Bongdam is a town in the city of Hwaseong in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Covering over 4000 hectares, the town is the focus of a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, primarily as a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

for the bordering city of

Suwon Suwon (, ) is the capital and largest city of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea's most populous province which surrounds Seoul, the national capital. Suwon lies about south of Seoul. It is traditionally known as "The City of Filial Piety". With a populati ...

. A town located in the midwestern part of Hwaseong-si,

Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

. It is bordered by Jeongnam-myeon, Gian-dong, and Annyeong-dong to the east, Bibong-myeon and Paltan-myeon to the west, Hyangnam-eup (Balan) to the south, and Maesong-myeon and Omokcheon-dong, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon-si to the north.

History

* April 1, 1914: Suwon-gun (수원군)'s Sambong-myeon (삼봉면 - ) and Galdam-myeon (갈담면 - ) were combined, forming Bongdam-myeon (봉담면 - ), a town of 15 villages. * August 14, 1949: As Suwon-eup was raised in status to Suwon-bu, the remainder of Suwon-gun was renamed Hwaseong-gun. (Suwon-bu became a city soon afterwards.) * February 15, 1983: Bibong-myeon's village of Sanggi-ri left Bibong-myeon and became part of Bongdam-myeon, completing the 16 villages which remain in Bongdam today. * May 1992: Bongdam-myeon's council office moved from 31-3 Sang-ri to the nearby newly constructed facility at 27-1 Sang-ri. * April 1, 1998: Bongdam's status was raised from ''myeon'' to ''eup''. * March 21, 2001: Hwaseong's status was raised from ''gun'' (county) to ''si'' (city). * March 20, 2008: Much of the housing in Donghwa-ri was cleared for a new housing development.

Geography

Bongdam is bounded to the north-west by the hills of Sambongsan (삼봉산 - : 271 m) and Taehaengsan (태행산 - : 266 m), to the west by Geocheon Reservoir and Geondalsan (건달산 - : 328 m), to the south-west by Deogu Reservoir and Cheolmasan (철마산 - : 123 m), to the south-east by Seobongsan (서봉산 - : 250.3m), to the east by Taebongsan (태봉산 - : 224 m) and Botong Reservoir, and to the north-east by Gogeumsan (고금산 - : 87 m) and the city of

. No major streams pass through the town, though its plain is drained in entirety to Sihwa.

Demographics

Bongdam's population is currently increasing, and this is expected to continue as further housing developments are planned. The foreign population stands at 4.6%, approximately double the national average.

Administrative divisions

Bongdam is divided into 16 ''ri'' (villages): * Buncheon-ri (분천리) * Dangha-ri (당하리) * Deogu-ri (덕우리) * Deok-ri (덕리) * Donghwa-ri (동화리) * Hagadeung-ri (하가등리) * Maha-ri (마하리) * Nae-ri (내리) * Sanggi-ri (상기리) * Sang-ri (상리) * Segok-ri (세곡리) * Sugi-ri (수기리) * Suyeong-ri (수영리) * Wangnim-ri (왕림리) * Wau-ri (와우리) * Yu-ri (유리)

Education

Bongdam is home to six institutes of higher education: the

University of Suwon The University of Suwon (Hangul: 수원대학교) is a university in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Foundation The university was founded by the Kowoon Foundation in 1977 and authorized in 1981 with nine departments. The sister ...

Hyupsung University Hyupsung University is a Christian private university in Hwaseong, South Korea. The predecessor of Hyupsung University is Seoul Seminary, which opened in April 1977. In 1983, it was reorganized as Hyupsung Theological College A seminary, scho ...

, Suwon Catholic University, the Haeran Campus of Suwon Women's University, Jangan College, and Korea National College of Agriculture and Fisheries. The town also has a high school, three middle schools and seven primary schools.

Transport

Rail

Trains on the former

Suin Line The Suin Line (Suwon-Incheon) was a metro line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway serving the Seoul Capital Area. The original route, abandoned in 1995, was one of the few narrow-gauge railways in South Korea. Opened by the privately owned Chosen ...

used to pass through Suyeong-ri in the far north of Bongdam. The Suin Line is currently being reconstructed and will form part of the

Seoul Subway The Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a metropolitan railway system consisting of 23 rapid transit, light metro, commuter rail and people mover lines located in northwest South Korea. The system serves most of the Seoul Metropolitan Area including ...

network. It is planned for a station named Bongdam, two stops from

, to be operating by 2012, though this station will be just outside Bongdam, in

's Omokcheon-dong. Also, all

KTX Korea Train eXpress (), often known as KTX (), is South Korea's high-speed rail system, operated by Korail. Construction began on the high-speed line from Seoul to Busan in 1992. KTX services were launched on April 1, 2004. From Seoul Station the ...

trains pass through Bongdam, though the town does not have a station on this line.

Road

Bongdam has an interchange on combined

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

17 and 400.

Culture

The

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

tombs in Maha-ri and other important graves – those of Lee Gon (이곤) in Sang-ri, and Buncheon-ri's tombs of Seo Geojeong (서거정) and Choi Rubaek (최루백), are among the oldest significant remains in Bongdam. There are also two older Buddhist temples: Beopheungsa in Sugi-ri, Bogwangsa in Wangnim-ri.

Gallery

File:2011-02-14 - 14-02 - 01 - Bongdam Central Square.jpg, Bongdam's central square File:2011-02-14 - 14-03 - 01 - Road past Bongdam Centre.jpg, Road past Bongdam Centre File:2011-02-14 - 14-17 - 01 - Hwaseong Sports Centre.jpg, Hwaseong Sports Centre File:2011-02-14 - 14-22 - 01 - Lake by Bongdam Council Office.jpg, Lake by Bongdam Council Office File:2011-02-14 - 14-26 - 01 - Bongdam Council Office.JPG, Bongdam Council Office File:2011-02-14 - 14-27 - 01 - Bongdam Public Library.jpg, Bongdam Public Library

References

surrounding living environment

It is scheduled to be built in Joam-ri, Namyang-eup, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, and the apartment complex consists of a large complex that can accommodate a total of 2,329 households. Access to Songsan Mado IC and Pyeongtaek-Siheung Expressway makes it easy to move around Seoul and nearby Ansan in less than 10 minutes if you use National Road 77. Subsequently, the second outer ring road connecting Incheon to Dongducheon is scheduled to open, and once Shinansan Station and the West Coast double-track train are opened, it is possible to reach Yeouido, the financial center, within 30 minutes. After the completion of the 1st~5th pre-sale, the 6th Seohee Star Hills in Seulhang-ri, Hwaseong, and the 7th Seohee Star Hills in Namyang, Hwaseong will be additionally sold.

External links

Town Council (in Korean)음성자이 센트럴시티

화성시청
{{Coord, 37, 13, 12, N, 126, 56, 58, E, region:KR, display=title Towns and townships in Gyeonggi Province Hwaseong, Gyeonggi