Gwangmyeong 광명시 | |
|---|---|
| Korean transcription(s) | |
| • Hangul | 광명시 |
| • Hanja | 光明市 |
| • Revised Romanization | Gwangmyeong-si |
| • McCune–Reischauer | Kwangmyŏng-si |
 Deokan-ro, Gwangmyeong | |
 Flag  Historical Symbol | |
 Location in South Korea | |
| Coordinates:37°28′34″N126°51′58″E / 37.476°N 126.866°E /37.476; 126.866 | |
| Country |  South Korea |
| Region | Gyeonggi Province (Sudogwon) |
| Administrative divisions | 18 villages |
| Government | |
| • mayor | Park Seung-won (박승원) |
| Area | |
• Total | 38.5 km2 (14.9 sq mi) |
| Population (September 2024[1]) | |
• Total | 277,564 |
| • Density | 7,210/km2 (18,700/sq mi) |
| • Dialect | Seoul |
Gwangmyeong (Korean: 광명시;Korean pronunciation:[ˈkwaŋ.mjʌŋ]) is acity inGyeonggi Province, South Korea. It bordersSeoul to the east, north and northeast,Anyang to the southeast,Siheung to the southwest, andBucheon to the northwest. It is home to one of the world's largestIKEA stores at 59,000 square meters (640,000 square feet),[2] along with a largeCostco store and a Lotte Premium Outlet.
Gwangmyeong area was part of the old (or original)Siheung County as with Yeongdeungpo, Guro, and Geumcheon areas. It belonged to West (서면, seo-myeon) and South townships (남면, nam-myeon) of original Siheung County. In 1914, the two townships were merged into West township of "expanded" Siheung County.[citation needed]
In 1963, the northern part of Gwangmyeong (at that time, the northern part of West Township in Siheung County) area was merged into an expanded Seoul (i.e. districts for urban planning in Seoul.서울시 도시계획구역 seo-ul-si do-si-gae-hoeg-gu-yeog) as withGwacheon (at that time Gwacheon was a township in Siheung County) and Sindo township of Goyang County (now parts of the cityGoyang, which borders Seoul). The neighbourhood of Gwangmyeong (Gwangmyeong-dong) and Cheolsan (Cheolsan-dong) were developed as a residence zone next to Seoul and it was provisionally planned to be administratively merged withSeoul. In 1974, Gwangmyeong-ri and Cheolsan-ri became a part of the county branch of Gwangmyeong (광명출장소 gwang-myeong-chul-jang-so) and in 1979 southern part of Gwangmyeong area became Soha town (소하읍 so-ha-eub). In 1981, the annexation to Seoul foundered as Seoul's unexpected rapid growth greatly concerned government officials. Consequently, the county branch of Gwangmyeong and Soha town merged and formed a new city of Gwangmyeong, instead of being annexed to Guro District, Seoul.[3]
In the 1980s and the early 1990s, many apartment complexes were built in Cheolsan-dong and Haan-dong. The population increased up to 300,000.[citation needed] In 1995, the Seoul-Gwangmyeong boundary was readjusted, in which a tiny part of Cheolsan-dong was merged into the newly createdGeumcheon District, Seoul. In 2004,Gwangmyeong Station was open, and in 2010, apartment complexes in Soha-dong were built up.
There are 18 administrative districts (dong inKorean language) in Gwangmyeong. Specifically, these are: Gwangmyeong Dong (from 1-7; Gwangmyeong 6-dong is also known as Okgil dong), Cheolsan Dong (4 dongs), Ha-an Dong (4 dongs), Soha Dong (2 dongs; The southern part of Soha 2-dong is also known as Iljik dong), and Hak-on dong (Gahak-dong and No-onsa dong). In 1995, a tiny section of Gwangmyeong was ceded toSeoul's newly createdGeumcheon District.
Due to its history of being part of the urban planning districts ofSeoul until December 1982, the living sphere of Gwangmyeong is similar to Seoul'sYeongdeungpo (서울 영등포 생활권 seo-ul yeong-deung-po saeng-hwal-kwon) rather than 'Western Gyeonggi's living sphere' (경기 서부 생활권 gyeong-gi seo-bu-saeng-hwal-kwon) such asBucheon andAnyang. Thesewage system is linked to Seoul, though the nearest sewage treatment plant is located on the boundary between Gwangmyeong and Anyang, and the city heavily relies on Seoul'stelephone andtransport systems (local dial code. The phone area code for Gwangmyeong is Seoul's 02 and manySeoul buses andtaxis are in business in that city); advertisements of firms in Yeongdeungpo area can be easily seen in the city. Gwangmyeong not belonging to Seoul, Gwangmyeong residents have to go to a district court office and a reserve soldier's drill camp (of the 51st Infantry Division, Capital Corps) in 'farther' Ansan other than a district court in nearby Sinjeong-dong and a reserve soldier's drill camp (of the 52nd Infantry Division, CDC) in Anyang.
Proponents of the incorporation in Seoul argue that byannexing the city into capital Seoul, in which Gwangmyeong City of Gyeonggi Province becomes Gwangmyeong District of Seoul, the discord between a life zone and administrative districts, in terms of metropolitan governance, can be resolved. They also insist that by the annexation, residents in Gwangmyeong can benefit from metropolitan services and governance of Seoul Metropolitan City, especially in public transport. Congressman and former mayor of Gwangmyeong Baek Jae-hyeon presented a special bill for "municipal annexation to Seoul for Gwangmyeong" on the floor in September 2009,[4][5] though his attempt turned out in vain at last. Opponents insist that the annexation would tarnish municipalautonomy in Gwangmyeong and it would also worsen balanced development of non-capital areas on the national level. The central government once proposed that Gwangmyeong be merged withBucheon other than being annexed to Seoul.
