Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than the metropolitan city of Ulsan, though it enjoys a lesser degree of self-governance as a 'special city'.
Traditionally known as the 'City of Filial Piety', modern Suwon retains a variety of historical landmarks. As a walled city, it is a popular destination for day-trippers from Seoul, with the wall itself—Hwaseong Fortress—receiving 1½ million visits in 2015.
Suwon plays an important economic role as it is home to Samsung Electronics, Korea's largest and most profitable company. The company's research and development centre is in Yeongtong District in eastern Suwon, where its headquarters have also been located since 2016. Samsung's prominence in Suwon is clear: the company is partnered with Sungkyunkwan University, which has a campus in the city; it also owns the professional football team Suwon Samsung Bluewings. This team has won the K League four times and the Asian Super Cup twice. The city is also home to the K League 2 team Suwon FC and the KBO League baseball team KT Wiz.
Suwon houses several well-known universities, most notably Sungkyunkwan University and Ajou University. It is served by three expressways, the national railway network, and three lines on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway.
Name Suwon literally means "water source". While the area has gone by different names since antiquity, almost all share this meaning. The name Suwon descends from the Proto–Three Kingdoms period statelet . After this period, the area (including modern-day Hwaseong) was called Maehol, Maetkol, or Mulgol (). In , the name was changed to Susŏng-gun () to distinguish it from another territory with a similar-sounding name. In 940, the name was changed again to Su-ju (). In the 11th century, it went by either Susŏng (different Hanja: ) or Hannam (), and in 1310, it finally received the name Suwon.
In English, Suwon often used to be spelt .
History
Early history Suwon has been inhabited since at the latest the early Bronze Age: artifacts such as pottery, sculptures, and arrowheads dating from the Bronze Age to the early Iron Age have been found in the area, including on , which is now a .
During the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, the area was a territory of the statelet Mosuguk, part of the Mahan confederacy. It came under the influence of Goguryeo in the late 5th century CE before becoming part of Unified Silla (668–935). Suwon then fell to Goryeo after a military campaign led by King Taejo.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, the area was promoted, demoted, merged, and made part of various administrative districts. It then became a part of Joseon upon the dynasty's founding, and in 1395 it was made an administrative centre of Gyeonggi Province.
Until the late 18th century, Suwon was administered from modern-day Annyeong-dong at the foot of Hwasan—a hill in Hwasan-dong, Hwaseong. In 1796, King Jeongjo relocated Central Suwon to its current location at the foot of Paldalsan, and to protect this new city, he commanded the building of Hwaseong Fortress—a protective wall around the town.
The town steadily grew, and an 1899 administrative report recorded a population of 49,708 people in 12,579 households.
Japanese colonial period
During the 1910–1945 Japanese colonial period, a number of prominent Korean independence activists came from or operated in Suwon. and Yi Sŏn-gyŏng () were both arrested for their activities.
Liberation to Korean War On 15 August 1949, Suwon was promoted from a county to a city, with some of its former territory made into Hwaseong County.
When the Korean War began, the United States Air Force 49th Fighter Wing, then stationed in Japan, was sent to Korea with an initial mission of evacuating civilians from Suwon and Gimpo. While on this mission, on 1950, US planes in Suwon were attacked by North Korean fighters. The ensuing Battle of Suwon Airfield became the first aerial combat of the war. Suwon Airfield was attacked again two days later while General Douglas MacArthur was on site. Though the US repelled both attacks, Suwon fell to the advancing North Koreans one week later, on 1950. The following day saw the first land conflict between United States and North Korean forces, the Battle of Osan.
North Korean troops were not the only threat to life: in the early days of the war, southern authorities feared left-leaning civilians, and many were killed. Suwon was a site of such killings: eyewitness account from US intelligence officer Donald Nichols places Suwon as the location of a massacre of approximately 1,800 in late June 1950.
Suwon was retaken, fell again to the North, before being recaptured for the final time. In total, the city changed hands four times during the war.
While under southern authority, Suwon hosted forces from several countries. For example, on 1950, the Greek Expeditionary Force relocated from Busan to Suwon, attached to the US 1st Cavalry Division. The city also appeared strategically important, as in late 1951, the US Air Force's top fighter pilot Gabby Gabreski was placed in charge of Suwon Air Base.
A memorial to French forces was erected in 1974 near the Yeongdong Expressway's North Suwon exit. A 2013 renovation was funded by the French government.
Recent history In 1964, the headquarters of Gyeonggi Province began a process of relocation from Seoul to Suwon. Seoul had left the province in 1949. When the construction of the headquarters was completed on 23 June 1967, the date was set as a new annual holiday: Suwon Citizen's Day (). The Hwahong Cultural Festival (now ) was established to celebrate the occasion.
Suwon has experienced a number of administrative territory changes since the 1960s. In 1963, Suwon expanded greatly as 20 villages were incorporated from Hwaseong-gun. In 1983, two more villages were acquired from Yongin. In 1987, Suwon expanded westwards, acquiring another two villages from Hwaseong. Gwonseon District and Paldal District were established in 1988. It received more territory from Hwaseong and Yongin in 1994, and again from Hwaseong in 1995. It established Yeongtong District in 2003.
In preparation for the construction of a new planned city Gwanggyo, there were two-way exchanges of land between Suwon and Yongin in 2007 and 2019. Suwon's most recent land exchange occurred in 2020, when it swapped some land parcels with Hwaseong.
