Suncheon
Photograph of Suncheon bay and reed fields in october, 2008.
Korean name
Hangul 순천시 Hanja 順天市 Revised Romanization Suncheon-si McCune- Reischauer Sunch'ŏn si
Statistics
Area 907.21 km2 (350.28 sq mi) Population (2001) 270,270 Population density 298 /km² (770 /sq mi) Administrative divisions 1 eup, 10 myeon, 12 dong
Location map

Suncheon (Suncheon-si) is a city in Jeollanam-do, South Korea. Located in the province of Jeollanam-do, It is a scenic agricultural and industrial city of around 250,000 people near Suncheon Bay. It is located in the southeastern corner of Jeollanam-do, just over an hour south-east of Gwangju. Forty minutes south of Suncheon is the port city of Yeosu, and twenty minutes to the west of Suncheon is Gwangyang. It is currently experiencing strong development due to being included as part of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone, one of three newly created Free Economic Zones (FEZs) in South Korea due to open within the next decade. As of October 14, 2007 plans are being set up and a referendum is being planned for a merging of the cities of Yeosu, Suncheon and Gwangyang into a new metropolitan city, taking advantage of the Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone, Yeosu's Expo 2012 bid and port facilities, Suncheon's educational institutes and Gwangyang's POSCO plant. [1]

Slogans

On its website, Suncheon is dubbed by its city council as the City of Beautiful People, and its slogan is "Aha! Suncheon." [2]

Temples

• Songgwang Temple: It is one of the Three Jewel Temples of Korea and a popular place for Jinul.

Castles

• Nagan Castle, the only remaining Joseon castle in Jeollanamdo. It is well-preserved and has many festivals like the Namdo food festival.
• Suncheon Japanese Castle, a Japanese castle built during the Japanese invasions of Korea.

Parks

• Suncheon Ecological Park, the world's 5th biggest tideland. It has beautiful views of reed beds and there are many types of birds.
• Goindol Park, a dolmen park in Hwasun, Suncheon. Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites were designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.

Sister cities

Columbia, United States

Nantes, France

Jinju, South Korea

The city also has friendship relations with:

Ningbo, China

See also

• List of cities in South Korea
• Geography of South Korea

External links

• Suncheon city government home page
• Yeosu, surrounding cities to merge Chosun Ilbo September 7, 2007

Coordinates: 34°57′N 127°29′E / 34.95, 127.483