Anyang, Gyeonggi

Anyang is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population of approximately 630,000 it is the 15th largest city in South Korea. It is located approximately 25 km south of Seoul, and 19 km north of Suwon, and is connected to Seoul Subway Line 1 and Line 4. The Anyang City motto is "Livable city, Proud citizens" while its other symbols are 'Podong-i' a grape mascot which represents Anyang's past as a grape growing area, the Forsythia (flower), Ginkgo (tree), and the Eagle.^[1]

The 'Emblem of Anyang' incorporates several different meanings, or representations. The blue colour represents peace and the stable life of its citizens, while the white represents "purity of the white clad folk". The white circle represents the "shining sun" and "citizen unity", the interweaving lines represent "industrial and scientific development", the "famous mountains around the city" and Anyang as a "tourist resort". The symbol as a whole represents modern development and cultural exchange.^[2] The current mayor of Anyang is Choi Dae-Ho, he is the city's 21st mayor and succeeds Lee Pil-Woon.

Geography and climate

Nearby cities include Ansan, Incheon, and Gwangmyeong to the west, Suwon to the south-east, and Gwacheon due north-east, while Anyang is essentially joined to Gunpo to the west and Uiwang to the south, separated from both only by main roads. It was planned that all three cities would be amalgamated in 2010, forming a larger Anyang city increasing the population of the city to over one million people, but this has since been ruled out.^[3]

Anyang is divided into two halves for administrative purposes, Manan Gu to the west and Dongan Gu to the east. Manan Gu includes the older original downtown area centered around Anyang Station. It is dominated by a shopping area with outdoor markets, known locally as "ilbeonga" (first street). Dongan Gu is a newer, wealthier, more upscale area including the suburb of Pyeongchon and Hagwon ga, named after the large number of private educational academies. The tallest building in Anyang is the Acro Tower which was completed in April 2007. It is a twin tower office building and is situated in Dongan Gu, across the street from Anyang City Hall, and at the northern edge of Anyang Central Park. Strategically located, Anyang is a convenient transportation hub between Seoul and other major cities across the country.

The land area of Anyang is 58.46 square kilometres. Forest and fields constitute 30.15 sq/km, urban development make up 11.51 sq/km, dry fields make up 1.8 sq/km, rice paddies cover 1.25 sq/km and other land use makes up the final 13.76 km².^[2]

Anyang is surrounded by mountains on all four sides, with the more prominent of these being Gwanak Mountain and Samsung Mountain to the north and Suri Mountain to the southwest, along with Cheongye Mountain and Morak Mountain. There are 8 streams and rivers in Anyang, extending for a length of 34 kilometres. The main river is Anyang River (one of the four main tributaries of the Han River in Seoul) which is 32.2 km long, with a basin area of 275 km squared, it is fed by 21 tributaries. It runs through the centre of Anyang city and is a popular place for people to walk, jog or ride bikes along the specially made paths by its side.^[4] It is possible to jog or bike along the stream all the way into Seoul. The river flows through seven cities in Gyeonggi Province and as a result has major issues with pollution due to the extremely built up nature of the rivers banks which are often covered by parking lots, athletic fields, and roading, while another major contributing factor has been the poor sewerage systems of areas in the upper reaches of the river. As a result the Anyang Stream Watershed Management Committee for Water Quality Improvement has been established to try to address some of these issues.^[4]

Between the years 1974 and 1977 Samduck paper and Samyoung hardboard factories poured industrial waste into the Suam and Samseong Rivers (two of the tributaries of Anyang River), which turned the rivers toxic and meant they were unable to support life. The pollution was so bad in fact that local residents dug pools to collect the industrial waste, producing a large damp paper slab at the base of the pools. Local elderly women cut the paper slab into damp paper blocks that were then sold back to Samduck or to an egg carton and wallpaper underlay factory in Seongnam City. The remaining residue from the drying process was kept and used as fire fuel by the residents during winter. The "owner of Samduck recently donated his factory ground to the city as a gesture of compensation to the citizens of Anyang".^[5] In November 2008 the site reopened as a city park.

