(505) Sizing up Seoul

By Andrei Lankov

Old Korea was not noted for its thriving urban culture. It was a country of farmers and small ``yangban'' landlords whose ambitions were seldom matched by the size of their estates, quite moderate by the then European standards.

The urban population hovered around 5 percent, a normal level for a pre-industrial society. Since as early as the 16th century, Seoul has been by far the largest city in the country.

Around 1800, it counted some 180,000 inhabitants. Not much by our standards, of course, but still much larger than Gaeseong and Pyongyang, the second and third largest cities (28,000 and 22,000 respectively).

Actually, the city was known as ``Seoul'' only in the vernacular. Its official name was Hanseong, or ``the city on the Han River'' (the current name of the Korean capital had been widely used in spoken speech since time immemorial, but it received official standing only in 1946).

Throughout the years the population of Seoul remained remarkably stable, fluctuating over the 1650-1900 period between 150,000 and 170,000 people.

The city was surrounded by a long wall, perhaps useless as a fortification in the case of a serious foreign invasion, but quite capable of withstanding an attack by peasant rebels, and also useful for security purposes.

The historic city was located to the north of the Han River, at some distance from the riverbank. Areas like Mokpo, Yongsan or Itaewon were distant suburbs, and Yeouido, the site of the National Assembly and headquarters of major corporations, was merely a large and generally uninhabited sandy island, often completely flooded by the river.

Japan annexed Korea in 1910, and in 1914 Seoul underwent a dramatic change. The walls were dismantled, and the municipal administration completely re-organized, to conform to the then Japanese model. It also changed its name, to Kyeongseong or ``capital city.''

In 1900, on the eve of the Korean ``modern epoch,'' the city had 196,898 inhabitants. By 1910 the figure had increased to 238,488, but a very large part of this growth was driven by the mass arrival of Japanese settlers, whose numbers then exceeded 30,000.

Throughout the 1910s and 1920s the Japanese remained a large presence, composing a substantial part of the city population (sometimes up to 25 percent).

The Japanese settled around Namsan, in the vicinity of present-day Myeongdong, so the area came to be known as a ``southern village.'' Meanwhile the Koreans preferred to live in another part of the city, north from the Cheongyecheon stream (not yet gentrified). Their quarters were collectively known as ``northern village'' or Bukchon.

The next period of substantial urban growth came after 1930. In 1935 the city already numbered 400,000 people, but in 1937 the number reached 700,000, and in 1941 it crossed the one million mark, reaching 1.14 million in 1942.

In other words, within seven years the city's population had tripled. Yes, to some extent the explosion can be explained by the administrative reform of 1936, which expanded the city limits. Still, even if one takes this into account, the growth was very impressive, pretty much doubling in size in seven years.

This time, the growth was driven by speedy industrialization enthusiastically promoted by the colonial regime. Korea was to become a springboard for Japan's advance to China, and it had to be transformed into an industrial base for the empire.

It led to a change of policy toward Koreans. While still generally unwelcome at the managerial level, Koreans were allowed and even encouraged to take up semi-skilled trades.

Throughout the 1930s, countless Koreans came to Seoul, looking for education or, more likely, job opportunities in the fast expanding industries.

The city was the major intellectual and political center, and also an important hub for industries, albeit the major industrial breakthrough was then unrolling in what is now North Korea.

In 1936 a new administrative reform led to an increase in the area of Seoul city, expanding it to around 134 square kilometers, roughly one quarter of the present day area of 605 square kilometers. In 1946, the city ``crossed'' the Han River for the first time in its history: Yeouido, then the site of the city airport, and some areas around Yeongdungpo were included in the city limits.

By 1936, only one bridge crossed the river, but it was still enough: the development of the southern bank did not start until the late 1960s.

The collapse of colonial rule and ensuing social chaos briefly halted city growth, but it regained momentum after 1953. However, it was driven by different forces.

Prof. Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. He has recently published ``The Dawn of Modern Korea,'' which is now on sale at Kyobo Book Center and other major bookstores. The book is based on columns published in The Korea Times. He can be reached at anlankov@yahoo.com.