Gwacheon

Gwacheon
Gwacheon; 과천
	— Municipal City —
Korean transcription(s)
• Hangul	과천시
• Hanja	果川市
• Revised Romanization	Gwacheon-si
• McCune-Reischauer	Kwach'ŏn-si
	; Emblem of Gwacheon
	; Emblem of Gwacheon
	Location in South Korea
	Coordinates: 37°27′N 127°0′E / 37.450°N 127.000°E
Country	South Korea
Region	Gyeonggi-do
Administrative divisions	6 dong
	Area
• Total	35.86 km2 (13.85 sq mi)
	Population (2010 Jun)
• Total	72,088
• Density	2,010.3/km2 (5,207/sq mi)
• Dialect	Seoul

Gwacheon is a city in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea. It lies close to Seoul in the heart of the Seoul National Capital Area, and also lies just east of Anyang. Seoul Subway Line 4 passes through the city.

Various attractions associated with Seoul, including Seoul Grand Park, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul Land, Gwacheon National Science Museum, and Seoul Race Park are located in the city. It is also home to a major administrative center of the Korean government.

Characteristics [edit]

Gwacheon intended to have a large importance on governmental construction. There is No.2 government building. So it keeps the position of planned city concerning politics in South Korea. It has been serving as a second center of governmental complex which consists of city hall, welfare management offices, health care department, and many other sub departments of politics.

Seoul Grand Park and Gwanaksan occupy a large portion of the city. The presence of mountains and forests accentuate the status of Gwacheon as a popular destination for Korean nature lovers. In addition, the Seoul Race Park is also located in the city. Gwacheon has few historically preserved sites as well. Gwacheon Hyanggyo (Korean Confucianism institution built in 1389), YeonJudae (YeonJu Temple which is located at the end of cliff), three stepped pagoda of YeonJuAhm, and Portrait of HyoRyung Janggun (general HyoRyung) are listed as treasure of Gyeonggi-do (Gyeonggi Province) and map of Joseon (Old Korean Kingdom) located in History Ministry inside the governmental complex is listed as one of Korean national treasure. In history of Korea, Gwacheon has not only been known as beautiful landscape but also as important center of education and religious practices by Kings.

Also, the first Foreign Language High School established in Gyeonggi-do, Gwacheon Foreign Language High School is located in Jongang-dong. Currently, Gwacheon has Science and Technology Center and one of the biggest public library of Gyeonggi-do.

Residents [edit]

Noted graphic artist Dennis Hwang spent much of his childhood in Gwacheon.

Festival [edit]

'Gwacheon Festival' is one of the leading street arts festivals in Korea starting from 1997. The festival takes place in late September, presenting theater, dance, visual art, music in public space and Korean traditional outdoor theater, etc. The name of the festival has been changed recently from "Gwacheon Hanmadang Festival" to "Gwacheon Festival". The festival aims at the contribution to the development of street arts and introducing various street arts to Korean audience. The festival also contributes to the international cultural exchange and encourages collaboration between Korean and international artists. Every year, the festival has around 20 Korean companies, 10 from overseas, and more than 100,000 audiences. Website : http://gcfest.or.kr/eng/ ^[1]

Home stay [edit]

Gwacheon city operates a home stay program for foreigners. The city sponsors this program and residents of the city host foreigners living in Korea who want to spend a night in a traditional Korean home. The program helps foreigners understand Korean culture and lifestyle.^[2]

Government [edit]

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs has its headquarters in the fourth building of the Gwacheon Government Complex,^[3] in Gwacheon.^[4]