Daejeon - History

History

The Daejeon area was historically known as Hanbat (한밭), a native Korean term for "large field", during the Joseon Dynasty. The term "Daejeon" simply means the same thing in Hanja.

Historically, Daejeon was a small village without many residents. However in 1905, the Gyeongbu railway began operations from Seoul to Busan, opening a station at Daejeon. Soon after in 1926 under rule of the Japanese government, the Honam railway was built between Mokpo and Daejeon, transforming the latter into a major transportation hub. Because of its geographical location and proximity to means of transportation, Daejeon grew quickly.

In 1932 the capital of Chungnam province was moved from Gongju to Daejeon. During the Korean War the city was the site of an early major battle of the war, the Battle of Taejon.

Since then numerous changes have been made to the city boundaries, and its official names have evolved along as well. Among the boundary modifications include one that effectively made the nearby town of Daedeok a part of the city in 1983. Then, in the late 1980s, Daejeon was elevated to the status of Directly Governed City (Jikhalsi) and thus became a separate administrative region from Chungcheongnam-do. In 1995, all South Korean Directly Governed Cities were again renamed as Metropolitan Cities, which is reflected in the current official name of Daejeon, Daejeon Metropolitan City ("대전광역시").

In 1997 the Daejeon Government Complex was constructed as part of an effort to move some government offices away from the densely populated capital, Seoul. The population of Daejeon increased dramatically as a result.

Today Daejeon's population growth is the second highest in the country (after Seoul), resulting in a large number of new apartment complex projects and high-tech industries in Yuseong-gu.