It established Yeongtong District in 2003.
In preparation for the construction of a new planned city Gwanggyo, there were two-way exchanges of land between Suwon and Yongin in 2007 and 2019. Suwon's most recent land exchange occurred in 2020, when it swapped some land parcels with Hwaseong.
Geography
Suwon lies in the north of the Gyeonggi plain, south of the national capital, Seoul. It is bordered by the cities of Uiwang to the north-west, Yongin to the east, Hwaseong to the south-west, and Ansan to the west. Suwon is near the Yellow Sea coast: at its closest point, on the Chilbosan ridge to the west, Suwon lies from Ueumdo in Sihwa Lake, a coastal inlet cordoned off to drive the world's largest tidal power station.Geology and topography
Suwon is primarily composed of Precambrian metamorphic rock. It has amphibolites that intrude through these, and also granites from the Mesozoic Era.Most of Suwon is composed of biotite granite from the Jurassic period. This granite is centred on Paldalsan. A form of Daebo granite, this rock is distributed through Homaesil-dong, Geumgok-dong, Dangsu-dong, Seryu-dong, Seodun-dong, Gwonseon-dong, and other areas. Its main constituent minerals are quartz, plagioclase, orthotic, biotite, and amphibole.
Precambrian biotite gneiss is found in northern Suwon, specifically Pajang-dong, Gwanggyo-dong, Woncheon-dong, and Maetan-dong. Visible rocks here are composed of quartz, feldspar, biotite, amphibole, and muscovite; and are generally dark grey or dark green. Mesozoic biotite granite intrudes through these.
Precambrian quartzo-feldspathic gneiss is distributed in some mountainous areas in Hagwanggyo-dong and Sanggwanggyo-dong in northern Suwon. This gneiss has primarily undergone silicification, and is mainly composed of quartz, feldspar, biotite, and muscovite. It is grey, grey-brown, and white.
Suwon's single tectonic fault splits from the Singal Fault in Iui-dong, creating the Woncheonri Stream. The stream follows the fault through Ha-dong, Woncheon-dong, and Maetan-dong till it joins the Hwangguji Stream in Annyeong-dong, Hwaseong. This is a -long vertical fault running SSW, eventually to the Yellow Sea. In Suwon, biotite gneiss and biotite granite are brought into contact by the fault.
While the low-lying fault sits in the south of Suwon, the north is hillier: the city's highest point is Gwanggyosan on the border with Yongin.
Streams and lakes
Most of Suwon's streams originate on Gwanggyosan or other nearby peaks. Since the city is bounded to the north by Gwanggyosan, to the west by Chilbosan, and to the east by other hills, the streams, chiefly the Hwanggujicheon, Suwoncheon, Seohocheon, and Woncheollicheon, flow southwards. After merging, they eventually empty into the Yellow Sea at Asan Bay. The entirety of Suwon is drained in this manner.Several of Suwon's streams feature lakes. Since there are few natural lakes on the Korean mainland, Suwon's lakes are small reservoirs. These 11 reservoirs are, otherwise known as Seoho near Hwaseo Station; Irwol Reservoir near Sungkyunkwan University; Bambat Reservoir near Sungkyunkwan University Station;, otherwise known as Irwang Reservoir in Manseok Park; Pajang Reservoir near the North Suwon exit of the Yeongdong Expressway; and Hagwanggyo Reservoir at the foot of Gwanggyosan; Woncheon and Sindae Reservoirs in Gwanggyo Lake Park; and Geumgok Reservoir, a small lake at the foot of Chilbosan. Irwang Reservoir has been designated a world heritage site for irrigation. Wangsong Reservoir, on the border with Uiwang, used to be partly in Suwon, but after controversial boundary changes, it is now entirely in Uiwang.