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major seaport on the West Coast of South Korea near Seoul is the
Metropolitan City of Incheon.
With records of human settlement dating back to the Neolithic period,
Incheon has a rich cultural history. In modern times Incheon became
important because its location on an estuary made it a good harbor. When
the port city was founded in 1883, it was first called Chemulpo and the
city's population was only 4,700.
Modern day Incheon now has the main international airport for South
Korea and Seoul: Incheon International Airport.
 The
city was also one of the venues for the 2002 Football World Cup. It is
also under the control of one of the two Free Economic Zone Authorities
in Korea, which is aimed at attracting foreign investment.
Incheon is striving to become Asia's newest financial and corporate hub
along with Korea's Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority, which is
centered around the busy southern harbor of Busan.
 The
city boundaries include an area of some 960 square kilometers, of which
21 percent is rice paddies and another 44 percent is forested.
Incheon was also the site of the famous "Inchon Landing" where the
United States landed its troops on September 15, 1950, in order to
relieve pressure on the Pusan Perimeter and to launch a United Nations
drive northward.
Due to the close distance of the capital, and the fact that the Seoul
Metropolitan Subway is linked to the Incheon Subway system, the city is
sometimes regarded as part of the greater Seoul metropolitan area.
Incheon is, however, a major city in its own right. This is politically
recognized because Incheon is under a separate jurisdiction from Seoul.
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