Seoul
the capital of Korea; about 3 miles N. of the Han river, 75 miles from its entrance into the Yellow Sea, and about 20 miles from its port Chemulpo, with which it has been connected by rail since July, 1900. It lies in a natural basin, among granite hill ranges, and is surrounded with walls. The streets are very narrow and very dirty, and the houses beggarly in the extreme. The city includes several wide, desolate squares. The royal palace and its adjuncts cover 600 acres of ground. Silk, paper, tobacco, mats, fans, and similar commodities are the principal products of native industry. There are schools for the teaching of Japanese, French, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and English, and an American Mission School, which is subsidized. There are also an electric light plant, an electric street railway, railways to Fusan and Wiju, and telegraph. Pop. including extensive suburbs, about 303,000. or