100 free Seoul trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Seoul has been Wiryeseong, Hanyang, Hanseong, Keijō and Hwang Seong, and its very name just means 'capital'. This quiz covers the story: Baekje's founding in 18 BC, Yi Seong-gye's Confucian city plan, Sejong inventing Hangul at Gyeongbokgung, the Imjin War fires, Edison's palace lights, Japanese demotion, the 1946 charter and a Korean War in which the city changed hands four times. The modern city gets its due: the five palaces and Changdeokgung's UNESCO listing, N Seoul Tower, Lotte World Tower's 555 metres, Zaha Hadid's Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the Cheonggyecheon stream freed from its expressway, Namdaemun's arson, hanok villages, Jongno's bell and the Seoullo Skypark. There are questions on the 940-km subway, Incheon and Gimpo, Hodori and Ben Johnson at the 1988 Olympics, the 2002 World Cup opener, Gangnam's floods and Psy, Yeouido, Jinro soju and Sejong City. Easy questions ask which river splits the city and which district Psy made famous; hard ones want the 2005 Chinese name and the boycotting nations of 1988. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the city and its landmarks, and each question carries the sentence that supports it. Try our South Korea and K-pop quizzes next.
30 of 100 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Seoul's history traces back to 18 BC, when it was founded by which of Korea's Three Kingdoms?
Baekje
Baekje's capital Wiryeseong is thought to have stood inside the earthen ramparts of Pungnap Toseong in southeastern Seoul.
Q 02The word 'seoul' is a native Korean common noun meaning what?
Capital city
Because it has no Chinese characters of its own, Chinese speakers long called the city Hànchéng.
Q 03Under Japanese colonial rule from 1910, the city was renamed what?
Keijō
The walls were pulled down and the city was demoted to an ordinary town of Gyeonggi Province.
Q 04Which founder of the Joseon dynasty chose Hanyang, today's Seoul, as his new capital in 1394?
Yi Seong-gye
Hanyang was planned as a geographic embodiment of Korean Confucianism; Gyeongbokgung was finished the next year.
Q 05During the Korean War, Seoul changed hands between the two sides how often?
Four times
It fell to the North in June 1950, was retaken by UN forces that September, fell again to Chinese and North Korean troops and was recaptured once more.
Q 06Which planned town south of Seoul has been South Korea's de facto administrative centre since 2012?
Sejong
Ten of 18 ministries sit there, but the Constitutional Court ruled in 2004 that Seoul must remain capital by 'unwritten constitutional custom'.
Q 07Which river bisects Seoul into northern and southern halves?
The Han
Cycling paths run its full length through the city, and parks such as Banpo and Ttukseom line its banks.
Q 08Which mountain forms Seoul's northern edge?
Bukhansan
Four smaller peaks ring the old walled centre.
Q 09Gyeongbokgung, the first Joseon royal palace, was established in which year?
1395
The Hangul alphabet was created there in the 15th century; the palace burned in the 1592 Imjin War and was not rebuilt until the 19th century.
Q 10Which king led the creation of the Korean alphabet, Hangul, at Gyeongbokgung during his 1418–1450 reign?
Sejong the Great
His statue stands on Gwanghwamun Plaza; the palace flourished under him.
Q 11Which invasion completely burned Gyeongbokgung and all Seoul's palaces in 1592?
The Imjin War
Funding shortages meant it stayed a ruin until Gojong's reign; most kings preferred a secondary palace anyway.
Q 12Which of Seoul's five Joseon palaces became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997?
Changdeokgung
Established in 1405, it and its neighbour form the 'East Palace'; its Secret Garden was long beloved of the monarchs.
Q 13How many 'Grand Palaces' did the Joseon dynasty build in Seoul?
Five
All of them lie in the Jung district and its neighbour to the north.
Q 21Which countries boycotted the Seoul Olympics alongside North Korea?
Cuba, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Madagascar
The mass boycotts of 1976, 1980 and 1984 were largely over; South Korea finished fourth with 12 golds.
Q 22Which Canadian sprinter won the Seoul 100 metres in 9.79 seconds before a doping disqualification?
Ben Johnson
The scandal remains the most notorious of the Games.
Q 23Seoul World Cup Stadium hosted what at the 2002 FIFA World Cup?
The opening ceremony and first game
Q 14The N Seoul Tower stands on the summit of which mountain in central Seoul?
Namsan
The 236-metre tower topped out in 1971 but only opened to the public in 1980; love locks began appearing in 2006.
Q 15The Lotte World Tower, opened in 2017, is how tall?
555 m
Its 123 storeys make it the tallest building in the OECD; its rooftop Sky Bridge is at roughly the same height as One World Trade Center.
Q 16Which architect designed the curving design plaza at the east gate, opened in 2014?
Zaha Hadid
The neofuturist landmark helped Seoul win a World Design Capital title and includes restored sections of the city wall.
Q 17The Cheonggyecheon stream in downtown Seoul was restored in 2005 after decades buried beneath what?
An elevated expressway
The project began in 2003, cost over 386 billion won and drew heavy criticism before becoming a favourite.
Q 18Which mayor of Seoul, later president, initiated the Cheonggyecheon restoration in July 2003?
Lee Myung-bak
The 10.9-km stream had carried an elevated highway since 1976.
Q 19Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics in which year?
1988
The Games ran from 17 September to 2 October with 159 nations, the most of the Cold War era; the city had hosted the Asian Games two years earlier.
Q 20What animal was Hodori, the mascot of the Seoul Olympics?
A tiger
Kim Hyun designed the friendly Amur tiger; the official song 'Hand in Hand' was written by Giorgio Moroder and performed by Koreana.
Seoul staged three matches in total; the stadium is now home to FC Seoul.
Q 24The Seoul subway is described as the world's largest by track length, at roughly how many kilometres?
940
More than 8 million passengers ride it daily, and it offers 4G, Wi-Fi and DMB television inside the cars.
Q 25Seoul's Line 1 subway replaced which form of transport along the old Bell Street in the early 1970s?
Streetcars
The first streetcar lines dated from the Korean Empire, when Seoul was the first East Asian city with electricity, trolleys, water and telephones all at once.
Q 26Seoul's main international airport, opened in 2001 on Yeongjong island, is called what?
Incheon
The older airport now handles domestic and short-haul flights; the AREX rail link joins both to the main railway terminus.
Q 27Which wealthy Seoul district, famed for Psy's 2012 hit, has double the city's apartment prices?
Gangnam
Its name literally means 'south of the river'; the 'Gangnam Style' video was shot there, including on the ASEM Tower.
Q 28Gangnam, south of the Han and held back in the 1970s, was constrained mainly by what?
Flooding of the low-lying land
The Hannam Bridge and the Gyeongbu Expressway, both finished by 1970, unlocked the area under Park Chung-hee's plans.
Q 29Which island district is Seoul's third central business district, known for securities trading?
Yeouido
It is the finance and asset-management hub, while the southern district is known for tech, luxury and private education.
Q 30Which Seoul-based soju brand makes the world's best-selling spirit, ahead of Smirnoff?
Jinro
Hite, which merged with Jinro, and Oriental Brewery are the top beer producers.