![\"sosk.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/sosk.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNothing is permanent in this fashion-filled, helter-skelter city that completely rebuilds itself every decade and vibrates with energy night and day. Every evening a tsunami of Seoulites sweeps into entertainment districts, where smoky barbecue restaurants, goblin-sized teashops…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nothing is permanent in this fashion-filled, helter-skelter city that completely rebuilds itself every decade and vibrates with energy night and day. Every evening a tsunami of Seoulites sweeps into entertainment districts, where smoky barbecue restaurants, goblin-sized teashops, plush mugwort saunas, DVD mini- cinemas and more are stacked up 10-storeys high along narrow alleys. Seoul spreads a virtually unknown culture and cuisine at your feet.Yes, the future has already arrived, but the past has not been completely uprooted – Seoul\u2019s mighty fortress wall and gates still stand, as do World Heritage palaces, royal shrines and tombs. A neighborhood of hanok (traditional Korean one-storey wooden houses with tiled roofs), built by yangban (aristocrats), has miraculously survived the Korean War and the rush to bulldoze and modernize. Traditional cultural performances, feisty festivals, folk villages and folk museums allow visitors to peep into Seoul\u2019s feudal past when Confucian scholar noblemen in hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) wore black horse-hair hats and lorded it over their wives, concubines, peasants and slaves.<\/p>\n
Some hotels still offer rooms where you can sleep on a padded quilt on an ondol (under floor-heated) floor in a room furnished in yangban style. In traditional restaurants furnished like folk museums everybody sits on floor cushions, feasting on a table-top barbecue of beef, pork or chicken along with rice, seasoned soups and a multitude of piquant sauces and vegetable side dishes.<\/p>\n
The wide-ranging and healthy Korean cuisine is another of the city\u2019s attractions. Discover the delights of ginseng chicken, meat-and-lettuce wraps, spicy tofu soup, hotteok (sweet pita bread) and omijacha (berry) tea. Restaurants in every price range also offer Japanese, Western, Chinese and fusion food as well as the chance to sample special meals, such as royal court cuisine, which are hard to find outside Seoul.<\/p>\n
The weather is at its best in spring, which is also festival time – Buddha\u2019s birthday celebrations and picnics under the cherry blossom make this a popular season to visit, but autumn with its transcendent tree tints, blue skies and music concerts is also highly recommended. Even the freezing winters are tempered by the ondol, while the hot and humid summers are made bearable by air-conditioning. Seoul hosts an endless stream of small festivals, so whenever you visit you can expect a special cultural event or two to be taking place.<\/p>\n
Splashes of nature are beginning to appear out of the blue: Cheonggye stream, which used to be covered by a road, has been uncovered and reborn, and instant woodland, Ttukseom Seoul Forest, has been planted on what used to be a racetrack and sports fields.
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\nThousands of experts live and work in Seoul – most enjoy their stay and a few never leave. Their main struggle is usually with the language as English is not widely spoken or understood. Seoul has its rough edges: traffic congestion, ugly high-rises, and not all the characteristics that have lead to the city\u2019s astonishing economic success are endearing. But as with working abroad anywhere, a positive attitude, adaptability and understanding are the keys to an enjoyable long-term stay.<\/p>\n
Recommended excursions include touring the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which is a fascinating but stark reminder of the dangerous division of the country; walking around the rebuilt walls of Suwon\u2019s World Heritage fortress; and boarding a ferry to the beaches and seafood restaurants on unspoilt islands in the West Sea.<\/p>\n
No other Korean city approaches the size and importance of rush-rush Seoul with its nearly 11 million residents and another eight million who live within commuting distance. It is the dynamic political, financial, educational and cultural hub of the world\u2019s 11th largest economy. Seoul is a 600-year-old capital, a complex, rarely explored Asian city that is a fascinating cultural bibimbap of rude energy, Confucian rules and democratic values, where Buddhists and shamanists rub shoulders with Christians and atheists.<\/p>\n
Weather
\nSeoul has four very distinct seasons – and people never tire of telling you. Weather-wise, the best time of year to visit is autumn, from September to November, when the weather is usually sunny, and in October Seoul\u2019s surrounding hillsides are ablaze with autumn colors. Spring, from April to early June, is another beautiful season, with warm temperatures and cherry blossoms in late April.<\/p>\n
Winter is dry but often bitterly cold, with average temperatures in Seoul hovering around zero from December to February, when you appreciate the ondol (under floor heating). But white snow on the temple roofs is very picturesque and it\u2019s a good time to visit if you enjoy skiing, skateboarding or ice-skating. Try to avoid summer as late June to late July is the wet season when Seoul receives 60% of its annual rainfall. Some weeks in August are unpleasantly hot and humid although most places have air-con these days, which makes it more bearable.
