Seoul, Seoul, Seoul

          [▲Cyrstal Blue Sky of Seoul, Photo taken by Robin]

           The capital of United States is Washington D.C., and the capital of England is London. China’s capital is Beijing and Japan’s capital is Tokyo, but where is Korea’s capital? Where is the soul of Asia that we know? The answer is Seoul, where it has been known as the main position of Korea since forever, and where every single country that has existed in the past, had their eyes on.

           From the geographical point of view, Seoul has been playing the most important part in the Korean Peninsula, as any other capitals in the world would do. Because of the fact that Seoul and the surrounding region has been the central of Korea, it was always easy for people to reach to other places. Due to this, for more than 600 years, beginning from the Chosun(Josun) Dynasty till today, Seoul officially became the focus of Korea’s politics, economy, community, and cultures.

           There are many fascinating features that represent Seoul. First of all, I would like to talk about the convenience of public transportations. Most citizens of Seoul enjoy riding public transportations like subways and buses as much as their own vehicles. Thanks to this, people who do not have driver’s license, and even foreigners who are new to Seoul, can easily go from places to places without any problem.

          In addition to this, Seoul has relatively low percentage of crimes, with strict public security system. In nine cases out of ten, each citizen is guaranteed with safety, based on law and order.

          Furthermore, Seoul is the perfect touring course for people, especially foreign visitors who are not use to living in new surroundings. Some noted places could be 63 building, COEX mall, Hangang River and its park, Sungnyemun, Kyungbok Palace and its’ area, Seoul Plaza, Cheonggaecheon, N-Seoul Tower and so on. All of these features of Seoul are great, and it may be the best way to pull out awe from a person. 63 building, N-Seoul Tower, and COEX mall represent the Korea’s soaring pride, and Hangang River is the spine of Seoul. Sungnyemun and Kyungbok Palace are Korea’s live record that shows our country’s past the way it is.  

          Seoul Plaza and the Seoul Station is the place that has an important meaning of ‘get together’ of people, where anyone can join together and cheer the Korean team in the World Cups.

           If anyone asks me, ‘what do you want to recommend of Seoul?’, I would reply as N-Tower without any hesitation. Last month, I visited Namsan again in a long time, and I noticed that so many things have changed. In the past, in order to go to the top of Namsan and ride the cable car, people either had to walk on foot or ride cars with difficulty. However, recently, a glass elevator was installed near the Myeongdong subway station, and we can even see Seoul from a bird’s eye view. You can ride the cable car easily if you get out of the elevator, since the ticket office is just next to it. When riding the cable car while going up, you can once again enjoy the sky view of Seoul. On the very top of the mountain, you are able to see the N-Tower closer. You have to buy a ticket to go inside, and you are also able to see a wide outlook of Seoul with a huge binocular. Korean, Italian, French, and American food restaurants and cafes are famous for the night view of Seoul. Especially, N-Grills, one of the restaurants, is a so called ‘revolving restaurant’ since the seats move around the main axle which is the cooking room. In N-Grills, you will have an awesome time if you eat dinner here, by looking at the night view you could never see during the day.

          After dinner, there are so many things to do, they seem endless. You can buy souvenirs related to the tower itself or Korean traditions. You can take also take souvenir photographs, or write wishes on a small tile and put it on the wall, taking back a valuable memory here in N-Tower. Basically, everything you do in this place would leave you great memories to remember.

          When you come down from N-Tower, there is a chance for you to shop in the Myeongdong Street. As it was in the days gone by, Myeongdong was known as the most popular and favorite at the same time for shopping for both foreigners and Koreans. Now, it is stretched as the global shopping town. Other than fashion Stores like Migliore, and Etude, there are also various types of convenient facilities such as restaurants, hotels. After visiting there, people shout out the same words:”Wonderful!”

           Objectively, Seoul is just one of the many capitals existing in today’s world, and it might be enough to make someone think Seoul is nothing different from big cities like London for having such obvious characteristics of a capital. Maybe he or she could be right, and we cannot deny the truth and the relevance of the fact. But where else can we find capitals where there is a big plaza so that the ‘Red Devils’ can shout out ‘Go, Go Korea!’ every World Cup Season? What capitals have the number one national treasure in the middle of the area? Where else can we find capitals that are safe and clean like Seoul? I believe nowhere else in the world have such conditions of Seoul in the whole world. Our Seoul is…unique, and it is never wrong to be proud of it. Just like the heart of Seoul is its citizens, Seoul is the soul of Asia but also the heart of Koreans.

That is the Seoul I know of.

 

From.

Xiah-J.

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