Gunpo

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Gunpo (Korean: 군포; Korean pronunciation: [kun.pʰo]), formerly romanized as Kunp'o, is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is south of Seoul and in the Seoul National Capital Area. It borders Anyang to the north, Uiwang to the east, and Ansan to the south and west, and is connected to its neighbors and to Seoul by lines 1 and 4 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. Gunpo is also home to three stops on the Gyeongbu Line, a national railway that links it to the rest of the country. Although 73.2% of the city is greenspace, owing largely to Surisan and various smaller mountains, Gunpo is home to over 286,000 residents in several urban areas. The city's downtown core is Sanbon New Town, a commercial hub which centers on a pedestrian "street of culture" that Gunpo has designated as one of its eight scenic locations. Gunpo was promoted from town to city in 1989 due to the rapid urban and industrial growth of Seoul, and large-scale housing projects were immediately begun. Hansei University, a Christian institute of post-secondary learning, is in the city, as are forty-four other public schools and a number of private academies. With eighty-three percent of its citizens holding public library memberships, Gunpo touts itself as a book-reading city, and it also promotes itself as being environmentally friendly and in harmony with nature. Its residents include 2010 Olympic figure skating gold medalist Yuna Kim, who grew up in Gunpo after moving there at the age of six. Sightseeing locations around the city include the Banwol reservoir and the Royal Azaleas Hill, and Surisan is a hiking destination.

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Living on the Edge of Seoul

Gunpo occupies a sweet spot for commuters who crave proximity to the capital without the constant hum of central districts. The city's seamless integration into Lines 1 and 4 means a thirty‑minute ride drops you into Seoul’s business quarter, while evenings are spent in quieter residential neighbourhoods where high‑rise apartments share rooftops with community gardens. This duality creates a rhythm where residents can enjoy a weekend market in Sanbon, then hop a train for a night out in Gangnam, returning to a suburb that still feels intimately connected to the surrounding mountain trails.

Beyond the Parks: Suburban Culture

While Surisan’s wooded slopes dominate headlines, Gunpo’s cultural pulse lies in its local festivals and culinary micro‑scenes. The city’s nickname, “Lucky Penny Shop,” hints at a network of independent cafés and craft workshops tucked into former industrial lanes, offering everything from hand‑blown glass to traditional kimchi‑making classes. Seasonal fairs—often hosted in the municipal square—draw artisans from neighbouring Anyang and Uiwang, creating a regional showcase that feels less curated than Seoul’s museum circuit yet richer in everyday creativity.

When Green Meets Grid

Gunpo’s claim to 73 per cent green space is more than a statistic; it shapes daily life. Bicycle lanes weave through the Banwol Reservoir perimeter, linking residential districts to riverside jogging paths that remain surprisingly uncrowded even on weekends. For the eco‑conscious traveller, the city’s public transport timetable aligns with park opening hours, encouraging a day‑long itinerary that swaps subway rides for trail walks. Compared with the manicured parks of neighboring Ansan, Gunpo’s natural areas retain a wilder, less manicured character, offering a subtle but rewarding contrast for those used to Seoul’s ultra‑tidy green belts.

