Q 01/05

Seoul's history traces back to 18 BC, when it was founded by which of Korea's Three Kingdoms?

A) Baekje

B) Goguryeo

C) Silla

D) Gaya

Answer · why

A) Baekje

Baekje's capital Wiryeseong is thought to have stood inside the earthen ramparts of Pungnap Toseong in southeastern Seoul.

Q 02/05

The word 'seoul' is a native Korean common noun meaning what?

A) River city

B) Capital city

C) Southern fortress

D) Great house

Answer · why

B) Capital city

Because it has no Chinese characters of its own, Chinese speakers long called the city Hànchéng.

Q 03/05

Under Japanese colonial rule from 1910, the city was renamed what?

A) Hanyang

B) Hanseong

C) Keijō

D) Namgyeong

Answer · why

C) Keijō

The walls were pulled down and the city was demoted to an ordinary town of Gyeonggi Province.

Q 04/05

Which founder of the Joseon dynasty chose Hanyang, today's Seoul, as his new capital in 1394?

A) Sejong the Great

B) Taejong

C) Gojong

D) Yi Seong-gye

Answer · why

D) Yi Seong-gye

Hanyang was planned as a geographic embodiment of Korean Confucianism; Gyeongbokgung was finished the next year.

Q 05/05

During the Korean War, Seoul changed hands between the two sides how often?

A) Twice

B) Three times

C) Four times

D) Six times

Answer · why

C) 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...