Climate

Anyang like most Korean cities is very cold and dry in winter and is hot and humid in summer. The average annual temperature is 12.3c, while the average rainfall is 1,344mm. Around 66% of Anyang's rain falls in the monsoon season between June and August.^[6]

History

The name Anyang originates from Anyang mall which was established by Wang-Geon, the First Emperor of the Goryeo dynasty. In the fourth year of Hyogong- king of Silla (900), Wang-Geon, a descendent of Gung Ye, was passing through Samsung Mountain to quell the rebellion in the Gumju (Siheung) and Gwaju (Gwacheon) areas. Whilst there the troops met an old Buddhist priest name Neungjung and while listening to the priest, Wang-Geon had the idea of building a temple at that location. Anyang itself is a Buddhist term signifying a heavenly land where unimaginable joy and freedom overflow.

As with most towns and cities in South Korea, Anyang has experienced tremendous urban growth during the past few decades. Like most parts of the Korean peninsula Anyang was severely battered by warfare during the Korean War.^[9] Ten years after its end, the area's population was still largely rural and its landscape agricultural. It was well known for its grape growing and today the city mascot is a grape figure known as 'Podong-i'. Anyang was given city status in 1973 and has grown to become the 15th most populated city in the country. It is also becoming a popular home for many workers in Seoul because of its close proximity, and for the beautiful mountains and scenery that surround Anyang, shielding it from the larger urban centers nearby.

Notable Events in Anyang's History

• 1963: a ferry sank near Seoul drowning 37 children and 12 adults, the majority of whom were school children from Anyang who were returning from a picnic.^[10]
• 1964: Three people were killed and 100 injured in an explosion of artillery duds in an Anyang workshop.
• 1973: Anyang is granted city status.
• 1977: A flood devastates the Seoul region killing 335, including 148 in Anyang and adjacent areas.^[11] Anyang Technical College opens.
• 1986: Anyang Stadium is completed.
• 1991: Police forced their way into Anyang Prison Hospital to retrieve the body of Labour Leader Park Chang Soo who they believed had committed suicide by leaping from a window. It took nine hours to get past the 1,500 protesters who were protecting the body in the belief that he had been murdered and that the police were trying to orchestrate a cover-up.^[12]
• 1995: Former South Korean president Chun Doo Hwan was placed in Anyang Prison as he was to be indicted on charges stemming from a 1979 mutiny.^[13]
• 1996: Anyang LG Cheetahs are relocated to Anyang and take on the name of their new home.
• 1997: Chun Doo Hwan is freed from Anyang Prison.
• 2000: Anyang LG Cheetahs win the K-League.
• 2001: Anyang City officials tell Komachi, Japan that it will not accept 17 Komachi exchange students due to controversies over the content of Japanese text books on the Korean War.
• 2004: Anyang LG Cheetahs are controversially relocated by owners LG to Seoul.
• 2007: The bodies of Lee Hye-jin and her eight year old friend Woo Ye-seul went missing on March 2007 and were found dead two weeks later in a crime which shocked the nation. Their killer Jeong Sung-hyun committed suicide in 2009.^[14] In September, the 23 Korean hostages, held captive by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan are freed and upon their arrival are taken to Sam Anyang Hospital.^[15]
• 2010: Anyang Halla wins the Asia League Ice Hockey Championship.

Demographics

Like most cities in Korea the population is made up almost entirely of ethnic Koreans. In 2007 there were 624,197 Koreans resident in Anyang (311,702 males and 312,495 females), and 6,491 non-Koreans (3,148 males and 3,343 females), the vast majority of whom were Chinese (4,706), the next most represented group were from Vietnam with 315, followed by the United States with 283, the Philippines with 168, Japan with 147 and the UK with 21, while 771 are listed as being from other countries. Many of those from English speaking nations are employed in Anyang as ESOL teachers.^[2]

Crime

In 2007 there were 16,311 reported cases of crime in Anyang City. There were 13,771 arrests made during the same year.^[16]

Administration

Administrative divisions Anyang has 2 administrative wards:

• Dongan-gu (made up of four areas) - households: 125,600
• Manan-gu (made up of three areas) - households: 100,900

Subdivisions

The city is divided into 31 further districts, or 'dong'. These are the standard subdivisions of cities and counties in South Korea.

