GET THE BEST AND CHEAP HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS IN SEOUL

Seoul is located in the northwest of South Korea on the Han River at 37°35′N 127°0′E, only 20 miles south of the DMZ with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).

Seoul has a population of 10.5 million people living within its city limits, making it the eighth most populous city in the world. However, with an area of only 607 km², it is also one of the smallest and most densely populated major cities. Seoul's population density has allowed it to become one of the world's most digitally-connected cities. It also has more than 3 million registered vehicles which often cause widespread traffic jams.

The larger Seoul National Capital Area and commuter belt, which includes the major port city of Incheon, has over 23 million residents. This makes it the third most populous metropolitan area in the world, after Greater Tokyo in Japan and Mexico City in Mexico. About one-half of South Korea's entire population live in Seoul and its environs. The city is the country's political, cultural, social, and economic center, as well as an international center for many financial and business organizations. Seoul is considered one of the top 20 "global cities".

It is also the symbol of the Korean economic Miracle on the Han River. In recent years, the metropolitan government has carried out an extensive cleanup of the city's heavy air and water pollution. The revival of Cheonggyecheon, a stream that used to flow through downtown Seoul, has been lauded as a major success in urban renewal and beautification.

During the 1990s, the city began to attract many workers from other countries, changing demographics. Previously, nearly all of Seoul's residents were Korean, with the exception of a small Chinese minority. Today, there are an estimated 200,000 foreign nationals living in Seoul. These include laborers from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam as well as many language instructors from English-speaking countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the U.K.

As a major business and financial center, Seoul also has many executives from North America, Europe, and Japan. Seoul ranks seventh in the world in terms of the number of Fortune 500 transnational companies headquartered there. [1]

Seoul was the host city of the 1988 Summer Olympics as well as one of the venues of the Football World Cup 2002.