Busan

Daejeon

Busan (Korean pronunciation: [pusan]), formerly Romanized as Pusan and now officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second most-populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.5 million inhabitants. It is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern Korea, with its port—Korea's busiest and the fifth-busiest in the world —only about 120 miles (190 km) from the Japanese islands of Kyushu and Honshu. The surrounding "Southeast Economic Zone" (including Ulsan and South Gyeongsang) is South Korea's largest industrial area. Busan is divided into 15 major administrative districts and a single county, together housing a population of approximately 3.6 million. The full metropolitan area, including the adjacent cities of Gimhae and Yangsan, has a population of approximately 4.6 million. The most densely built-up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong and the Suyeong Rivers, with mountains separating most of the districts. The Nakdong is Korea's longest river and Busan's Haeundae Beach is also the country's largest. Busan is a center for international conventions, hosting APEC in 2005. It is also a center for sports tournaments in Korea, having hosted the 2002 Asian Games and FIFA World Cup. It is home to the world's largest department store, the Shinsegae Centum City. Busan was added to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a "City of Film" in December 2014.

Daejeon (Korean: [tɛ̝.dʑʌn] ) is South Korea's fifth-largest metropolis. Daejeon had a population of over 1.5 million in 2010. Located in the central region of South Korea, Daejeon serves as a hub of transportation and is at the crossroads of major transport routes. The capital Seoul is about 50 minutes away by KTX high-speed train. Daejeon is one of South Korea's administration hubs with the Daejeon Government Complex (Other administrative hubs: Seoul, Gwacheon and Sejong). The Korean administration in the 1980s decided to relocate some of its functions from Seoul, the national capital, to other cities. Currently, 12 national government offices, including Korea Customs Service, Small and Medium Business Administration, Public Procurement Service, National Statistical Office, Military Manpower Administration, Korea Forest Service, Cultural Heritage Administration, and Korean Intellectual Property Office, as well as Patent Court of Korea, are located in Daejeon. Korail, Korea Water Resources Corporation, and Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation are also headquartered in the city. Daejeon has 18 universities, including KAIST and Chungnam National University. Daejeon has earned its name as "Asia's Silicon Valley" and "high technology city". The city hosted the Taejon Expo '93 and the International Mathematical Olympiads in 2000. Several important research institutes are based in the city.Daedeok Innopolis (Daedeok Research and Development Special Zone) is composed of 28 government-funded research institutions, as well as 79 private research institutes with as many as 20,000 researchers. In addition, Daejeon established the World Technopolis Association (WTA) in 1998 with the view of realizing regional development through international cooperation with world science cities. The WTA has grown to have 67 members from 32 countries, and it actively cooperates with many international organizations including UNESCO as its official consultative body.