City Plans

In early 2010 Anyang mayor, Lee Phil-woon announced plans to build a 100-storey city hall. It was thought that it could house a hotel, cinemas, shopping complexes and other facilities. Lee stated:

Anyang Sky Tower will be built on the current 60,736 square-meter site of Anyang City Hall by 2017. About 10 percent of the space will be used for administrative offices but the rest will be filled with restaurants, a hotel, shopping mall and other leisure facilities, bringing 190 billion won in rent to the city coffers in 2017. The 2.2 trillion won-project will be financed by private investors, creating 42,000 jobs and 3.6 trillion won in gross economic effect. More than 10,000 people will work in the building while 50,000 will commute or visit annually.^[18]

The plans however drew a heated response from both local residents and central government as several other local governments recently built new city hall's at great tax payer expense and after new mayor Choi Dae-ho was elected he ruled out the development.^[19] Other recent major redevelopment plans have included the demolishen of several areas of Anyang, particularly the Manan Gu area which is characterised by old, run down apartment buildings on highly valued land within walking distance of Anyang Station. According to the Anyang Public Art Project Foundation there are:

31 redevelopment projects planned, ... which will tear down nearly all its existing buildings to replace them with new complexes. The foundation estimates that up to 80 percent of the some 160,000 residents will be displaced.^[20]

Jobs and Industry

Many workers from Seoul are resident in Anyang, commuting daily. While there are 1,194 companies based in Anyang City.^[21]

An area encompassing a 3 km section from Myunghak Station to Indeogwon Station to Kwanak-ro was appointed as 'Anyang Venture Valley' in November 2001 as a part of an effort to support venture companies. There are currently 6,300 people working in 238 companies and venture companies facilities including Anyang K-Center and Manan Venture Center, Pyongchon IT Venture Center, Kumkang Venturetel and Delta Venture Center.^[22]

Culture

Parks

As of 2007 there were 97 listed parks in Anyang covering an area of 1,347 square metres.^[2]

The main parks in Anyang are Anyang Art Park, Anyang Central Park, Jayu Park (Freedom Park) which is south of Hagwon-ga and contains tennis courts, statues of important figures in the Korean independence movement, the Pyeongchon Art Hall, and the Children's Traffic Park,^[23] Hakwoon Park, Hogye Park, Byongmokan Civic Park, Seoksu Sports Park, and the Changbakgol water reservoir sports park. Anyang Central Park is situated between Pyeonchon Station and Beomgye Station. It contains a series of fountains that flow around the centre of the park with modern art sculptures alongside as part of the Anyang Art Project. It also contains an outdoor stage which holds aerobic classes, tennis courts, a playground, a croquet lawn and various other areas for sport. In the weekends the street dividing the park is closed for a flea market.

Art

Anyang City Hall has a project named 'Anyang Art City 21 Project' which aims to create "a beautiful city, an art city and a well-being city by adding virtuosity to the exterior of city buildings and harmonizing the city sight with natural environment".^[24]

Anyang Public Art Park is located between Gwanak Mountain and Samseong Mountain.^[25] Rather than housing art inside a building as is the norm this park is something of an open air art gallery with the art displayed in a park setting.

The city is home to the well known Anyang High School of Arts which has produced many nationally and internationally known entertainers including Rain and Seven as well as KARA's Park Gyuri, Wonder Girls' Kim Yubin, BEAST's Yong Junhyung, MBLAQ's Seung Ho and F.Cuz Jinon.

Anyang also has the country's only Singing Road, which is made from grooves cut into the ground, which when driven over causes a tactile vibration and audible rumbling transmitted through the wheels into the car body. Drivers can hear the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb", and the road is intended to help motorists stay alert and awake.^[26]

Media

Anyang has 17 weekly newspaper publishers, one television program provider and one general broadcaster.^[27] The city also has 23 book publishers.^[28] South Korea's largest motion-picture studio is located in Anyang.^[29] In 2011 a film about Anyang won the Korean Feature Competition, at the Jeonju Intl. Film Festival. Titled "Anyang, Paradise City" and directed by Park Chan-Kyung it is a story portraying the past and present of Anyang City "with a mix of documentary and fiction".^[30]

Shopping, Dining and Health

Anyang has 15 traditional markets and 4 shopping districts which include 3 department stores and 9 other large scale stores. Lotte Mart and Lotte Cinema are situated next to Anyang Station. Anyang First Street is immediately across the road from Anyang Station and is a very popular area for shopping, restaurants and nightlife.

