Seomyeon (

Hangeul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The ...

: 서면

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

: 西面 lit. "West face/front") is the commercial center and

transportation hub A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports and ferry slips. F ...

Busanjin-gu Busanjin District is a '' gu'' in central Busan, South Korea. It has an area of 29.7 km², and a population of about 410,000. The name is sometimes abbreviated locally as "Jin-gu". Busanjin-gu is home to a major shopping, entertainment, a ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. Seomyeon is also the most crowded area in Busan, having an average

floating population Floating population is a terminology used to describe a group of people who reside in a given population for a certain amount of time and for various reasons, but are not generally considered part of the official census count. A population is usual ...

of 1,000,000 a day.

Name

The area called Seomyeon is Bujeon- dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan. The name of Seomyeon was that of an old administrative district surrounding the area when Busan was a small village in the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and r ...

Era. In modern times, Busan residents still call the area Seomyeon even though its official administrative name now is Bujeon-dong.

Symbology

The district flag of

symbolizes the 5-way intersection of Seomyeon. It represents the center of Busan as a hub of

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

, finance, commerce, distribution, and information. The district tree is the

gingko ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within ...

, which can be seen throughout the area and is said to symbolize stability due to the resistant nature that protects it against disease and insects. The district flower is the chrysanthemum, another plant known to endure harsh conditions. The district bird is the magpie, known for building nests in the branches of very high trees.

Transportation

Busan-subway-Seomyeon-station-7-entrance

Seomyeon is a transportation hub for public transportation in Busan. Seomyeon Station is near the Seomyeon road junction and is one of the busiest subway stations in Korea; it is the transfer station between Busan Subway Line 1 and Line 2. Bujeon Station near Bujeon Market is a

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing s ...

on the

Donghae Nambu Line The Donghae Nambu Line is a railway line connecting Busan to Pohang in South Korea. The line runs along South Korea's east coast. On December 30, 2016, it was merged into Donghae Line. History On October 31, 1918, an extension of the Daegu Line ...

and

Bujeon Line The Bujeon Line is a short railway line serving Busan, South Korea. The line connects Gaya on the Gaya Line The Gaya Line is a railway line of Korail in Busan Metropolitan City, South Korea, connecting Sasang on the Gyeongbu Line with Beom ...

A bus transfer center also lies in front of the Busan main store of the

Lotte Department Store Lotte Department Store () is a Korean retail company established in 1979, and headquartered in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Lotte Department Store offers retail consumer goods and services and is one out of 8 business units of Lotte ...

References

{{Reflist Busanjin District Shopping districts and streets in South Korea