Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is a 600 year old city proud of its past with a vibrant modern present. As we mentioned in our previous post, 2010 was supposed to be the year to visit Seoul but many of the events programmed to attract tourist are probably going to escape any home exchange arranged form now on. However, no matter when you decide to visit Seoul, the city has something for everyone:

Photo by yeowatzup /Flickr.com

Modern Buildings:

- N Seoul Tower (Namsan Mountain)

- Moonlight Rainbow Fountain (probably the world’s longest bridge fountain)

- 63 Building (63 City)

The Five Royal Palaces - All built during the Joseon Dynasty some 600 years ago, they remain completely blended with the surrounding environment:

- Changdeokgung
- Changgyeonggung
- Deoksugung
- Gyeongbokgung
- Gyeonghuigung

Museums - There are over 100 museums in Seoul, just to mention a few:

- National Museum of Korea (with over 150,000 artifacts)
- National Palace Museum of Korea (mostly artifacts from the Joseon Dynasty)
- Cheong Wa Dae Sarangchae (”Office of the President Museum, previously Hyoja-dong Sarangbang)
- Seoul Museum of History
- The War Memorial of Korea
- Choonwondang Museum of Korean Medicine
- Seoul Museum of Art

Natural beauties:

- Hangang Park
- Seoul Grand Park
- Seoul Forest
- Namsan Botanical Garden
- Dream Forest
- Olympic Park
- World Cup Park

With HomeForHome, the year to visit Seoul on a home exchange never ends…

Resources to find more information:

http://english.seoul.go.kr/
http://sdf.seoul.go.kr (click in EN in the top-right corner to see the English version)
http://www.gogung.go.kr/eng/
http://www.museum.go.kr/eng
http://www.visitseoul.net/en/
http://www.warmemo.or.kr/eng/intro/message/message.jsp

2010 is the “Visit Seoul Year“, a part of a three year promotional campaign designed to attract people to visit South Korea. The “2010-2012 Visit Korea Years” are meant to provide unique opportunities to get to know the country, with several festivals, cultural events, political summits and sport events taking place in every part of the country.

Image by J Frasse /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you want to get into South Korea you will definitely have to start with here: Seoul (officially Seoul Special City), with over 10 million inhabitants, is the capital and largest city of South Korea, and one of the largest cities in the world. The metropolitan area, known as Seoul National Capital Area, is home to over 20 million people, and this makes it the second largest metropolitan area in the world. The importance of Seoul to South Korea is demonstrated by the following facts:

- Since South Korea (Republic of Korea) has a population of 50 million, Seoul’s metropolitan area hosts almost half of the country’s population, and Seoul Special City alone, almost a quarter of the population.

- Seoul is the country’s economic, political, cultural hub and is also considered one of the top ten financial and commercial centres of the world.

The city is located in a natural basin in the centre of the Korean Peninsula (shared by North Korea and South Korea). It is divided in two halves by the Han River and guarded by mountains. As a modern centre with a  carefully well preserved heritage and environment, Seoul has everything to amaze  new visitors.

As we mentioned, 2010 was supposed to be the year to visit Seoul, with these events attempting to get your attention:

- G20 Summit (Nov. 13th - 14th)
- Hallyu Dream Festival (Set. 10th - 12th; it takes place every year, so you may catch it in 2011 to avoid a rushed-swap)
- Hi Seoul Festival (Oct. 1st - 9th)
- Korea Food Festival (Oct. 21st - 27th)
- Seoul Design Fair (Sep. 17th - Oct. 7th)
- Seoul Lantern Festival (Nov. 5th - 14th)
- Seoul Grand Sale (going on right now, it started on July 21st and will end next Sep. 12th)
- Seoul International Travel Fair (Sep. 13th - 17th)
- Seoul International Fireworks Festival (Oct. 9th)

2011 will be Daegu’s year and 2012 will be “Visit Yeaosu Year“. So, the invitations were sent, you have received yours now, just take a look at the listings in South Korea and make your home exchange arrangements.

Resources for detailed information:
http://english.visitkoreayear.com/
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto
http://www.visitseoul.net/en/