Seoul (Korean : 서울 ,Seoul , pronoonced[sʌul] (listen ) ), offeecially theSeoul Special Ceety (Korean : 서울특별시 ,Seoul Teukbyeolsi ), is thecaipital an lairgestceety oSooth Korea . Amegaceety wi a population o ower 10 million, it is ane o thelairgest ceeties in the warld .[ 5] TheSeoul Naitional Caipital Aurie is the warld'sseicont lairgest metropolitan aurie wi ower 24.5 million indwallers, whit includes theIncheon metropolis an maist oGyeonggi province.[ 6] Amaist hauf o Sooth Korea's population bide in the Seoul Naitional Caipital Aurie, an nearly a quarter in Seoul itsel, makkin it the kintra's foremaisteconomic ,poleetical , ancultural centre.
Seoul haes been a major dounset for ower 2,000 year, wi its foondation datin back tae 18B.C. whanBaekje , ane o theThree Kinricks o Korea , establisht its caipital in whit is nou sooth-east Seoul. It continued as the caipital oKorea durin theJoseon Dynasty an theKorean Empire . The Seoul Naitional Caipital Aurie is hame tae fowerUNESCO Warld Heritage Steids :Changdeokgung ,Hwaseong Fortress ,Jongmyo Shrine an theRyal Tombs o the Joseon Dynasty .[ 7]
The day, Seoul is considered tae be a leadinglobal ceety , rankin amang the tap ten global ceeties in theGlobal Ceeties Index of 2010.[ 8] It is ane o the warld's tap tenfinancial ancommercial centres,[ 9] hame tae majormultinaitional conglomerates [ 10] sic asSamsung ,LG anHyundai-Kia . In 2008, Seoul wis named the warld's saxt maist economically pouerful ceety biForbes .[ 11]
Seoul haes a hiechlie technologically advancedinfrastructure .[ 12] [ 13] ItsDigital Media Ceety is the warld's first complex forIT anmultimedia applications.[ 14] Seoul wis the first ceety tae featurDMB , a digitalmobile TV technology anWiBro , a wireless hie-speedmobile internet service. It haes a fast, hie-penetration 100Mbpsfibre-optic broadband netwirk, that is bein upgradit tae 1Gbps bi 2012.[ 15] Seoul Station hooses the 350 km/hKTX bullet train an theSeoul Subway is the third lairgest in the warld, wi ower 200 million passengers ivery year.[ 16] Seoul is connectit viaAREX taeIncheon Internaitional Airport , rated as the best airport in the warld biAirports Council International .
Seoul hostit the1988 Simmer Olympics an the2002 FIFA Warld Cup . The ceety wis named theWarld Design Caipital for 2010 bi theInternaitional Cooncil o Societies o Industrial Design an hostit the2010 G-20 Seoul summit .