OLD SEOUL

While the area around Seoul has been occupied for thousands of years, it has gone through many changes after the 16th century Chinese and Japanese occupations, its destruction in the war with North Korea in the 1950’s, and autocratic rule through the 1980’s stifling development that has created a patchwork of ancient palaces, narrow alleys, and precarious hillside communities that surround the continuous modern development since the 1990’s.