There are nine high schools, ten middle schools, and 21 elementary schools in Gwangmyeong. Prior to 2013, middle school students who wished to go to high school had to take the entrance exam. Gwangmyeong-buk High School and Jinseong High School are traditionally well known for higher standards of students' academic ability.
Since Gwangmyeong is acommuter town bordering Seoul, it's mostly a residential area. The northwestern part of Gwangmyeong, namely Gwangmyeong-dong, is mostly composed of low-storeyed detached houses, while the eastern part, namely Cheolsan-dong and Haan-dong, consists of high-storeyed apartment complexes. Throughout the late 2000s, old public low-storeyed apartment complexes (저층 주공아파트 jeo-cheng ju-gong-ah-pa-teu) in Cheolsan-dong were rebuilt into private high-storeyed apartment complexes (고층 민간아파트 go-cheng min-gan-ah-pa-teu). In 2010, some parts of Soha-dong was developed to newly built public apartment complexes.
Gwangmyeong is home to one of the world's largestIKEA stores, with the second largest store located inGoyang, and a largeLotte Premium Outlet that is connected to the IKEA. The city is also home to a largeCostco warehouse which also serves as the headquarters of Costco Korea. A large Korean-style traditional market, Gwangmyeong Market, is located in the Gwangmyeong crossroads withGwangmyeongsageori Station. Modern shopping malls are inCheolsan Station, Haan crossroads, and Soha-dong (E-mart andCostco). Gwangmyeong residents can also use shopping malls (Lotte Mart andHomeplus) in nearby Guro District and Geumcheon District. Clothes outlets are located in nearby Gasan-dong in Seoul.
A local general hospital, Gwangmyeong Sungae Hospital is in Cheolsan-dong and it is recently affiliated with Medical School ofKwandong University. There are two university hospitals. One isKorea University Medical Center at Guro (구로고대병원 gu-ro-go-dae-byeong-weon) that is located in nearby Guro-dong, Seoul and other one is Chung-ang University Hospital at Gwangmyeong (중앙대학교광명병원 joong-ahng-dae-hak-gyo-gwang-myeong-byeong-weon) that is located nearGwangmyeong station[6] A public medical centre is in southernmost Haan-dong.
Many private clinics are located along with business areas in the city.
Gwangmyeong has ahumid continental climate (Köppen:Dwa), but can be considered a borderlinehumid subtropical climate (Köppen:Cwa) using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm.
| Climate data for Gwangmyeong (2004–2020 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.5 (36.5) | 5.6 (42.1) | 11.3 (52.3) | 17.8 (64.0) | 24.0 (75.2) | 28.0 (82.4) | 29.4 (84.9) | 31.0 (87.8) | 26.8 (80.2) | 20.7 (69.3) | 12.5 (54.5) | 4.3 (39.7) | 17.8 (64.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −1.1 (30.0) | 1.6 (34.9) | 6.7 (44.1) | 12.8 (55.0) | 18.7 (65.7) | 23.2 (73.8) | 25.6 (78.1) | 27.0 (80.6) | 22.6 (72.7) | 16.3 (61.3) | 8.8 (47.8) | 0.8 (33.4) | 13.6 (56.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −4.3 (24.3) | −2.0 (28.4) | 2.8 (37.0) | 8.6 (47.5) | 14.4 (57.9) | 19.3 (66.7) | 22.8 (73.0) | 24.1 (75.4) | 19.2 (66.6) | 12.6 (54.7) | 5.2 (41.4) | −2.5 (27.5) | 10.0 (50.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 11.5 (0.45) | 26.2 (1.03) | 38.3 (1.51) | 64.2 (2.53) | 96.6 (3.80) | 126.4 (4.98) | 412.8 (16.25) | 231.0 (9.09) | 153.8 (6.06) | 47.9 (1.89) | 58.4 (2.30) | 21.7 (0.85) | 1,288.8 (50.74) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 3.0 | 3.6 | 5.5 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 8.2 | 14.6 | 11.2 | 7.6 | 4.6 | 7.0 | 5.2 | 85.4 |
| Source:Korea Meteorological Administration[7] | |||||||||||||
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As of 1999 (provisional)/2004 (permanent), Gwangmyeong's taxi business district was consolidated to Guro and Geumcheon, Seoul. The taxi fare is the same as that of Seoul taxis.
The tombs ofYi Sun-sin (not to be confused with the more famousadmiral of the same name)[8] and Lee Won-ik[9] are in the city, just north ofGwangmyeong Station. Lee Won Ik's cultural relics are also on display near the site. The city is also home to theGwangmyeong Velodrome, the largest domed structure in South Korea.
Gwangmyeong Cave, a former mine, now tourist attraction, is located nearGwangmyeong station.
The city, though small, hosts many firms. In total, there are 630 companies employing 11,636 people.
The city was officially planned to promote small businesses. Such workers can take merits of getting fee for rent, land and even revenue for investment.[10]
In 1973, TheKia Motors located itsSohari Plant in Soha-dong, Gwangmyeong, becoming the country's first integrated automobile assembly plant.[11]
As Kia's car factory nearest to Seoul, it has convenient access to labor and other resources and can conveniently provide completed goods to the Seoul metropolitan area.[12]
Gwangmyeong istwinned with:[13]
Suwon(capital) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| 2,000,000 and more | |
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| 1,000,000–1,999,999 | |
| 500,000–999,999 | |
| 200,000–499,999 | |
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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