Seongnam is the second largest
city in
South Korea's
Gyeonggi Province after
Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a
satellite city of
Seoul. It is largely a residential city located immediately southeast of Seoul and belongs to the
Seoul National Capital Area.
Seongnam, the first planned city in Korea's history, was conceived during the era of President
Park Chung-Hee
for the purpose of industrializing the nation by concentrating
electronic, textile, and petrochemical facilities there during the 1970s
and 1980s. The city featured a network of roads, to Seoul and other
major cities, from the early 1970s on. Today, Seongnam has merged with
the metropolitan network of Seoul.
Bundang, one of districts in Seongnam, was developed in the 1990s.
To accelerate the dispersion of Seoul's population to its suburbs and
relieve the congested Seoul metropolitan area, the Korean government
has provided stimulus packages to large public corporations and private
companies to be headquartered in the Bundang district. Bundang-gu is now
home to prominent companies such as
KT (formerly Korea Telecom),
Korea Gas Corporation,
KEPCO, and
Korea Land Corporation.
In recent years, a movement to have Seongnam designated a
metropolitan city capable of governing itself has arisen.
In August 2009, the city of Seongnam decided to merge with the city of
Hanam, also in Gyeonggi-do.
The city is also home to
K League football club
Seongnam FC.
