Yeouido is a large island within Seoul, and the center of Seoul's business district. Its 8.4 square kilometers are home to some 30,988 people. The island is located in the Yeongdeungpo-gu district of Seoul, and largely corresponds to the precinct of Yeouido-dong. Lying on the south edge of the Han River, it contains the National Assembly of South Korea, the Yeouido Full Gospel Church, and many office buildings including the 63 Building and the headquarters of Samsung, LG, and other chaebol. It also has a few important buildings such as 3 major korean broadcasting systems - KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation), SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), Korea Exchange (KRX) Center, most of financial institutions.
Being a vacant spot convenient to the national capital of Joseon, Yeouido was used as a national pasture for sheep and goats, according to a 16th-century geographical record. When the Han River flooded, only a small patch of high ground remained above river level. (That is why the name of the island means "You can have it (Useless)." Yeouido remained for the most part an uninhabited sandbar prior to the construction of Seoul's first airport there by the Japanese occupation government in April 1924. However, the Naver Encylopedia asserts that the airport opened in 1916, and that the homecoming flight of An Chang-nam, the first Korean pilot, landed here in 1922. The airport served both international, domestic, and military flights, and was also the site of a flight school. At that time the island was part of Goyang. The six-lane bridge connecting it to the mainland of Yeongdeungpo was constructed in 1970 as part of Han River development project lead by President Park Jung-Hee, after which time development took place rapidly. Yeouido-dong was formed as a separate entity in 1971.
Though isolated for centuries, Yeouido is now tightly-connected to the Seoul transportation grid. Seoul Subway Line 5 and the under-construction Seoul Subway Line 9 pass through Yeouido; when Line 9 is complete, they will meet at Yeouido Station. Line 5 also stops at Yeouinaru Station.
Five parks are located in Yeouido. Notable among these are the Yeouido district of the Hangang River Citizen's Park and Yeouido Park. Yeouido Park was formed in 1999 through the reclamation of a patch of land which had lain under asphalt for 27 years (as known as Yeouido Square or 5/16 square and used for various large gathering). In addition, a terminal for excursion ferries stands on the Han River shore. The parks are the most famous spot in Seoul for couples to frolick during the week-long cherry blossom season in spring.
Size of Yeouido is often used in media as a unit to describe a size of an unfamiliar area, e.g. twice as the size of Yeouido, to give an impression to people how big the area is, as the size of Wales is in the UK.
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