\nCosts<\/p>\n
Tipping
\nTipping is not necessary in Seoul, although a compulsory 10% service charge is added to the bill at some midrange and all top-end hotels and restaurants. Taxi drivers may surprise visitors by insisting on giving change.<\/p>\n
Money
\nThe South Korean unit of currency is the won (W), with W10, W50, W100 and W500 coins. Notes come in denominations of W1000, W5000 and W10,000. The highest value note is worth only US$10 at the current exchange rate, so you will probably have to carry around a thick wad of notes.<\/p>\n
The Bank of Korea wants to introduce a W100,000 notes, but so far the government has vetoed it. Recently the won has been strengthening against the US dollar and most other currencies, and this trend is expected to continue, given South Korea\u2019s balance of payments surplus. It is easy enough for foreign residents in Seoul to open a bank account at one of the big banks – just find a clerk who can speak some English and have your passport and alien registration card with you.<\/p>\n
ATMs
\nAutomated teller machines (ATMs) in Seoul are a little strange but more and more accept foreign cards. If you have a foreign credit card, you need to find an ATM with a \u2018Global\u2019 sign or the logo of your credit card company. A few Global ATMs have all their instructions in Korean, so you may need help the first time you use one, but most have some English instructions. ATMs can be found outside banks and post offices, and inside deluxe hotels, subway stations, airports, convenience stores and department stores.<\/p>\n
ATMs often operate from 9am to 11pm, but some are 24 hours. Restrictions on the amount you can withdraw vary. It can be as low as W100,000 or W300,000 per day, but most have a W700,000 limits. Outside banking hours you may be charged a higher commission.<\/p>\n
Changing money
\nYou can use US dollars on American military bases, including the United Service Organizations (USO), at Panmunjeom on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) tour, at duty-free shops, and in some tourist shops in Itaewon, but otherwise you will need Korean won. Duty-free shops also accept Japanese yen and some other foreign currencies.
\nMany banks in Seoul offer a foreign- exchange service and there are licensed moneychangers, particularly in Itaewon, that keep longer hours than the banks and provide a faster service but may only exchange cash. As with any shops and hotels that offer to exchange money, compare their rates and commissions with the banks first.
\nUS dollars are easiest to exchange but banks accept any major currency. If you have trouble exchanging a particular currency, try the Korea Exchange Bank (KEB). Traveler\u2019s checks usually have a slightly better exchange rate than cash. Don\u2019t forget to reconvert any surplus won into another currency before you leave the country, as exchanging won outside Korea can be a problem. If you need to reconvert more than US$2000 of won at Incheon airport, you must show receipts for the money.<\/p>\n
Before you go<\/p>\n
Recommended vaccinations<\/p>\n
Travelers are advised to seek medical advice about vaccinations. Specialized travel- medicine clinics are your best source of information. Most vaccines don\u2019t produce immunity until at least two weeks after they\u2019re given, so visit a doctor four to eight weeks before departure. Travelers should particularly consider immunization against hepatitis A.<\/p>\n
Dangers & annoyances<\/p>\n
Seoul is a relatively safe city, except when it comes to traffic. Drivers tend to be impatient with kimchi-hot tempers, and most of them, including bus drivers, routinely go through red lights, so don\u2019t be the first or last person to cross over any pedestrian crossing. Vehicles never stop at pedestrian crossings that are not protected by traffic lights so it\u2019s better not to use them. Crossing any road except at traffic lights is not a sensible idea, and jaywalking is illegal. Also keep two eyes out for motorcyclists who routinely speed along pavements and across pedestrian crossings. A high proportion of road deaths (38%) are pedestrians, so take extra care when walking round Seoul.