There are four movie theaters in Anyang but 39 movie theater screens in total. The CJ CGV theater is located near Anyang Station, DMC theater is situated in New Core Outlet, Cinus theater is near Indeogwan, while the other theatre is named Kinex 10.^[31]

There are 7,617 listed restaurants in the Anyang area, along with 62 bath houses, 278 barbers, and 1,026 beauty shops.^[2]

Sport

Anyang is home to the Anyang Halla ice hockey team who play in the Asia League Ice Hockey. They won their first Asian hockey league title in 2010 and were the first Korean team to do so. Anyang is also home to the Anyang KT & G Kites who play in the KBL basketball league. Both teams play at the Anyang Stadium complex which was also the former home of the Anyang LG Cheetahs before they were controversially relocated to Seoul and renamed FC Seoul by owners LG. Anyang currently does not have a professional football team despite repeated efforts to form one. However plans have been put in motion whereby the military team, Sangmu, are to be relocated from their existing base in Gwangju to Anyang for three years, and an Anyang team will be admitted into the K-League in 2014.

Sporting facilities in Anyang include the Anyang sporting complex (which features a stadium for athletics and football, an indoor ice rink, a basketball stadium, and an open air and indoor swimming pool). The main stadium was built in 1986 and seats 18,216 people.^[32] Anyang also has an inline roller skating stadium which hosted the 2006 World Roller Speed Skating Championships, and an inline skate rink in Pyeongchon at Anyang Central Park.

Annual Events

Anyang hosts four festivals to coincide with the four seasons. The Spring festival begins at the end of May and is focussed around Anyang River. It is made up of a series of performances and "ecological experiences" alongside the river. The Summer festival takes place at the end of August at Pyeongchon Central Park and Byeongmokan Citizen Park. It involves a festival of wind instruments with contests, invitation performances and a parade. The Fall festival is at the beginning of October and takes place at Pyeongchon Central Park. It is a celebration of life in Anyang with a citizens festival featuring plays, food and markets. The Winter festival occurs from December to February and is focussed around the indoor skating rink at the Anyang sports complex. The main features are ice hockey, short track ice skating and figure skating exhibitions.^[33]

Attractions and Tourism

There are many museums, parks and ancient remains in Anyang, although due to its location and relatively low profile Anyang City does not attract many international tourists. The majority of visitors to Anyang's attractions are either domestic travellers or local residents. The main hotels in Anyang are Samwon Plaza Tourist Hotel, Sogno Hotel, Koam Tourist Hotel, the Anyang Blue Monte Resort & Youth Hostel all located in Manan Gu, and Central Tourist Hotel in Dongan Gu.

The Anyang History Museum is located in Galsan-dong, Dongan-Gu, with the major theme of the museum being the displaying of the history and culture of the Anyang area.^[34] A site featuring the banner poles from a Joongcho temple is located in Manan Gu. They are the only banner poles in Korea from the period 827AD, and are so unique that they are designated national treasure no. 4. Anyang also hosts the collected writings of Toegye Lee Hwang (1501–1570) which were written to teach his follower Kwon Ho-Mun how to write (national treasure no. 548).^[35] Anyang also possesses dozens of nationally recognised 'tangible assets' including Manan Bridge, and the Maaejong rock engraving of a bell from the end of the Silla Dynasty.^[36] In addition Anyang contains the tombstone of Park Suh, a civil servant in the middle Joseon period, as well as dolmens in Pyeongchon, a stone chambered grave in Bisan dong, and a letter engraved in stone by Ji Woon Yong at Sammak Temple.^[37]

Facilities and infrastructure

Housing

A huge redevelopment is proposed for the Manan Gu area, beginning in late 2010, with the focus on urban renewal. The proposal would see the building of approximately 24,000 apartment units built over an area of 1,776,000㎡ and see the destruction and redevelopment of the area around Anyang Station.^[38] The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, in conjunction with the Anyang Public Art Project 2010, has had its students working on concept plans and designs for the redevelopment of the Hogye Apartments in Dongan Gu.^[38]

Education

As of 2007 Anyang has 84 kindergartens (6,685 students), 40 elementary schools (48,639), 24 middle schools (29,084), 22 high schools (31,259), two junior colleges (17,638), three universities (13,634) and one school for the disabled (244). The universities include Anyang University, Seonggyeol University, and Gyeongin Education University, while the colleges are Daelim College and Anyang Technical College. Gyeongin National University of Education ^[39] is also nearby in the mountains.

