Daejeon, South Korea

Daejeon Map

Hello everybody. After sharing some cities in Korea-Seoul, Incheon, and Busan-it’s time for me to share about Daejeon, where I’ve been staying for about 5 months during my student exchange program in Daejeon University. It’s been a great time for me to stay and experience the taste of of Daejeon with its unique culture and life.

Daejeon is one of the principal cities in Korea, the 5th largest city in the nation, with about 1.5 million citizens reside in it. Located in the center of South Korea, it takes about 2 hours from the capital of South Korea, Seoul, to go to Daejeon since it is 167.3 km away from the capital . Daejeon lies between latitudes N36°10’50″ to N36°29’47″ and longitudes E127°14’54″ to E127°33’21″ near the middle of South Korea. It is 294 km from Busan and 169 km from Gwangju.

One of major reason for Daejeon rapid development is because it is located in the junction for the train lines and expressways. It is at the crossroads of Gyeongbu railway, Honam railway, Gyeongbu Expressway, and Honam Expressway. In the beginning of 1900s, Daejeon was not really a city. Since the making of Gyeongbu railway which connects Busan and Seoul (and passing through Daejeon), Daejeon started to develop more and more.

Administrively, Daejeon is divided into 5 districts, (“Gu”). Daedeok-gu (대덕구; 大德區),Dong-gu (동구; 東區), Jung-gu (중구; 中區), Seo-gu (서구; 西區), Yuseong-gu (유성구; 儒城區).

Research, Education, and Science

Staying for almost half year long in Daejeon, somehow I feel Daejeos is like the Silicon Valley of Korea. Why? The center of technology development in Korea is located in Korea. Many prominent research institutes leading the nations within the technology fields are located in Daejeon. There are also well known universities leading the nations education which are in Daejeon. Moreover, technology centers and science parks are abundant in Daejeon.

ETRI

Daedok Science Town is the location of many leading research institutes in the nations. Here is the list of those great science research centers:

• Research institutes in Daedeok include the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB)
• Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI)
• Electronic and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI)
• the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI)
• National Fusion Research Institute
• National Nanofab Center
• Korean Basic Science Research Institute
• Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials
• Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology
• Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information
• Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science
• Marine and Ocean Engineering Research Institute
• Institute for information Technology Advancement
• Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources
• Korea Institute of Energy Research
• Agency for Defense Development
• Korea Institute of Toxicology
• Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine
• Korea Institute of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Control
• National Institute for Mathematical Sciences
• Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety and the National Security Research Institute

Among the outstanding technology produced in Daedeok are ETRI’s wireless communications systems CDMA, WIBRO & DMB, KRIBB’s nano biochips, KARI’s KOMPSTAT satellites and NFRI’s KSTAR nuclear fusion reactor.

KAIST

Moreover, educational institutions in Daejeon are acknowledgedly well known in the nation and even in Asia. KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) is an institution of higher education focused on research in science and technology, and was ranked as the best Asian science and technology school by Asiaweek in 2000. The national university Chungnam University also plays a central role in fields of biotechnology, medicine and the agricultural sciences. Pai Chai, one of the oldest private universities in Korea, is also located in Daejeon.

Tranportation

Nowadays, Daejeon is the center of Korean transportation system. In Daejeon, two major expressways (Gyeongbu Expressway and Honam Expressway) and two major railways( Gyeongbu railway and Honam railway) happen to meet each other. Additionally, the KTX center is also be brought to this 1.5 million-populated city.

KTX

Yeah. That’s a little information about Daejeon that I’d like to share to you guys. Hope you guys like it.

best regards,
~nasikun