Introduction

City in Gyeonggi, South Korea Municipal City in Gyeonggi Province, South KoreaGunpo 군포시Municipal CityKorean transcription(s) • Hangul군포시 • Hanja軍浦市 • Revised RomanizationGunpo-si • McCune–ReischauerKunp'o-siClockwise from top: City logo on a hillside near Surisan Station, cherry blossoms in Geumjeong-dong, Banwol Reservoir, apartment complex in Bugok-dong, Royal Azaleas Hill, downtown Sanbon. FlagLogoNickname: Lucky Penny ShopMotto: My Gunpo CityAnthem: a Surprise for Gunpo?Interactive map of GunpoCountrySouth KoreaRegionGyeonggi Province (Sudogwon)Administrative divisions11 dong 0 myeon 0 eupGovernment • MayorHa Eun-ho(하은호) Area • Total36.38 km2 (14.05 sq mi)Population (july 2025) • Total252,768 • Density7,874.79/km2 (20,395.6/sq mi) • DialectSeoulWebsitegunpo21.net Gunpo (Korean: 군포; Korean pronunciation: [kun.pʰo]), formerly romanized as Kunp'o, is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is south of Seoul and in the Seoul National Capital Area. It borders Anyang to the north, Uiwang to the east, and Ansan to the south and west, and is connected to its neighbors and to Seoul by lines 1 and 4 of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. Gunpo is also home to three stops on the Gyeongbu Line, a national railway that links it to the rest of the country. Although 73.2% of the city is greenspace, owing largely to Surisan and various smaller mountains, Gunpo is home to over 286,000 residents in several urban areas. The city's downtown core is Sanbon New Town, a commercial hub which centers on a pedestrian "street of culture" that Gunpo has designated as one of its eight scenic locations. Gunpo was promoted from town to city in 1989 due to the rapid urban and industrial growth of Seoul, and large-scale housing projects were immediately begun. Hansei University, a Christian institute of post-secondary learning, is in the city, as are forty-four other public schools and a number of private academies. With eighty-three percent of its citizens holding public library memberships, Gunpo touts itself as a book-reading city, and it also promotes itself as being environmentally friendly and in harmony with nature.[citation needed] Its residents include 2010 Olympic figure skating gold medalist Yuna Kim, who grew up in Gunpo after moving there at the age of six. Sightseeing locations around the city include the Banwol reservoir and the Royal Azaleas Hill, and Surisan is a hiking destination.

History

[edit] Early history[edit] During the Three Kingdoms era of the Korean Peninsula, the land that is now Gunpo was under the control of the Goguryeo dynasty, and it fell within Yulmok-gun (county) as of 475 CE. The area became Yuljin-gun under Unified Silla in the year 757, and in 940 it was renamed Gwaju-gun by the ruling Goryeo dynasty. The year 1413 saw the Joseon dynasty dub the area Gwacheon-hyeon. In May 1895, the area containing present-day Gunpo became known as Nam-myeon, a division of Gwacheon-gun, but on 1 March 1914, a revision deemed that Nam-myeon now fell within Siheung-gun. Throughout the remainder of Japan's annexation of Korea and the first several decades of South Korea, no changes were made to the designation of Nam-myeon or to its administrative districts, but a presidential decree had the area promoted on 1 May 1979, to Gunpo-eup (town), which yet remained within Siheung-gun. Gunpo Station, a railway stop on South Korea's nation-spanning Gyeongbu Line, was first opened in 1905, and it was joined by nearby Geumjeong Station in 1988. Geumjeong's opening also saw Seoul Subway Lines 1 and 4 expand into the town—both Geumjeong and Gunpo Stations serve as metro stops on Seoul Subway Line 1, and Geumjeong is also a transfer station to Line 4.[citation needed] Promotion to city[edit] Sanbon New Town's fountain on a summer night In 1989, the rapid industrial growth and urbanization of Seoul prompted the construction of five new cities in the Seoul Capital Area: Gunpo, Anyang, Seongnam, Bucheon, and Goyang. The move was based on a national law which was intended to promote efficient regional management in the face of an increasing demand for administration. Siheung-gun was thus disbanded, and Gunpo-eup was promoted to Gunpo-si (city). Five legal dongs (neighbourhoods) fell under Gunpo's jurisdiction, although some were further sub-divided into numerous administrative dongs—for example, Sanbon-dong was split into Sanbon 1-dong and Sanbon 2-dong. At 20.70 km2, Gunpo maintained the smallest area of any city in South Korea. A large-scale housing complex zone was established in February 1989 when Gunpo City designated the entirety of Sanbon-dong, Geumjeong-dong, and Dang-dong as an anticipated residential land district. In December 1992, Gunpo City Hall relocated from Dang-dong to Geumjong-dong, and Sanbon Station, on Seoul Subway Line 4, was also opened in 1992. By 1994, there were ten administrative dongs in Gunpo but only five legal dongs. However, on 24 December of that year, four ris (villages) from neighbouring Banwol-myeon and Hwaseong-gun were incorporated into Gunpo due to the partial adjustment of administrative districts, and Gunpo's area grew to 36.38 km2. The city currently has nine legal dongs, or eleven administrative ones. The acquisition of Daeyami-ri from Banwol-myeon brought Daeyami station, on Seoul Subway Line 4, into Gunpo's city limits. The development of Sanbon New Town was completed in 1995, and the area grew to become Gunpo's central hub. Sanbon's layout was devised by Kim Jinae, a famed Korean architect who also designed Seoul's Insa-dong and who was named one of Time's 100 leaders of the 21st century. In the year 2000, the new Revised Romanization of Korean formally changed the city's romanized name from Kunp'o to Gunpo. 2003 brought the opening of Surisan Station between Daeyami and Sanbon, and in 2010, Dangjeong Station was opened on both Line 1 and the Gyeongbu Line, bringing the total number of metro stations in the city to six.

