Seoul

=== Contemporary history ===
[[File:Seoul City Charter - Cover.jpg|thumb|217x217px|The Charter of the City of Seoul published on August 10, 1946 by the [[U.S. Army Military Government in Korea]]]]
In 1945, following the liberation from Japanese colonial rule, the American military assumed control of Korea, including its capital city, then referred to as Kyeongseongbu in line with Japanese nomenclature. The [[United States Army Military Government in Korea|U.S. military government]] published the Charter of the City of Seoul in the official gazette the following year. The charter declared Seoul as the name of the city and established it as a [[municipal corporation]]. Seoul's status as a municipal corporation mirrored the [[Independent city (United States)|independent cities]] in the United States that do not belong to any county, and Seoul was established as an independent administrative unit, separate from the existing provinces.<ref>{{cite web |title=서울은 어떻게 '특별시'가 됐나…근거 문서 '서울시헌장' 공개 |url=https://history.seoul.go.kr/bbsctt/view.do?bbscttSn=2212200396&key=2210200045 |website=history.seoul.go.kr |publisher=Seoul Historiography Institute}}</ref> The Korean version of the Charter translated "''municipal corporation''" as "''special free city''" ({{lang-ko|특별자유시|label=none}}), which later became [[Special cities of South Korea|special city]] (or special metropolitan city; {{lang-ko|특별시|label=none}}) in the Local Autonomy Act of 1949. Seoul has retained its status as the only special city in South Korea (i.e., {{lang-ko|서울특별시|label=none}}).{{Cn|date=March 2024}}

{{Blockquote|text=The City of Seoul is hereby constituted a municipal corporation to be known as SEOUL. The boundaries of the municipal corporation are the present limits of the City of Seoul consisting of the following eight districts: Chong Koo, Chong No Koo, Sur Tai Moon Koo, Tong Tai Moon Koo, Sung Tong Koo, Ma Po Koo, Yong San Koo, and Yang Doung Po Koo, and as such may be extended as provided by law.|source=''U.S. Army Military Government in Korea'', Charter of the City of Seoul}}

Seoul under the U.S. military government between 1945 and 1948 was much smaller than it is today. It only covered the [[Fortress Wall of Seoul|Fortress Wall]], marked by the [[Eight Gates of Seoul|Eight Gates]], and the districts incorporated during Japanese rule to prosecute imperial Japan's war efforts.<ref>Notably, [[Yeongdeungpo-gu]] was incorporated into Kyeongseong (or Keijō) and developed under imperial Japan as a major industrial complex.</ref>

During the [[Korean War]], Seoul changed hands between the Soviet/Chinese-backed North Korean forces and the American-backed South Korean forces four times: falling to the North Koreans in the June 1950 [[First Battle of Seoul]], recaptured by UN forces in the September 1950 [[Second Battle of Seoul]], falling to a combined Chinese/North Korean force in the January 1951 [[Third Battle of Seoul]], and finally being recaptured once more by UN forces in [[Operation Ripper]] during the spring of 1951.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Korean War Chronology  |url=https://history.army.mil/reference/korea/kw-chrono.htm |access-date=6 September 2023 |website=U.S. Army Center of Military History |archive-date=9 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230909160307/https://history.army.mil/reference/Korea/kw-chrono.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chapter XXVI: The Capture of Seoul |url=https://history.army.mil/books/korea/20-2-1/sn26.htm |access-date=6 September 2023 |website=U.S. Army Center of Military History |archive-date=7 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207134826/https://history.army.mil/BOOKS/KOREA/20-2-1/sn26.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The extensive fighting left the city heavily damaged after the war. The capital was temporarily relocated to [[Busan]].<ref name="Britannica"/> One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war, at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, a flood of refugees had entered Seoul during the war, swelling the population of the city and its metropolitan area to an estimated 1.5&nbsp;million by 1955.<ref name="hamnett">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GSpAgAAQBAJ|title=Planning Asian Cities: Risks and Resilience|page=159|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|editor=Stephen Hamnett, Dean Forbes|isbn=9781136639272|access-date=9 November 2015|archive-date=25 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125042515/https://books.google.com/books?id=8GSpAgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following the war, Seoul began to focus on reconstruction and modernization. As [[Miracle on the Han River|South Korea's economy started to grow rapidly]] from the 1960s, [[urbanization]] also accelerated and workers began to move to Seoul and other larger cities.<ref name="hamnett"/> In 1963, Seoul went through two major expansions that established the shape and size of the present-day Seoul—barring minor adjustments to the borders later in 1973 and 2000. In August 1963, Seoul annexed parts of [[Yangju-si|Yangju-gun]], [[Gwangju-si|Gwangju-gun]], [[Siheung|Siheung-gun]], [[Gimpo|Gimpo-gun]], and [[Bucheon|Bucheon-gun]], expanding the northeastern borders of Seoul. In September, Seoul again annexed present-day [[Gangnam]].<ref>{{cite web |title=서울의 역사 |url=https://www.seoul.go.kr/seoul/history.do |website=[[Seoul Metropolitan Government]] |language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://spp.seoul.go.kr/cms/board/Download.jsp?fileId=IUAjJDMyMTY1LS0kJA==|title=Urban Planning of Seoul|publisher=[[Seoul Metropolitan Government]]|format=PDF|year=2009|access-date=7 February 2014|archive-date=25 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125042517/http://spp.seoul.go.kr/cms/board/Download.jsp?fileId=IUAjJDMyMTY1LS0kJA==|url-status=live}}</ref> The two consecutive expansions more than doubled the size of Seoul from approximately {{convert|268|km2|mi2|sp=us|abbr=on}} to {{convert|613|km2|mi2|sp=us|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=면적과 인구밀도 |url=https://data.si.re.kr/data/지표로-본-서울-변천-2003/374 |website=data.si.re.kr |publisher=서울연구데이터서비스}}</ref>

