Suncheon, Jeonnam

Infobox Korean settlement
title=Suncheon

---

imgcaption=Photograph of downtown Suncheon taken from a small mountain nearby in May 2005.
hangul=순천시
hanja=linktext|順|天|市
rr=Suncheon-si
mr=Sunch'ŏn si
area_km2=907.21
pop=270270
popyear=2001
popden_km2=298
divs=1 "eup", 10 "myeon", 12 "dong"

Suncheon ("Suncheon-si") is a city in Jeollanam-do, South Korea. Located in the province of Jeollanam-do, It is a scenic agricultural and industrial city of around 250,000 people near Suncheon Bay. It is located in the southeastern corner of Jeollanam-do, just over an hour south-east of Gwangju. Forty minutes south of Suncheon is the port city of Yeosu, and twenty minutes to the west of Suncheon is Gwangyang. It is currently experiencing strong development due to being included as part of the "Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone", one of three newly created Free Economic Zones (FEZs) in South Korea due to open within the next decade. As of October 14, 2007 plans are being set up and a referendum is being planned for a merging of the cities of Yeosu, Suncheon and Gwangyang into a new metropolitan city, taking advantage of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone, Yeosu's Expo 2012 bid and port facilities, Suncheon's educational institutes and Gwangyang's POSCO plant. [http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200709/200709070009.html]

History

*Samhan - Mahan
*Samguk - Baekje / Gampyeong-gun
*Unified Silla / Seungpyeong-gun {Gyeongdeok-wang(757)}
*Goryeo / Seungju {Taejo of Goryeo(940)} / Seungpyeong-gun{Seongjong(983)} / Seungju-mok(elevated){Chungseon-wang(1309)}
*Joseon / Taejong(1413) Suncheon Dohobu / Kojong(1895) Suncheon-gun
*Nov.1.1931: Suncheon-gun, Suncheon-myeon were elevated to Suncheon-euop
*Aug.15.1949: In Aug.13 After having incorporated Dosa-myeon 9 ris, Haeryong-myeon(Wangji, Jorye, Yeonhyang), It was elevated into Suncheon-si in Aug.15th.
*Jan.1.1995: Suncheon-si incorporated Seungju-gun.

logans

On its website, Suncheon is dubbed by its city council as "the City of Beautiful People", and its slogan is "Aha! Suncheon." [http://www.suncheon.go.kr/home/english/index.jsp]

Nearby attractions

* "Suncheon Japanese Castle" (왜성 "waeseong" - 倭城), a key point of honam, 16th-century castle built by the Japanese
* "Suncheon Geomdan Castle" (순천검단산성 "Suncheon Geomdansanseong" - 順天檢丹山城), Baekje mountain fortress
* "Naganeupseong Folk Village" (낙안읍성 민속마을), the largest remaining South Korean fort city built on a plain
* "Seonamsa" (선암사 - 仙岩寺) Buddhist temple
* " Songgwangsa" (송광사 - 松廣寺) Buddhist temple
* "Boseong" tea plantations
* "Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites" (고창 / 화순 / 강화 고인돌공원), a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000
* "Jukdobong park" (죽도봉 공원 - 竹島峰公園) Observation mountain park
* "Suncheon Bay" (순천만 - 順天灣), a popular bay with fields of reeds
* "Suncheon National University", which houses an Agricultural School, a Business School, an Education School, a Foreign Language Institute, as well as many other educational programs

ister city

:flagicon|USA Columbia, United States

Gallery

ee also

* List of cities in South Korea
* Geography of South Korea

External links

* [http://www.suncheon.go.kr/home/english/index.jsp Suncheon city government home page]
* [http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200709/200709070009.html Yeosu, surrounding cities to merge "Chosun Ilbo" September 7, 2007]