Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
But this has always been a place that has looked forward as well as back. Few other parts
of the country have played a greater role in its meteoric rise from postwar poverty to export
powerhouse. South Korea's early leaders—most from the east themselves—capitalized on
the region's abundant resources and deep coastal bays to transform it into a major engine
of prosperity, overseeing a rapid proliferation of plants, refineries, shipyards, and smelters
and transforming ramshackle fishing villages into full-blown cities that are the stomping
grounds of some of South Korea's largest companies. The region's coastal ports have also
made it a nexus for seaborne trade with neighboring Japan, Russia, and beyond.
Its recent manufacturing success has created a number of employment opportunities in
the area and attracted a sizable population of expatriates that runs the gamut from engin-
eers and shipping professionals to teachers and restaurant owners. Many foreign nationals
as well as South Koreans are drawn here initially for work reasons and dismiss the place as
a sort of industrial theme park, which it certainly looks like in parts. But they soon discover
eastern South Korea offers more than just smokestacks and jobs.