After annexation, [[Gangnam]]'s development was spurred by key infrastructure projects: the construction of the [[Hannam Bridge]] (1966–1969) and [[Gyeongbu Expressway]] (1968–1970). As Seoul's population kept growing, [[Park Chung Hee|Park]]'s regime focused its development plans on Gangnam. The main hurdle for Gangnam's development was floods because the area is low-lying and prone to flooding. Then Seoul mayor Kim Hyun-ok ordered construction of an expressway that doubled as [[Embankment (earthworks)|embankment]], which became the present-day [[Gangbyeonbuk-ro|Gangbyeon Expressway]]. The construction started in March 1967 and completed in September of the same year. Similar projects transformed previously flood-prone areas into usable land for development. Such areas include the current [[Ichon-dong]], the [[Banpo-dong|Banpo apartment complex]], [[Apgujeong-dong]] and [[Jamsil-dong]].

Until 1972, Seoul was claimed by North Korea as its ''de jure'' capital, being specified as such in Article 103 of the [[Constitution of North Korea|1948 North Korean constitution]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/DPRK_Constitution.pdf |title=Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea |access-date=20 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914164442/http://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/DPRK_Constitution.pdf |archive-date=14 September 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Demographics of South Korea|South Korea's 2019 population]] was estimated at 51.71 million, and according to the 2018 Population and Housing Census, 49.8% of the population resided in the Seoul metropolitan area. This was up by 0.7% from 49.1% in 2010, showing a distinct trend toward the concentration of the population in the capital.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Korean Cultural Centre India New Delhi|url=http://india.korean-culture.org/en/1025/korea/672|access-date=31 October 2021|website=Korean Cultural Centre India New Delhi|language=en|archive-date=20 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720011803/http://india.korean-culture.org/en/1025/korea/672|url-status=live}}</ref> Seoul has become the economic, political and cultural hub of the country,<ref name="Britannica"/> with several [[Fortune Global 500]] companies, including [[Samsung]], [[SK Holdings]], [[Hyundai Group|Hyundai]], [[POSCO]] and [[LG Group]] headquartered there.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2012/countries/SouthKorea.html|title=GLOBAL 500|work=CNNMoney|access-date=7 February 2014|date=23 July 2012|archive-date=19 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119093541/https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2012/countries/SouthKorea.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Seoul was the host city of the [[1986 Asian Games]] and [[1988 Summer Olympics]] as well as one of the venues of the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]].

[[File:View-of-Seoul-from63-Building-2019-7-27.webm|thumb|Various views of Seoul from the [[63 Building]] in July 2019]]