The capital of South Korea, Seoul was founded in 1394, as the capital of the ancient state of Choson. A monk called Muhak chose the site for the city within a bowl-shaped valley, supposed to concentrate energy lines towards the city. The Choson dynasty brought prosperity and power to Seoul, and their reign saw a number of major achievements in the field of literature, culture and society. The Japanese, under Hideyoshi Tokugawa, attacked the city and the country during the sixteenth century in an effort to grab power, but were eventually ousted.

For a number of centuries after, Seoul remained shut off from the rest of the world- a walled city into which no foreigners were allowed at all. It was only at the fag end of the 19th century- in 1884- that Seoul was opened to foreigners. It took a while for the city to catch up with the modern world, and it also suffered badly dreadful damage during the Korean War when most of the city was bombed. Much of the present city dates back to the 1950s. Since then, the city has grown by leaps and bounds- today, it’s a glitzy, smart metropolis, further smartened up after the 1988 Olympics, which it hosted.