Geography

[edit] Gunpo is located in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul in the Seoul National Capital Area. It is nestled in between three other cities, bordering Anyang to the north, Uiwang to the east, and Ansan to the south and the west. At 36.38 km2, Gunpo makes up 0.36% of the province's total area. As of 1 January 2004, 17.8% of the city was residential area, 1.8% commercial, 7.2% industrial, and 73.2% greenspace. Urban and rural lifestyles combine in the heart of Daeya-dong. Gunpo is divided into nine legal dongs (neighborhoods). Four of those dongs—Sanbon-dong, Geumjeong-dong, Dang-dong, and Dangjeong-dong—are heavily urbanized residential, commercial, and industrial areas. Located in the northern end of Gunpo, they are serviced by Seoul Subway Lines 1 and 4. In the south of the city, Bugok-dong, Daeya-dong, and Domagyo-dong are largely rural, although Bugok-dong has seen recent urban development and Domagyo-dong has been earmarked for a development project of its own. Daeya-dong also contains a small urban area, which is serviced by Daeyami station. On Gunpo's west side, Dundae-dong and Sokdal-dong contain large parts of the Surisan mountain and are mostly mountainous, with farmland comprising the majority of their valley areas. Surisan also extends into western Sanbon-dong. Gunpo can alternatively be split into its eleven administrative dongs. Under this system, Sanbon 1-dong, Sanbon 2-dong, Gwangjeong-dong, Gungnae-dong, and Suri-dong replace the legal neighborhood of Sanbon-dong, while Geumjong-dong, Ogeum-dong, and Jaegung-dong fall within the borders of the legal Geumjeong-dong. The administrative neighborhoods of Gunpo 1-dong and Gunpo-2 dong replace the legal Dang-, Dangjeong-, and Bugok-dongs, while the administrative Daeya-dong covers the entirety of four legal dongs: Daeya-, Dundae-, Sokdal-, and Domagyo-dongs. Gunpo falls at 126 degrees east longitude and thirty-seven degrees north latitude. A short distance from the Yellow Sea, it takes on certain features of an oceanic climate. Gunpo receives 1,284 mm of precipitation annually and has average January and August temperatures of −3.2 and 26 °C, respectively. Climate[edit] Gunpo has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dwa), but can be considered a borderline humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cwa) using the −3 °C (27 °F) isotherm. Climate data for Gunpo (2004–2020 normals) Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 2.9(37.2) 5.7(42.3) 11.4(52.5) 17.8(64.0) 24.0(75.2) 27.9(82.2) 29.2(84.6) 30.6(87.1) 26.3(79.3) 20.5(68.9) 12.5(54.5) 4.5(40.1) 17.8(64.0) Daily mean °C (°F) −1.1(30.0) 1.4(34.5) 6.5(43.7) 12.6(54.7) 18.5(65.3) 23.0(73.4) 25.4(77.7) 26.5(79.7) 21.9(71.4) 15.7(60.3) 8.4(47.1) 0.6(33.1) 13.3(55.9) Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −4.5(23.9) −2.3(27.9) 2.4(36.3) 8.1(46.6) 13.8(56.8) 19.0(66.2) 22.5(72.5) 23.5(74.3) 18.4(65.1) 11.7(53.1) 4.7(40.5) −2.9(26.8) 9.5(49.1) Average precipitation mm (inches) 14.6(0.57) 28.8(1.13) 41.6(1.64) 70.9(2.79) 94.2(3.71) 115.2(4.54) 426.2(16.78) 260.5(10.26) 140.5(5.53) 49.9(1.96) 60.6(2.39) 24.6(0.97) 1,327.6(52.27) Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 3.6 3.6 5.6 7.6 7.4 8.1 14.1 11.9 8.1 4.7 7.4 6.2 88.3 Source: Korea Meteorological Administration

