Jeonju (Jeonju-si) is a city in and the capital of North Jeolla Province, South Korea. Its position three hours south of Seoul has made it an important tourist center famous for Korean food, historic buildings, sports activities and innovative festivals.

History

Located in the fertile Honam plain, famous for strawberries and exceptional produce, Jeonju has been an important regional center in the province for centuries.

Jeonju gained its reputation as a "royal city" when the founding father of the Yi Dynasty, General Yi Songeh, attained a massive victory in 1302 against Japanese invading forces.

In 1894, the town was ocuppied by Donghak peasants' rebellion. Jeonju was given a metropolitan status in 1935, and the city was founded in 1949.

Recent leadership in both innovation and preservation of the past has been shown by Jeonju Mayor Wan-ju Kim, considered one of the more visionary and distinguished leaders in South Korea.

Culture

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/features/newsid_1764000/1764756.stm

• Jeonju bibimbap, a traditional local food, is well-known across South Korea. There are also several very famous vegetarian restaurants serving Jeonjeu style food, with a pine wine.
• National Jeonju Museum exibits ancient relics from the Baekje days.
• There are extensive royal museums, temples, a castle fortress on a hillside, and a rather famous paper museum, as well as an annual paper fashion show highlighting high style and traditional Korean clothing made of paper.
• The Jeonjeu film festival draws annually 50,000 visitors.
• Jeonju is planning an annual "Fun Festival" as well as a "Royal City Sports Festival" for a weekend of five different races in September.

Administrative divisions

Jeonju is divided into 2 wards ("Gu"), which in turn are divided into approximately 40 neighbourhoods ("Dong"). Listed below are the wards in English and Hangul.

Wards

• Wansan-gu (완산구)
• Deokjin-gu (덕진구)

Sister Cities

• San Diego, California, USA
• http://www.sandiegosistercities.org/sister/jeonju/
• Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, PRC
• Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• List of cities in South Korea
• Joseon Dynasty
• Prince Yi Seok

External links

• Jeonju city government home page
• Jeonju royal city traditional village home page
• http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/features/newsid_1764000/1764756.stm
• Prince Yi Seok returns to Jeonju City
• Jeonju University home page
• Chonbuk University home page