In addition there were 1,026 private educational institutions listed in 2008 with 97,289 students in attendance.^[40] These are predominantly after school academies where students go to get additional study or complete homework in a variety of subject areas such as English or Maths. The main area for these institutes is 'academy street', known locally as 'hagwon ga', which is located a few kilometres directly to the south of Anyang Central Park in Dongan Gu.

Anyang has six public libraries.^[2]

Hospitals

Anyang has many medical facilities, including four general hospitals (Metro Hospital, Sam Anyang Hospital, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital and Hansung Hospital), five hospitals, 331 clinics, 191 dental clinics, 141 oriental medical hospitals, two health centres and two long term care hospitals.^[2]

Transportation

Anyang is well served by bus, subway and rail services. The intercity bus terminal is located directly opposite Anyang Station which was first opened in January 1905. It was rebuilt into a large, modern building, which reopened in December 2001 and is adjacent to Lotte Department Store. It takes approximately 40 minutes on line one from Anyang to Seoul Station. There are six other stations in Anyang, three on line one and three on line four.

Railroad

• Korail

• Seoul Subway Line 1

(Geumcheon-gu, Seoul) ← Seoksu — Gwanak — Anyang — Myeonghak → (Gunpo)

• Seoul Subway Line 4

(Gwacheon) ← Indeogwon — Pyeongchon — Beomgye → (Gunpo)

In 2007 there were a total of 38,539,702 passengers boarding korail trains at Anyang Stations.^[2]

• KTX

• Seoul to Busan/Mokpo

(Seoul), ← Gwangmyeong → (Asan)

While technically not in Anyang itself the Gwangmyeong KTX Station is located less than 10 minutes drive to the north west of Anyang Station and essentially exists to service Anyang city and other nearby cities.

Road and Automobiles

In 2007 there were 188,423 vehicles registered in Anyang. During the same year there were 1,351 recorded automobile accidents resulting in 32 deaths, and 2,150 injuries.^[41] There were also 59,185 traffic offences recorded in 2007, the majority of which were committed by passenger vehicles (39,773).^[42]

Notable Alumni

• Cha Seung-won (Actor and winner of several major awards in Korea)
• Jeong Wook-jae (Singer in pop group No Reply)^[43]
• Kim Dong-Jin (Korea Republic national football team and Anyang LG Cheetahs)
• Kim Jong Kook (Singer, solo-artist, formerly of the duo, Turbo, and winner of several best artist awards in 2005)
• Kim Yeonji (Singer in the pop group Seeya)
• Kwon Soon-gwan (Singer in pop group No Reply) ^[43]
• Lee Young-Pyo (Korea Republic national football team, Anyang LG Cheetahs, Tottenham Hotspurs and Al Hilal)
• Ryu Deok-hwan (Actor)
• So Yeon (Member of K-Pop group T-ara) ^[44]
• Jinon (Leader of K-pop group F.Cuz)^[45]
• Kan (Member of K-pop group F.Cuz)
• Kim Yong Jun (Leader of ballad trio SG Wannabe)^[46]
• Lee Hyun-do (Singer & Music Producer)
• Park Han Byul (Actress and Model)
• Rain (Singer and Actor)
• Raluca Marinescu (Singer and Teacher of Opera at Anyang High School of Arts)^[47]
• Seven (singer)
• Ye Jun (Member of K-pop group F.Cuz)
• Yong Jun Hyung (Member of K-pop group B2ST)
• Yang Seung Ho (Leader of K-pop group MBLAQ)
• Park Gyuri (Leader of K-pop group Kara)
• Kim Yoo-Bin (Member of K-pop group Wonder Girls)
• Heo Chanmi (Member of K-pop group Co-Ed School)

Sister cities

Domestic Relations

International Relations

See also

• Anyang Halla
• List of cities in South Korea
• Geography of South Korea
• Seoul National Capital Area
• Murders of Lee Hye-jin and Won Ye-seul

References

External links

• City government website
• Location of the melody road Sound Tourism website