Geography Suwon lies in the north of the Gyeonggi plain, south of the national capital, Seoul. It is bordered by the cities of Uiwang to the north-west, Yongin to the east, Hwaseong to the south-west, and Ansan to the west. Suwon is near the Yellow Sea coast: at its closest point, on the Chilbosan ridge to the west, Suwon lies from Ueumdo in Sihwa Lake, a coastal inlet cordoned off to drive the world's largest tidal power station. Suwon is primarily situated in a basin-like terrain surrounded by low hills such as Gwanggyosan to the north, with the historic Suwon Hwaseong Fortress serving as a central landmark that reflects the city's unique radial urban structure developed since the late 18th century.
Geology and topography Suwon is primarily composed of Precambrian metamorphic rock. It has amphibolites that intrude through these, and also granites from the Mesozoic Era.
Most of Suwon is composed of biotite granite (Jbgr) from the Jurassic period. This granite is centred on Paldalsan. A form of Daebo granite, this rock is distributed through Homaesil-dong, Geumgok-dong, Dangsu-dong, Seryu-dong, Seodun-dong, Gwonseon-dong, and other areas. Its main constituent minerals are quartz, plagioclase, orthotic, biotite, and amphibole.
Precambrian biotite gneiss (PCEbgn) is found in northern Suwon, specifically Pajang-dong, Gwanggyo-dong, Woncheon-dong, and Maetan-dong. Visible rocks here are composed of quartz, feldspar, biotite, amphibole, and muscovite; and are generally dark grey or dark green. Mesozoic biotite granite intrudes through these.
Precambrian quartzo-feldspathic gneiss (PCEqgn) is distributed in some mountainous areas in Hagwanggyo-dong and Sanggwanggyo-dong in northern Suwon. This gneiss has primarily undergone silicification, and is mainly composed of quartz, feldspar, biotite, and muscovite. It is grey, grey-brown, and white.
Suwon's single tectonic fault splits from the Singal Fault in Iui-dong, creating the Woncheonri Stream. The stream follows the fault through Ha-dong, Woncheon-dong, and Maetan-dong till it joins the Hwangguji Stream in Annyeong-dong, Hwaseong. This is a -long vertical fault running SSW, eventually to the Yellow Sea. In Suwon, biotite gneiss and biotite granite are brought into contact by the fault.
While the low-lying fault sits in the south of Suwon, the north is hillier: the city's highest point is Gwanggyosan () on the border with Yongin.
Streams and lakes Most of Suwon's streams originate on Gwanggyosan or other nearby peaks. Since the city is bounded to the north by Gwanggyosan, to the west by Chilbosan, and to the east by other hills, the streams, chiefly the Hwanggujicheon, Suwoncheon, Seohocheon, and Woncheollicheon, flow southwards. After merging, they eventually empty into the Yellow Sea at Asan Bay. The entirety of Suwon is drained in this manner.
Several of Suwon's streams feature lakes. Since there are few natural lakes on the Korean mainland, Suwon's lakes are small reservoirs. These 11 reservoirs are , otherwise known as Seoho () near Hwaseo Station; Irwol Reservoir () near Sungkyunkwan University; Bambat Reservoir () near Sungkyunkwan University Station; , otherwise known as Irwang Reservoir () in Manseok Park; Pajang Reservoir () near the North Suwon exit of the Yeongdong Expressway; () and Hagwanggyo Reservoir () at the foot of Gwanggyosan; Woncheon and Sindae Reservoirs (, ) in Gwanggyo Lake Park; and Geumgok Reservoir (), a small lake at the foot of Chilbosan. Irwang Reservoir (Manseokkeo) has been designated a world heritage site for irrigation. Wangsong Reservoir (), on the border with Uiwang, used to be partly in Suwon, but after controversial boundary changes, it is now entirely in Uiwang.
Climate Suwon has both a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa), and a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa).
The city is prone to occasional flooding: the 1998 flood caused the death of a US soldier, and of rain fell in 24 hours in 2010.
Administrative divisions
The city is composed of four gu (districts). Jangan District () and Gwonseon District () were established on 1988. On 1993, parts of Jangan District and Gwonseon District became a new district, Paldal District (). The newest district is Yeongtong District (), which separated from Paldal District on 2003. These districts are in turn divided into 42 dong.
Suwon has several new 'towns', e.g., Homaesil and Gwanggyo. The latter is perhaps the most notable of these: the first stage of its construction was completed in 2011.
Demography Suwon is 50.3% male (49.7% female), and 2.9% foreign. On average, there are 2.3 residents per household. Further details for each district are shown below (figures from 31 December 2023).
Total people Korean males Korean females Korean (total) Foreign males Foreign females Foreign (total)Suwon (total)1,233,424602,346594,9111,197,25717,83718,33036,167Gwonseon District375,574184,970181,197366,1674,5584,8499,407Jangan District277,645136,145134,704270,8493,3123,4846,796Paldal District208,79199,29097,923197,2135,9175,66111,578Yeongtong District371,414181,941181,017363,0284,0504,3368,386
Religion
The Catholic Diocese of Suwon was created in 1963 by Pope Paul VI. The cathedral—St Joseph's—is at Jeongja-dong.
Suwon is the birthplace of the former president of the Baptist World Alliance, Kim Janghwan (Billy Kim). who founded the Suwon Central Baptist Church, though this is located in Yongin.