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Seoul
national capital, South Korea
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Also known as: Gyeongseong, Hansŏng, Hanseong, Hanyang, Kyŏngsŏng, Sŏul, Sŏul-t’ŭkpyŏlsi
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Seoul, Korean Sŏul, formally Sŏul-t’ŭkpyŏlsi (“Special City of Seoul”), city and capital of South Korea (the Republic of Korea). It is located on the Han River (Han-gang) in the northwestern part of the country, with the city centre some 37 miles (60 km) inland from the Yellow Sea (west). Seoul is the cultural, economic, and political centre of South Korea. Except for a brief interregnum (1399–1405), Seoul was the capital of Korea from 1394 until the formal division of the country in 1948. The name itself has come to mean “capital” in the Korean language. The city was popularly called ...(100 of 3306 words)