\nDrunks in Seoul are better behaved than elsewhere so walking around at 3am shouldn\u2019t pose a problem. The swaying packs of late-night revelers usually pose more of a threat to themselves than to other people. Of course there is always an exception, so arguing with a drunk should be avoided.<\/p>\n
Visitors are often surprised to see police in full riot gear, carrying large shields and long batons, streaming out of blue police buses that have their windows covered in protective wire. Student, trade-union, anti-American, environmental and other protests do still occasionally turn violent, although this is much less common than it used to be. Needless to say, it is wise to keep well out of the way of any confrontations that may occur.<\/p>\n
History
\nSouth Korea came into being after World War II, the result of a 1945 agreement reached by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference, making the 38th parallel the boundary between a northern zone of the Korean peninsula to be occupied by the USSR and southern zone to be controlled by U.S. forces.<\/p>\n
Elections were held in the U.S. zone in 1948 for a national assembly, which adopted a republican constitution and elected Syngman Rhee as the nation’s president. The new republic was proclaimed on Aug. 15 and was recognized as the legal government of Korea by the UN on Dec. 12, 1948.<\/p>\n
On June 25, 1950, North Korean Communist forces launched a massive surprise attack on South Korea, quickly overrunning the capital, Seoul. U.S. armed intervention was ordered on June 27 by President Harry S. Truman, and on the same day the UN invoked military sanctions against North Korea. Gen. Douglas MacArthur was named commander of the UN forces. U.S. and South Korean troops fought a heroic holding action, but by the first week of August they were forced back to a 4,000-square-mile beachhead in southeast Korea. There they stood off superior North Korean forces until Sept. 15, when a major UN amphibious assault was launched deep behind Communist lines at Inchon, the port of Seoul.<\/p>\n
By Sept. 30, UN forces were in complete control of South Korea. They then crossed the 38th parallel and pursued retreating Communist forces into North Korea. In late October, as UN forces neared the Sino-Korean border, several hundred thousand Chinese Communist troops entered the conflict, pushing MacArthur’s forces back to the border between North and South Korea. By the time truce talks began on July 10, 1951, UN forces had crossed over the parallel again and were driving back into North Korea. Cease-fire negotiations dragged on for two years before an armistice was finally signed at Panmunjom on July 27, 1953, leaving a devastated Korea in need of large-scale rehabilitation. No official peace treaty has ever been signed between the former combatants.<\/p>\n
President Syngman Rhee, after 12 years in office, was forced to resign in 1960 amid rising discontent with his autocratic leadership. Po Sun Yun was elected to succeed him, but political instability continued. In 1961, Gen. Park Chung Hee seized power and subsequently began a program of economic reforms designed to stimulate the nation’s economy. The U.S. stepped up military aid, strengthening South Korea’s armed forces to 600,000 men. Park’s assassination on Oct. 26, 1979, by Kim Jae Kyu, head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, brought a liberalizing trend as new president Choi Kyu Hah freed imprisoned dissidents.<\/p>\n
The release of opposition leader Kim Dae Jung in Feb. 1980 sparked antigovernment demonstrations that turned into riots, which were brutally suppressed by authorities. Kim, the most visible leader of the opposition, was imprisoned again. Choi resigned on Aug. 16. Chun Doo Hwan, head of a military Special Committee for National Security Measures, was the sole candidate when the electoral college confirmed him as president on Aug. 27. In 1986\u20131987, South Korea’s opposition demanded that the president be selected by direct popular vote. After weeks of protest and rioting, Chun agreed to the demand. A split in the opposition led to Roh Tae Woo’s election on Dec. 16, 1987.<\/p>\n
In Aug. 1996 Roh was convicted on bribery charges, and Chun was convicted for bribery as well as his role in the 1979 coup and the 1980 crackdown on rioters. In 1997, an accumulation of corrupt business practices and bad loans led to a series of bankruptcies and a massive devaluation of South Korea’s currency. The political instability that followed helped former dissident Kim Dae Jung become the first South Korean president ever to be elected from the political opposition.
