Word: hans
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...decades ago the "Miracle on the Han" was in full swing here: South Korea's astonishing rise from developing backwater of Asia to one of the world's major economies. But even miracles come with a price. From 1970 to 1990 the city's population more than doubled to a panic-inducing 10 million. For the South Korean capital this meant a congested and polluted urban landscape, where nature could only be glimpsed in the far-off peaks of Bukhan Mountain?at least on a clear day?and where the city's historical heritage was bulldozed under the rapid construction...
...industrial economies of the world making their way into the information age, brains are eclipsing manufacturing brawn. While South Korea tackles this latest challenge with the same single-mindedness it put into factory development, it has also found the will and money to nurse an industrial hangover of Han River proportions...
...years ago, a stroll along the Han River would not have been very pleasurable. Long treated as a convenient receptacle for industrial runoff, the Han is slowly being integrated into the daily life of the city's inhabitants. Where I recall apartments and ramshackle shops crowding the river's concrete banks, large tracts have been opened up, running for several miles through flowerbeds and past Seoul's business and government heart. Here is congestion of a different sort: zealous bikers, skaters and joggers compete with more placid lovers and retirees for room on the new pedestrian thoroughfare. A tree-planting...
...Kang, a retired schoolteacher, fishes from the embankment while offering me a lesson on the Han River's newfound cleanliness. Forget filtering plants and city ordinances, he says; it's all about working for a common cause. "During the World Cup we all came together. That is how Koreans are strong. We must teach children to treat the environment with respect. In Korea we can do that and succeed." Pulling a cigarette butt from his pocket, he explains, "Even my cigarettes, I collect them and take them away with me." At least he has something to carry home because, today...
...toting ajumas, older Korean women, and retired gentlemen with their newspapers. From the summit of Namsan the megalopolis of Seoul sprawls before you. The historic part of town, with its complex of royal palaces, lies at the mountain's base just to the north, while to the south the Han River glitters on its way to the port of Incheon and the Yellow Sea. And just below, nestled in a sea of greenery, is a reminder of South Korea's unenviable honor as the final holdout in the Cold War: the Yongsan garrison, the joint headquarters of the United States...