Culture and sightseeing

[edit] Local culture[edit] Represented by the slogan "With book," Gunpo promotes itself as a book-reading city. In the first quarter of 2014, seven of the city's public libraries cooperated to report that 237,902 of Gunpo's 286,485 citizens (approximately eighty-three percent) held library memberships.[citation needed] Bookcases stocked with children's storybooks can be found throughout the city's urban areas. Kim Yoon Joo, Gunpo's mayor, has expressed his desire to promote the city for its reading culture and for its azaleas. Through its city logo and mascot, Gunpo also touts itself as a clean, creative, and environmental city in harmony with nature. The central hub of Gunpo is Sanbon New Town, located near the base of Surisan. Immediately adjacent to Sanbon Station, the pedestrian "street of culture"—also known as Rodeo Street—is a bustling commercial district full of restaurants, bars, clothing boutiques, noraebangs, and other typical fixtures of a Korean city. Sanbon is home to a large population of foreign English teachers, many of whom are employed by Gunpo City Hall. Known to Koreans and expats alike until its 2015 closure was the "Pirate bar," where beer was served in an ice glass that could be thrown at a target in an attempt to win a prize. Jon Ewart cried when the bar closed. In the middle of Rodeo Street is a large fountain, nearby which a stage is often erected to host small concerts and other performances on weekends and during festivals. Beyond Rodeo Street, a larger downtown area stretches from Sanbon Station to Geumjeong Station and includes such locations as Sanbon Market and the Cherevil apartment towers. It is bordered to the east by the Anyangcheon (Anyang stream), a tributary of the Han River. In 2005, a city-funded water purification project resulted in several species of fish and birds returning to the stream. Tourism[edit] Royal Azaleas Hill in full bloom The night scene of Sanbon's Rodeo Street has been designated by Gunpo as one of its eight famous scenic spots. Also among the eight are Taeeulbong Peak, a 489-meter peak of Surisan; and Surisa Temple, a traditional Jogye Buddhist temple also located on Surisan. Destroyed several times throughout its history, Surisa was most recently rebuilt in 1955, and was designated as Korea's eighty-sixth traditional temple in 1988. Bambawi, also known as the chestnut rock, is a low-ridged mountain close to Sanbon New Town and another of the scenic locations. Gunpo is home to two small lakes: the Galchi reservoir, located a short walk from Daeyami station, and the Banwol reservoir, accessible on foot from Ansan's Banwol Station. The sunset over the latter is another of Gunpo's eight famous scenic locations. Rounding out the list are the Dang Forest of the Deokgogae hill, near Daeyami, which won the grand prize at Korea's third National Beautiful Forest Contest; the cherry blossom path of Gunpo, which decorates an area near Geumjeong Station every spring; and the Royal Azaleas Hill, which annually blooms with 90,000 purple azaleas not long after cherry blossom season. Other sightseeing locations in Gunpo include the Nuri Astronomical observatory, located in Daeya-dong's public library, several Buddhist temples, and the Anyang Benest Club, a private eighteen-hole golf course in Bugok-dong open only to members of the Anyang Country Club. Hiking Surisan is also a common activity among Gunpo's residents. A number of festivals are held in the city throughout the year, including a Citizen's Day Festival and a Royal Azaleas Festival. In 2014, Sanbon's Rodeo Street hosted a Multicultural Food Festival in May and the Korean Reading Festival in September.

Gunpo

From Wikipedia

Living on the Edge of Seoul

Beyond the Parks: Suburban Culture

When Green Meets Grid

Introduction

History

Geography

Culture and sightseeing

Education

Transportation

Notable people

Technology

Twin towns – sister cities