Seoul

=== Korean Empire ===
After [[Gojong of Joseon|Gojong]]'s proclamation of Korea as the [[Korean Empire]] in 1897, Seoul was temporarily called Hwangseong ({{Korean|hangul=황성|hanja=皇城|labels=no}}), literally "the imperial city."

Much of modern development around this era was propelled by trade with foreign countries like France and the United States. For example, the [[Seoul Electric Company]], Seoul Electric Trolley Company, and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company were all joint Korean–U.S. owned enterprises.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/koreaundersiege10000chun|url-access=registration|title=Korea under Siege, 1876–1945 : Capital Formation and Economic Transformation|author=Young-Iob Chung|page=[https://archive.org/details/koreaundersiege10000chun/page/70 70]|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2006|isbn=9780198039662}}</ref> In 1904, an American by the name of Angus Hamilton visited the city and said, "The streets of Seoul are magnificent, spacious, clean, admirably made and well-drained. The narrow, dirty lanes have been widened, gutters have been covered, roadways broadened. Seoul is within measurable distance of becoming the highest, most interesting and cleanest city in the East."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LR8svgdNOAYC&q=The+streets+of+Seoul+are+magnificent,+spacious,+clean,+admirably+made+and+well-drained&pg=PT123|author=Bruce Cumings|title=Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2005|isbn=9780393347531|author-link=Bruce Cumings|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=30 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930145316/https://books.google.com/books?id=LR8svgdNOAYC&q=The+streets+of+Seoul+are+magnificent,+spacious,+clean,+admirably+made+and+well-drained&pg=PT123|url-status=live}}</ref>