Taejon

Daejeon () is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis, with a population of 1.5 million as of 2019. Located in the central-west region of South Korea alongside forested hills and the Geum River, the city is known both for its technology and research institutions, and for celebrating its natural environment, with most mountains, hot springs, and rivers freely open for public use. Daejeon serves as a hub of transportation for major rail and road routes, and is approximately 50 minutes from the capital, Seoul, by KTX or SRT high speed rail.

Daejeon (along with Seoul, Gwacheon and Sejong City) are collectively South Korea's administration hubs. The city is home to 23 universities and colleges, including Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Chungnam National University, as well as government research institutes, and research and development centers for global companies such as Samsung, LG, mostly located in the city's Daedeok Science Town.

Occupied by humans since the Stone Age, Daejeon was historically a collection of small riverside villages. Though the area had varying degrees of strategic importance depending on the period in history, it was largely undeveloped until its use as a rail hub from the early 1900s, during the period of Japanese occupation. From the 1980s, multiple national administrative functions were moved from Seoul to Daejeon, most of which are now located in the Daejeon Government Complex, resulting in another population increase. The city hosted the 1986 Asian Games, the Taejon Expo '93, the International Mathematical Olympiads in 2000, and was elevated to the status of Metropolitan City in 2005.

Daejeon is situated in a lowland valley with three major rivers eventually flowing into the Yellow Sea by way of the Geum river. The city is surrounded by several small mountains, and is located approximately south of Seoul and north of Busan, and east of the Yellow Sea. Daejeon experiences a monsoon-influenced, four-season climate with wet, hot summers and drier, cold winters.

History

Human beings first settled in the Daejeon region during the Stone Age. It was occupied and in use as strategic military ground in various times by people such as the ''Usul-gun'' of Baekje, ''Bipung-gun'' of Silla, and the ''Hoideok-hyeon'', ''Yuseong-hyeon'', ''Deokjin-hyeon'', and ''Jinjam-hyeon''. During the Joseon Kingdom period, it remained occupied by the ''Hoideok-hyeon'' and ''Jinjam-hyeon'' of Gongju Mokha. In 1895, most of the area was made part of Hoideok-gun and Jinjam-gun, excluding some parts that belonged to Gongju-gun.

The Daejeon area was historically known as ''Hanbat'' (한밭), a native Korean term for "large field", during the Joseon Dynasty. "Daejeon" simply means the same thing in Hanja. In the 19th century, Daejeon was also known in English as Kung-tsiou.

Historically, Daejeon was a small village without many residents. However, in 1905, the Gyeongbu Railway began operations from Seoul to Busan, opening a station at Daejeon. In 1926 under the rule of the Japanese government, the Honam Railway was built between Mokpo and Daejeon, transforming the latter into a major transportation hub. Because of its location and proximity to means of transportation, Daejeon grew quickly.

As railroads were laid under Japanese rule, an environment friendly to the Japanese was created, and many Japanese began to settle in Daejeon taking advantage of the opportunity. According to 1910 census data, 58%, or more than half of the 4,350 Daejeon population at the time, were Japanese. In 1925, 56% of the 8,861 people in Daejeon were Japanese. Therefore, Daejeon was one of the cities with great cultural influence of Japanese residents. For example, elderly people who experienced Japanese colonial era pronounce '단무지' (Pickled radish, danmuji) as '닥광/단광'(dakgwang/dangwang), '컵' (cup, keob) as '고뿌' (goffu) and '비닐' (vinyl, binil) as '비니루' (binilu). In addition, '우에시다리' (Uesidari), a representative team division game in Daejeon, was also created at this time and is believed to have been derived from the Japanese word '上(うえ, Ue)' meaning 'up' and the Japanese word '下(した, sita)' meaning 'down'.

In 1932, the capital of Chungnam province was moved from Gongju to Daejeon. During the Korean War, the city was the site of an early major conflict: the Battle of Taejon. Also during the war, the mass graves of civilians killed by South Korean police were discovered near Taejon and reported on by Alan Winnington in his famous anti-war leaflet "I Saw Truth in Korea". Embarrassed by the contents of the leaflet, the British government considered having him executed for treason, though instead decided to make him stateless.

Since then, changes have been made to the city's boundaries. Its official names have evolved, as well. Among the boundary modifications include one that effectively made the nearby town of Daedeok a part of the city in 1983. Then, in the late 1980s, Daejeon was elevated to the status of Special City (''Jikhalsi''), thus became a separate administrative region from Chungcheongnam-do. In 1995, all South Korean Special Cities were again renamed as Metropolitan Cities, which is reflected in the current official name of Daejeon, Daejeon Metropolitan City (대전광역시).

In the 1980s, the Korean administration began moving various national government operations from Seoul to Daejeon, eventually opening the Daejeon Government Complex in 1997. Today, the national government offices in Daejeon include Korea Customs Service, Small and Medium Business Administration, Public Procurement Service, National Statistical Office, Military Manpower Administration, Korea Forest Service, Cultural Heritage Administration, Korean Intellectual Property Office, Korail, Korea Water Resources Corporation, Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation and Patent Court of Korea.

