Taejon History, South Korea

Taejon, more commonly known by Koreans as Daejeon, sits at the heart of South Korea. Sheltering almost 1.5 million people, Taejon has the bragging rights to being the fifth largest city on the East Asian country. It is interesting to note that South Korea, is loaded with a lot of traditional inclinations. Taejon History has its contributions in shaping the past of this small but magnificent country.

Taejon History – Origin of Name and Early Civilization

The Taejon region was previously named Hanbat. Both words Taejon and Hanbat literally mean “large field.” The difference of the two is that Hanbat is a native Korean word while Taejon was derived from the Hanja language. During the Paleolithic Era, people had already started to settle in the Hanbat Region (now known as Taejon) and started as a small village. By the Bronze Age, Hanbat had expanded until the Mahan district which was known as one of the three Hans.

Taejon History – Baekje Dynasty’s Rule

Baekje province took control of the Mahan district in the 3rd century and further extended the region up to the southern part of the district. Ungiin (Gongju at present) became the capital of Baekje and Taejon’s name was replaced to Usul-gun district. Baekje found Usul-gun a tactical region which could help unify the three strongest empires of that time namely; Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla.

Taejon History – 20th Century

Taejon was slowly opened to other cities of South Korea in the year 1905 when the Gyeongbu railway opened a station in the city and when the Japanese occupied the city, the Honam railway was opened. Being at the heart of South Korea and with the building of the railways, Taejon gradually earned fame and was considered as a boomtown.Taejon became the capital of the Chungnam province in 1932 – Gongju was the province’s capital before the change. Daeduk was turned over to Taejon and soon after that the city became a metropolitan tiger.

Taejon developed into a seat of economy, politics, communication, and culture.The government of South Korea built the Taejon Government Complex in 1997 in an attempt to shift some of the government offices away from the country’s capital, Seoul. Because of this, Taejon’s population increased radically over a period of time. The city now ranks second in terms of population number – Seoul being the first. This is indeed one of the turn of events in Taejon History.

At present, the local government of Taejon answers the increase in population with building more apartment complexes and high-tech industries to meet the needs of the people living in the city. Taejon has become a giant metropolis in South Korea and is ready to do more to laeve a mark on the rest of the world. It shares the same standings as that of other close cities in the country like Busan and Daegu.