Daejon is a metropolitan city in the center of South Korea. It is the fifth largest city of South Korea, with a population of 1,442,856 at the end of 2005. It is at the crossroads of Gyeongbu railway, Honam railway, Gyeongbu highway, and Honam highway. Within the city limits lies Daedeok Science Town, an area with more than 200 research institutions.
The Daejeon area was historically known as Hanbat, a native Korean term for "large field", during the Joseon Dynasty. The term "Daejeon" simply means the same thing in Hanja. 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 Daejeon and Mokpo, 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 moved from Gongju to Daejeon. After numerous changes were made to the city boundaries, among them one that effectively made the nearby town of Daedeok a part of the city in 1983, Daejeon became a metropolitan city in 1995. Daejeon became a metropolitan city in 1995.
In 1997, the Daejeon Government Complex was constructed in order to decentralize the population of South Korea from 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 hi-tech industries in Yuseong-gu.
Daejeon lies between latitudes N36°10'50" to N36°29'47" and longitudes E127°14'54" to E127°33'21" near the middle of South Korea. It is 167.3 km from Seoul, 294 km from Busan and 169 km from Gwangju. Sejong City, which is planned to be the new administrative capital of South Korea, will also be close by.
Daejeon has become the recipient of the country's effort to decentralize certain ministries of the national government. The middle of the city or the new central business district called Dunsan is where the effort has manifested itself. Newer apartment complexes, albeit structurally similar to that of the rest of the city, sprung up around the new government structures being constructed concurrently in just a few short years starting from the mid-1990s. Newer municipal buildings including the city's courts and the province's main parliamentary building soon followed. The result is a several square mile neighbourhood full of restaurants, standard Korean western-type bars and coffee shops. The area is a place for the workers of the new Daejeon to live close to their offices, most able to walk to work, and dine and shop in a new urban environment.
Alphabetical Listings of Hotels in Daejeon
RECOMMENDED HOTELS WITH DISCOUNT
ALL RATES DISPLAYED ARE NETT INCLUSIVE OF TAXES AND SERVICE CHARGE