The population of Daejeon increased dramatically as a result of the government center. However, with the construction of Sejong Special Self-Governing City in 2013 for the division of capital functions and balanced local development, many of the public institutions that had previously headed to Daejeon were moved to Sejong, and many public institutions in Seoul were also moved to Sejong. With the launch of Sejong City, large-scale development began, resulting in infrastructure construction and large-scale apartment complexes. Sejong is located immediately north of Daejeon, and Daejeon citizens began to outflow to Sejong. As of July 2020, there was net outflow of more than 100,000 people from Daejeon to Sejong.

Geography

Daejeon lies between latitudes N36°10'59" and N36°30'1" and longitudes E127°14'48" and E127°33'35" near the middle of South Korea. It is from Seoul, from Busan and from Gwangju.

Known historically as 'big field,' the city lies inside a great circle surrounded by several mountains, with Gyeryongsan National Park straddling the city border on the west, and the foot of the Sobaek Mountain range just beyond the city to the south and east. Three rivers run through the center of the city: Gapcheon (갑천), Yudeungcheon (유등천), and Daejeoncheon (대전천). These flow roughly from south to north, eventually joining the Geum River which borders the city on the northeast. The river changes direction after leaving Daejeon, turning to the southwest and eventually emptying into the Yellow Sea near Gunsan.

Climate

Daejeon has a monsoon-influenced, four-season climate that lies between the humid subtropical and humid continental climatic classifications ( Köppen ''Cwa''/''Dwa'', respectively), with slightly more mild temperature extremes compared with Seoul. Winters are cold and dry with monthly mean temperature of in January. Summers are hot and humid with a monthly mean temperature of in August. The heaviest rainfall during the year typically occurs from July through August during the Korean monsoon season.

Administrative divisions

Daejeon is divided into five political "gu" or "districts": Seogu (서구), Donggu (동구), Yuseonggu (유성구), Daedeokgu (대덕구), and Junggu (중구).

Demographics

As of January 2022, Daejeon has a population of 1,469,543, including 17,292 (1.2%) registered residents of foreign nationality.

Religion

According to the census of 2005, of the people of Daejeon, 21.8% follow Buddhism and 31.2% follow Christianity (20.5% Protestantism and 10.7% Catholicism). About 47% of the population is mostly not religious or follows Muism and other indigenous religions.

Education

There are 23 universities and colleges in Daejeon, concurrently enrolling around 90,000 students and employing 4,000 professors.

Major public universities in Daejeon include:

* Chungnam National University, a major national university established for the South Chungcheong province.
* Daejeon Chungnam University, a campus in the four-year Korea National Open University system.
* Hanbat National University, founded in 1927, specializing in partnerships between industry and academia.
* Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), the nation's first public research-oriented science and engineering institution. The university was ranked as the best Asian science and technology school by ''Asiaweek'' in 2000.

Major private universities in Daejeon include:

* Mokwon University
* Pai Chai University, founded in 1885, one of the oldest private universities in South Korea.
* Woosong University, specialized curriculum based on international exchange, foreign-language, and IT education.
* Hannam University, founded in 1956 by Christian missionaries, with a main campus in O-Jeong Dong (site of the historic Missionary Village), and a branch campus is in Techno Valley.

Specialized high schools and academies include:

* Daejeon Foreign Language High School is a selective high school focusing on teaching of foreign language. The school provides language education of 7 majors including English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian.
* Daejeon Science High School is a selective high school focused on teaching science.
* Taejon Christian International School is an international school in the city.

Research and development

Known as the Silicon Valley of Korea, Daejeon is the home of private and public research institutes, centers and science parks. The R&D centers of Samsung, Institute of Information Technology Advancement, LG, Korea University of Science and Technology, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute and others are in Daedeok Science Town in Yuseong-gu.

Daejeon features a technology cluster known as Daedeok Innopolis defined by the national Universities Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Chungnam National University and surrounded by government research institutes, government-invested corporate research institutes, corporate research centers, and venture companies.

The research institutes and universities in Daedeok Valley have spun off multiple startups. Korea has invested heavily in building up the research expertise for over 30 years, creating long-term research programs. Over 7,000 PhD researchers are in the sciences in Daedeok and it had the most application for patents during 2000–2011 among the National Industrial Complex.

Researchers and businessmen work in the fields of telecommunications, nanofabrication, biotechnology, water, nuclear and hydro power, nuclear fusion, design, measurement technologies, mechanical engineering, fuel cells, aeronautics, new materials, robotics, new drugs, and environmental technologies. Daedeok Innopolis' membership includes 898 corporations, 35 government-invested and sponsored institutions; six universities, and 15 public organizations.

Among Daedeok Innopolis' universities, KAIST is considered the top technical university in Korea. Strong fields at KAIST include computer science, electrical and nuclear engineering, mechanical design, chemistry, and telecommunications. Chungnam National University also plays a central role in those fields, and brings expertise in biotechnology, medicine, and the agricultural sciences. These universities are complemented by institutions such as Hanbat National University, Pai Chai University, Hannam University