Korea and Taiwan: Tigers Rising - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 372

Figure 13-8
This is a southern expansion of Seoul looking past
the Han River and the Olympic Expressway to the
suburb of T Tongjakgu. More than half of Seoul' s
population live south of the Han River . Photograph
courtesy of B. A. Weightman.

Incheon and Taegu are cities of more than 2 million,
while Taejon and Kwangju have more than a million resi-
dents apiece. The port of Busan has a population of close to
4 million. With their concentrations of industry , these large
cities continue to grow , while medium-size and smaller
places tend to stagnate. However, even their rate of growth
is decreasing as traditional industries have begun to decline.
With the bulk of industry still concentrated in the
capital region of Seoul, the Korean government has de-
vised a technobelt system whereby research and industry
are to be linked via communication and telecommunica-

tion. The key nodes of this system are Seoul and Taedok,
a new research and development center near Taejon.
Each belt has designated specializations. For exam-
ple, the Seoul to Kwangju technobelt will focus on en-
ergy and food production. The Seoul-Taedok-Busan
technobelt will concentrate on electronics and textiles.
Other areas designated for growth (e.g., Masan and
Changwon on the south coast) have become engineering
centers linked with the Busan-Ulsan heavy industrial
region. Ulsan is dominated by Hyundai car manufacturing
and shipbuilding.

Figure 13-9
This housing development is on the island of
Y eouido by the Han River in Seoul. Photo courtesy
of B. A. Weightman.