History UsefulNotes / Seoul

The name of the city is a Korean noun for "capital city" (as in, the ''seoul'' of US is Washington DC), but due to the city being named this way after independence, the word 'seoul' is rarely used to describe a capital city and it mostly refers to this specific city, especially after the '90s.

->''"Seoul was not simply Korea's largest town; It was Korea."''
-->--'''Gregory Handerson, former US Foreign Service Officer'''

Seoul (Korean: 서울) is the capital and the largest city of {{UsefulNotes/South Korea}}, and it was the capital of the preceding Joseon dynasty for five centuries before the annexation by UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan. Before that, it was the capital of one of the three ancient kingdoms of Korea. Thanks to this continued prominence as the capital of the peninsula, the city throughout history was recognized as the pollitical and cultural center of Korea. This is why even decades after the {{UsefulNotes/The Korean War}} and the subsequent divison, {{UsefulNotes/North Korea}}n constitution specified their capital as Seoul. This explains why most of the work taking place in Korea whether they were made by Koreans or not mostly feature Seoul as their setting. It is also the birthplace of {{Korean Pop Music}}.

** The company that released the game in Korea, Kama Digital Entertainment, also developed their own installment, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Clancy%27s_Rainbow_Six:_Take-Down_–_Missions_in_Korea Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea]]'', which was set for global release. It featured Seoul in a lot of its missions. However, the game was never released outside Korea.

The name of the city is a Korean noun for "Capital city" (as in, the seoul of US is Washington DC), but due to the city being named this way after independence, the word 'seoul' is rarely used to describe a capital city and it mostly refers to this specific city, especially after the '90s.

Mayor Park Won-soon, who used to work for a rights oriented non-governmental organization before, is the current mayor of Seoul. He was elected to his second term in 2014 and then his third in 2018. His third term came to an abrupt end on July, 2020, when he was reported as missing the day after Park’s former secretary accused him of a sexual offense. After the search by the authorities his body was found near Sukjeongmun on Bugak Mountain in northern Seoul. The controversial death is widely considered a suicide and the prosecution dropped charges against him after this. Currently Seo Jung-hyup, formerly the Deputy Mayor, is acting as the Mayor of Seoul until the seat is filled with a by-election. And in an ironic twist of fate, former Mayor Oh Se-hoon took the seat again after the by-election held on April 7th resulted in his landslide victory against candidate Park Young-sun from the ruling Democratic Party.

* The [[AnimatedAdaptation anime adaptation]] of manhwa ''WebComic/TheGodOfHighSchool'' was produced by Japanese studio Creator/{{MAPPA}} in conjunction with Website/{{Crunchyroll}}, and it features Seoul as its setting just like the source material. A lot of the landmarks make appearance.

* Multiple scenes in season 3 of Series/{{TheUmbrellaAcademy2019}} show the Seoul Metropolitan Subway system, and a brief shot of the modern skyline featuring N Seoul Tower is also seen, although the date is set to 1989.

** Sangam-dong houses a bunch of media companies and major broadcasters which were previously in Yeouido. A media cluster known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Media_City "Digital Media City"]] (not to be confused with [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry works]] [[VideoGame/DmCDevilMayCry with the same]] [[Manga/DetroitMetalCity abbreviation]]) is located here.

** Samseong-dong has nothing to do with Samsung. The neighborhood has the Coex Mall and Trade Center complex, and the Trade Tower is one of the landmarks of Seoul. Bongeunsa, a Buddhist temple, is located hear of all places, which makes a great spot for photos contrasting old and new. Also the location of Creator/PlusOneAnimation.

Mayor Park Won-soon, who used to work for a rights oriented non-governmental organization before, is the current mayor of Seoul. He was elected to his second term in 2014 and then his third in 2018. His third term came to an abrupt end on July, 2020, when he was reported as missing the day after Park’s former secretary accused him of a sexual offense. After the search by the authorities his body was found near Sukjeongmun on Bugak Mountain in northern Seoul. The controversial death is widely considered a suicide and the prosecution dropped charges against him after this. Currently Seo Jung-hyup, formerly the Deputy Mayor, is acting as the Mayor of Seoul until the seat is filled with a by-election.