World Cup Park () is an

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

park built in Sangamdong-gil, in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. The park was established on May 1, 2002 in anticipation of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup Games. World Cup Park is subdivided into five parks: Pyeonghwa Park (Peace Park), Haneul Park (Sky Park), Noeul Park (Sunset Park), Nanjicheon Park, and Hangang Riverside Park. The park is mostly composed of the former island Nanjido (). That island was joined to the mainland in 1977.

Sub-parks

Pyeonghwa (Peace) Park

Located on the opposite side of

Seoul World Cup Stadium The Seoul World Cup Stadium (), the Sangam Stadium, is a stadium used mostly for association football matches. The venue is located in 240, World Cup-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It was built for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and opened on Nov ...

, it is the main park of World Cup Park created to commemorate the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup Games. Its name was given to symbolize world peace and unity. There is

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

Plaza, Nanji Pond, Peace Park, Hope Forest, and the World Cup Park Museum.

Haneul Park

Like its name Haneul, which means sky in

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

, the park is situated at World Cup Park's highest point. The Haneul stairs consist of 291 stairs and have become a tourist attraction. Situated at the highest point in World Cup Park, there are observation points on the sloping sides of the park.

Noeul Park

The park contains wild animals such as deer, wildcats and

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. There is a

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

park which is a themed space with nature and cultural art works displayed on green lawns.

Nanjicheon Park

Nanjicheon Park was built along the Nanji Stream, which flowed under the Haneul Park. The stream was filled with sewage but it is now purified. It has an outdoor stage and various sports facilities.

Hangang Riverside Park (Nanji Area)

Hangang Riverside Park was built on the banks of

Han River (Korea) The Han River () is a river in the central region of the Korean peninsula, with some of its Tributary, tributaries and drainage basin in North Korea. It is classified as a national first-class river in South Korea. The Han River currently has ...

. It has

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

field,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

court, grass field, River cruise ship port, and an area for nature-studies.

History

The park's area was once the islet Nanjido.

Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s and

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

were cultivated on this land. Construction began on an embankment for the island on January 7, 1977. As a result of this work, the island joined the mainland. Between 1978 and 1993, Nanjido was used as a municipal landfill for Seoul. By the end of its use, it had accumulated a large amount of waste. Work was then performed to reduce the environmental impact of the waste disposed of there. A wide variety of techniques, including waterproof barriers, methane gas collection, and the planting of plants, were employed. Collected gas is reportedly burned for heating. These efforts have reportedly been successful. Plants and animals have moved back onto the land, and there are now five different public parks that host 9.8 million visitors per year. The five parks are equipped with conservation facilities for further revival of diversified ecological system.

Gallery

File:Pyeonghwa (Peace) Park.jpg, Pyeonghwa (Peace) Park in World Cup Park File:Haneul-Park.jpg, Reeds of the Haneul Park File:Haneul-Park--reeds.jpg, reeds File:Noeul Park.jpg, Noeul Park in World Cup Park File:Nanjicheon-Park.jpg, Nanjicheon Park

References

External links

* http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264454 - Tour guide by

Korea Tourism Organization The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO; ) is an organization of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It is commissioned to promote the country's tourism industry. The KTO was established in 1962 ...

, Visitkorea {{Seoul parks Mapo District Parks in Seoul