Daegu Metropolitan City
Korean Name
Revised Romanization	Daegu Gwangyeoksi
McCune-Reischauer	Taegu Kwangyŏkshi
Hangeul	대구 광역시
Hanja	大邱廣域市
Short Name	Daegu (Taegu; 대구; 大邱)
Statistics
Population	2,500,000 (2002, estimate)
Area	885.62 km²
Government	Metropolitan City; Capital of North Gyeongsang
Administrative Divisions	7 wards ("Gu"); 1 county ("Gun")
Region	Yeongnam
Dialect	Gyeongsang
Location Map

Daegu Metropolitan City is the third largest city in South Korea. Daegu is a designated Metropolitan City under the direct control of the South Korean Home Minister, and also the capital of North Gyeongsang province.

History

Daegu was the capital of the former Gyeongsang province from 1392 until 1896, and has been the capital of North Gyeongsang since that province's formation in 1896. In the 1980s, Daegu became a separately administered provincial-level Directly Governed City (Jikhalsi), and was redesignated as a Metropolitan City (Gwangyeoksi) in 1995.

Daegu is the largest city in the North Gyeongsang region. During the Joseon Dynasty, the city was the administrative, economic and cultural centre of the entire Gyeongsang region, a role largely taken over now by Busan in South Gyeongsang.

During the Korean War, much heavy fighting occurred nearby along the Nakdong River. Daegu sat inside the Busan Perimeter, however, and therefore remained in South Korean hands throughout the war. After the war the city underwent explosive growth, and the population has increased more than tenfold since. The main industries of Daegu are textiles, metals and machine building. The quality of the apples grown around Daegu is renowned around East Asia. For many years in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, most winners of the Miss Korea beauty pageant came from Daegu.

On February 18, 2003, a mentally ill man set fire to a train of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway stopped at Chungang-ro station. The resulting blaze killed nearly 200 persons, making the Daegu subway fire one of the worst disasters in South Korea since the end of the Korean War.

Climate and Geography

Daegu sits in a basin surrounded by mountains. Palgong-san to the north, Biseul-san to the south, the foothills of Gaya-san to the west, and a series of smaller hills in the east.

The Geumho River flows along the northern and eastern edges of the city, emptying in the Nakdong River west of the city.

Because it is in a basin, Daegu is exceptionally hot for Korea during the summer. The mountains trap hot and humid air. Similarly, in winter, cold air lies in the basin. The area receives little precipitation except during the rainy period in June-July, and is sunny throughout much of the year.

Culture

Daegu is a conservative city, both politically and culturally, even by Korean standards. In the 2004 parliamentary election, Daegu voted in members of the conservative Grand National Party for every seat in the city. Traditionally citizens of Daegu have been seen as modest, hard working, and patient. The women are known as particularly strong willed and beautiful.

Daegu is known as the home of Korean baseball. Before the advent of the professional leagues its high school team was avidly followed. The city was a co-host of the 2002 World Cup. A new football stadium was built for the event.

Because of the city's rapid growth, the architecture is generally functional but uninspiring. Some exceptions do exist in older buildings, and in some of the newest, such as the dongdaegu station, and the Exco building.

Traditionally confucianism was strong in Daegu, with a large academy centred in the city. Today Christianity has made large inroads, and churches dot the cityscape. Catholic and protestant denominations are well known.

Daegu's population is quite homogeneous with few immigrants. A small East-Indian community exists, as well as another small group of English speaking westerners working in the many English schools. The American military bases are also home to several thousand Americans. Very little food other than Korean, or western chain restaurants is available, though there are a few isolated restaurants offering other options.

Points of interest

View of south-western Daegu from Apsan Park, including some of the hills that line the southern edge of the city.

The most popular parks in Daegu are Apsan, a mountain with trails, Buddhist temples, a Korean War museum, and a gondola ride to the peak; Palgongsan, which houses many historic Buddhist temples including Pagyesa and Donghwasa; Dalseong Park, which sits inside a 1500-year-old earth fortress; and Duryu Park, which has many walking trails as well as a large amusement park.

Nearby tourist attractions include Haeinsa—a Buddhist temple that houses the Tripitaka Koreana (a woodblock edition of the Tripitaka and one of the world's oldest extant complete collections of the Buddhist scriptures)—and the historic city of Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Silla.

There are five universities in Daegu, including Kyungpook National University ([1] (http://www.knu.ac.kr/), founded in 1946), Yeungnam University, and Keimyung University. There are also numerous junior colleges.

Daegu has two American military bases, Camp Walker and Camp Henry. The bases have an American School; the enrollment is above what the facilities can comfortably handle, so some of the members of the foreign community home-school their children or send them to a small Christian private school which teaches about 25 children near downtown Daegu.

Daegu is also home to the K-League soccer club Daegu FC.

Transportation

Daegu has an extensive public transportation system, based primarily on busses. As in most Korean cities there are two classes of bus. "Sitting" busses are more expensive than "standing" busses, but have more sitting room, and are theoreticaly more frequent than standing busses. As of 2005 standing busses cost 700 won, sitting busses cost 1200.

Busses are designated by 3 number codes, each number indicating an area that the bus services. For example, bus 407 begins in zone four, travels to zone zero, and then on to zone seven. However, these codes are not always reliable due to the often convoluted routes of the busses.

In the 1990s a subway system was constructed. However, due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis only the first line was completed. Construction on the second line began again, more slowly after the year 2001.

Daegu has fairly dense traffic, but the large boulevards that make up the backbone of the road network generally handle it fairly well. In some areas traffic jams are frequent.

Although there are many bicycle lanes in different parts of the city, they are not well interconnected, and bicycle traffic is quite low. This is largely a result of the heavy and agressive traffic, and partially because of the inadquate bicycle lanes.

Administrative Divisions

Daegu is divided into 7 wards ("Gu") and 1 county ("Gun").

Sister Cities

• Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• Almaty, Kazakhstan
• Qingdao, Shandong, PRC
• Minas Gerais, Brazil
• Hiroshima, Japan
• Sankt-Peterburg, Russia

See also

• List of Korea-related topics

External Links

Wikimedia Commons has multimedia related to:

Daegu

• http://www.thedaeguguide.com