Yeongdeungpo District (Korean: 영등포구; Hanja: 永登浦區; RR: Yeongdeungpo-gu) is an administrative district in southwest Seoul, South Korea. Although the origin of the name is uncertain, the first two syllables are thought to be from “yeongdeung” (靈登) or “divine ascent”, a shamanic rite.[2] The third syllable is “po“, representing the bank of a river (浦), referring to the district’s position on the Han River. The 2006 population was 408,819.
There are 22 administrative “dong” and 34 legal “dong”. Yeouido-dong is the largest in area and takes up about 34% of the land. The total area is 24.56 km2 (9.48 sq mi) (2004), making up 4% of Seoul’s land. The annual budget is approximately 2 billion won.
Yeongdeungpo District has been heavily developed as an office, commercial, and residential district. Yeouido Dong is home to DLI 63 Building, the highest office building in South Korea and currently the 3rd tallest building in the country. The National Assembly Building is located in Yeouido-dong. Other organisations, such as the Financial Union of Korea are also based in Yeongdeungpo. There are also mass-media corporations in the area, including; Kookmin Newspaper Corporation; Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation and Korean Broadcasting System.
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The earliest historical references to Yeongdeungpo were in the 1870s when it was considered to be the main port used in the defence of the city of Seoul.
The opening of the Gyeongin Line in 1899 and the Gyeongbu Line 1905, the County Office of Siheung-gun was relocated to Yeongdeungpo and area became a major hub for transportation and commerce.[3]
Except for Yeouido and Yanghwa-dong, Yeongdeungpo belonged to old Siheung County. In 1936, Yeongdeungpo (except for today’s Daerim-dong) was annexed to Gyeongseong (today’s Seoul). In 1949, some parts of Siheung County were ceded to Yeongdeungpo District of Seoul. These sections are today’s Guro-dong, Sindorim-dong, Daerim-dong and Sindaebang-dong.
January 1, 1963, Some areas of Bucheon County were combined to Yeongdeungpo District as below.
Also, many parts of Siheung County were merged into this district at the same time.
During the post-Korean War industrialization period the district’s economy and population grew dramatically and as a result sections of the district were broken up to form new districts – Gwanak-gu being established in 1973, Gangseo-gu in 1977, and Guro-gu in 1980.[4]
Yeongdeungpo District is divided into the following “dong“s.
- Dangsan-dong (Hangul: 당산동; Hanja: 堂山洞) (divided into Dangsan 1 and 2-dong)
- Daerim-dong (Hangul: 대림동; Hanja: 大林洞) (divided into Daerim 1, 2, and 3-dong)
- Dorim-dong (Hangul: 도림동; Hanja: 道林洞) (Dorim 1 and 2-dong were combined in September 2008)
- Mullae-dong (Hangul: 문래동; Hanja: 文來洞) (divided into Mullae 1 and 2-dong)
- Singil-dong (Hangul: 신길동; Hanja: 新吉洞) (divided into Singil 1 to 7-dong)
- Yangpyeong-dong (Hangul: 양평동; Hanja: 楊坪洞) (divided into Yangpyeong 1 and 2-dong)
- Yanghwa-dong (Hangeul: 양화동; Hanja: 楊花洞)
- Yeongdeungpo-dong (Hangul: 영등포동; Hanja: 永登浦洞) (divided into Yeongdeungpo-dong and Yeongdeungpobon-dong (Hangeul: 영등포본동; Hanja: 永登浦本洞))
- Yeouido-dong (Hangul: 여의도동; Hanja: 汝矣島洞)
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