Pangyo-dong (판교동, 板橋洞) is a ''dong'' of

Bundang district Bundang District () is the largest and most populous district (''Administrative divisions of South Korea, gu'') of Seongnam, a major city in the Seoul Capital Area, South Korea. Bundang District is one of South Korea's wealthiest and highest devel ...

in the city of

Seongnam Seongnam (; ) is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. It consists of three administrative districts: Bundang District, J ...

Gyeonggi Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...

Province,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. As of June 30, 2024, Pangyo-dong has a population of 26,555, spanning 9,025 households. It comprises 4.53km² or 3.2% of Bundang-gu. Pangyo-dong is in the center of Pangyo New Town, a planned district where

Pangyo Techno Valley Pangyo Techno Valley (PTV) is an industrial complex in the city of Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is also known as the Silicon Valley of Korea. The complex focuses on information technology, biotech, cultural technology an ...

, South Korea's

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

, is located, which is itself a bustling hub for the country's

video game industry The video game industry is the tertiary industry, tertiary and quaternary industry, quaternary sectors of the entertainment industry that specialize in the video game development, development, marketing, distribution (marketing), distribution, ...

Name

Pangyo is derived from a wide plank bridge over the river Unjungcheon, which flows east from the foot of Guksabong and ends in

Tancheon Tancheon () is a stream in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul, South Korea. The stream is a tributary of the Han River. It begins in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, flows through Seongnam, and eventually into the Han. It has a total length of . The area al ...

. Residents originally called it Neoldari (널다리), which gradually changes to Neodeuri (너더리), and in ''

hanja Hanja (; ), alternatively spelled Hancha, are Chinese characters used to write the Korean language. After characters were introduced to Korea to write Literary Chinese, they were adapted to write Korean as early as the Gojoseon period. () ...

'' it is written as '板橋', which became the name of the place, sharing its etymology with

Itabashi is a special ward in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. In English, it is called Itabashi City. Itabashi has sister-city relations with Burlington, Ontario, in Canada; Shijingshan District of Beijing in the People's Republic of China; and Bolog ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, as well as

Banqiao District Banqiao District () Banciao, Panchiao or Pan-ch'iao is a District (Taiwan), district and the seat of New Taipei City, Taiwan. It has the third-highest population density in Taiwan, with over . Until the creation of New Taipei City, Banqiao was a ...

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

; for the latter, the pronunciation of Banqiao in

Taiwanese Hokkien Taiwanese Hokkien ( , ), or simply Taiwanese, also known as Taigi ( zh, c=臺語, tl=Tâi-gí), Taiwanese Southern Min ( zh, c=臺灣閩南語, tl=Tâi-uân Bân-lâm-gí), Hoklo and Holo, is a variety of the Hokkien language spoken natively ...

(

Pe̍h-ōe-jī ( ; , , ; POJ), also known as Church Romanization, is an orthography used to write variants of Hokkien Southern Min, particularly Taiwanese Hokkien, Taiwanese and Amoy dialect, Amoy Hokkien, and it is widely employed as one of the writing syst ...

: ''Pang-kiô'') is extremely similar to Pangyo.

Education

Pangyo is home to the following educational institutions: * Pangyo Elementary School ko">:ko:판교초등학교">ko(판교초등학교; 板橋初等學校) * Naksung Elementary School ko">:ko:낙생초등학교">ko(낙생초등학교; 樂生初等學校) * Pangyo Middle School ko">:ko:판교중학교_(경기)">ko(판교중학교; 板橋中學校) * Nakwon Middle School ko">:ko:낙원중학교">ko(낙원중학교; 樂園中學校) * Naksung High School ko">:ko:낙생고등학교">ko(낙생고등학교; 樂生高等學校)

Institutions

* Korea Petroleum Quality & Distribution Authority ko">:ko:한국석유관리원">ko reorganized as K-Petro. Established in November 1983 by the now-dissolved Ministry of Knowledge Economy ko">:ko:대한민국_지식경제부">ko(지식경제부; 知識經濟部), it is a quasi-governmental agency which is responsible for quality and distribution management, research and development, testing and investigation of

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

and

alternative fuels Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are fuels derived from sources other than petroleum. Alternative fuels include gaseous fossil fuels like propane, natural gas, methane, and ammonia; biofuels like biodiesel, b ...

. Pangyo-dong is often referred to as the

of South Korea, as many technological companies like

Smilegate Smilegate () is a South Korean video game company. It is headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, South Korea. It develops, publishes, and services online games on mobile and PC platforms. Established in South Korea in 2002, it is the creator of ''Cr ...

and

Kakao Kakao Corporation () is a South Korean internet conglomerate headquartered in Jeju City. It was formed through the merger of Daum Communications and the original Kakao Inc. in 2010. The company was renamed Daum Kakao in 2014. In 2015, it was ...

reside there.

References

Bundang Neighborhoods of South Korea {{Gyeonggi-geo-stub