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\nIn 1998 the Asian economic crisis bottomed out in South Korea. The nation began rebounding in 1999, the only sizable Asian economy to do so.<\/p>\n
In June 2000, President Kim Dae Jung met with North Korea’s president, Kim Jong Il, in Pyongyang. The summit marked the first-ever meeting of the countries’ leaders. Kim Dae Jung won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oct. 2000 for his Sunshine Policy, which included initiating peace and reconciliation with North Korea.<\/p>\n
Roh Moo Hyun of the ruling Millennium Democratic Party became president in February 2003 and promptly faced daunting problems. His vow to pursue his predecessor’s Sunshine Policy toward North Korea was put to the test as the North continued to taunt the world with boasts about its nuclear capabilities. In addition, many South Koreans had begun to resent U.S. influence over their country. In March 2004, the conservative national assembly voted overwhelmingly to impeach Roh, claiming he had violated election laws. More than 70% of the public, however, condemned the move; the constitutional court dismissed the impeachment in May; and Roh was reinstated as president.<\/p>\n
Researchers led by Hwang Woo-suk stunned the world in May 2005, when they announced they had devised a new procedure to produce human stem-cell lines from a cloned human embryo. The country’s reign as the leader in the field of cloning was brief. In Jan. 2006, a Seoul National University panel reported that Hwang had fabricated evidence for his cloning research. His downfall was a blow to the entire nation. Indeed, he had become a national hero and had received millions in research money from the government.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Lee Hae Chan resigned under pressure in March 2006, after facing intense criticism for playing golf rather than dealing with a national railway workers’ strike. He was replaced by Han Duck Soo.<\/p>\n
For the first time in 56 years, trains passed between North and South Korea in May 2007. While the event was mostly symbolic, it was considered an important step toward reconciliation. South Korea hopes that eventually a trans-Korean railroad will provide easier access to other parts of Asia. Given North Korea’s failing infrastructure, such a railroad, however, is years away from becoming a reality.<\/p>\n
In July, the Taliban kidnapped 23 South Korean missionaries from a Protestant church group while they were traveling by bus in Afghanistan. Two of the hostages were killed after the Taliban’s demands for a prisoner exchange were not met with a positive response by the Afghan government.<\/p>\n
In October 2007, President Roh Moo Hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met for their second ever inter-Korean summit. The leaders forged a deal to work together on several economic projects and agreed to move toward signing a treaty that would formally end the Korean War.<\/p>\n
Lee Myung-bak, of the opposition Grand National Party, won December’s presidential elections, taking 48.7% of the vote. Chung Dong-yong, who was endorsed by outgoing president Roh Moo-hyun, took 26.1%. Lee had been dogged by allegations of ethical improprieties, and the National Assembly voted two days before the election to reopen an investigation into whether he manipulated the stock of an investment company. In January 2008, he named Han Seung Soo as his prime minister. A special prosecutor cleared Lee of the fraud allegations, and less than a week later he was sworn in as president. Lee said he would work to improve South Korea’s economy and forge closer ties with the United States.<\/p>\n
In June, just months into his presidency, Lee faced massive protests in Seoul over his decision to resume imports of American beef, which was banned in 2003 after mad cow disease was diagnosed in the U.S. The protests, which took place in Seoul for about six weeks before peaking on June 10, implied overall dissatisfaction with President Lee. Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and all 15 cabinet members submitted their resignations. Three ministers were replaced, but President Lee refused to accept the other resignations. South Korea and the U.S. reached an agreement that said the U.S. would not export beef from cattle under 30 months of age.<\/p>\n
Lee’s troubles worsened during the global financial crisis that crippled many nations in the fall of 2008. His detractors criticized his response to the turmoil as inconsistent and muddled. Nothing is permanent in this fashion-filled, helter-skelter city that completely rebuilds itself every decade and vibrates with energy night and day. Every evening a tsunami of Seoulites sweeps into entertainment districts, where smoky barbecue restaurants, goblin-sized teashops…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plan-your-vacation-to-asia-with-our-traveling-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.asianinny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSource: http:\/\/www.infoplease.com\/ipa\/A0107690.html<\/a> ,
\nhttp:\/\/www.lonelyplanet.com\/south-korea\/seoul<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"