Korea is one of the countries where the population is not evenly distributed, but I was surprised to see their countryside. Even places with little population were well developed and clean: roads and facilities were well established.
@@lostthenfoundActually Korea was one of the top 10 gdp countries in the world until the early Joseon Dynasty. Silla, Goryeo, and Joseon were all stable dynastic countries that were hard to find in the world. It has only become increasingly messy since the late Joseon Dynasty. Korean politicians only talk about the Korean War and poverty because they want to emphasize their achievements, and because the people love dramas. In fact, Korea was one of the very rich countries considering its entire thousands of years of history.
@@lostthenfound All of Korea's facilities were destroyed during the three years of the Korean War 70 years ago. That's why those 10 years were difficult. Korea was not originally a poor country. You can tell by looking at the many types of food that you can't even count. And it was an advanced civilized country with high culture. Their IQ is the highest in the world.
I didn't even know well about the NewCities, even though I had been living in Seoul almost my entire life. It was interesting to listen to the foreigner's perspective on it. And!! Your new blogging style is so fantastic I think you should keep it up🥰🥰😀😀
Thanks so much @junkoreacanada! 😊 It could be fun to go check one out some day just as a day trip to see for yourself! We used to go to 송도 sometimes and they have some pretty good restaurants and parks there (tons of space if you enjoy biking too).
So fantastic to see you 2 back making such great videos! Hard to believe we live on the same planet sometimes! You are providing hope to many of us viewers! Thanks
My wife and I love the new city we moved to this year (Namyangju, Dasan-dong). It's a huge upgrade from where we lived prior. There's so much more space! We don't have to keep our head on a swivel worried about cars running over our dogs when we go for a walk. There are actual sidewalks and they are wide! There's a large park nearby and it's quiet at night. If we want to do something we take our bikes out to Seoul or the Han River trail. Living here is great for us. ^^
That's great you guys found a nice spot for you guys! Haven't been to Namyangju except when passing it on the freeway, so will have to check it out some day!
@barcher thank you so much! I'd really recommend Dongtan because you can go to Dongtan 1 (around Seodongtan Station) which was finished over 10 years ago, and compare it to Dongtan 2 (around Dongtan Station in this video). It's just a short bus between the two and you can see a lot how Korea changed it's planning between the two.
Just found your channel and really enjoying it! This kind of video is exactly what I'm looking for...heading around to off-the-beat places, showing off the infrastructure, giving impressions and memories of how things were and how they've changed, great stuff and please keep it going!
Just discovered your channel & subscribed. I appreciate your choice of topics, angles, and what you bring as a couple! Haven't been back to Korea in a looong time but feel more in the loop on what would interest me now. Bravo!
This lovely city will flourish as more people move here, bringing about exciting developments and reducing overcrowding in larger cities. Koreans are lucky that their government is working on this project, and the fast train will make it easy for people to travel to Seoul whenever they wish.
It's quite impressive what Korea is able to do in a short amount of time for sure! Transportation is top notch here, and it's very easy to get around overall.
It used to be grass field and waste land with some streams lined with sludge all along the entire concrete canal across Osan and Dongtan. It's incredible. It would nice as well to hear about what it's like to do things online in Korea, as you know, everything is digital and online in Korea.
You're right! Haha I remember biking in Osan at night and there were some really bad smells coming off the river. It has improved a lot since then. When it comes to things to do online, that's a great video topic that we could dive into someday because it's basically to the point where you never have to leave your house to spend money (just the way they like it! haha).
동탄은 아니지만 지방 신도시 2지역에서만 10년째 살고있는데 신도시에 대한 의견이 여러가지로 공감되는 부분이 많네요. 아이를 키우기에는 더할나위없이 좋지만 어른의 입장에서는 분위기에 따라서 좀 쳐지는 느낌이 있어요 . 여유로운 분위기를 좋아하시면 신도시가 살기에는 쾌적하고 좋긴하죠 ㅎㅎ그나저나 이채널 영어 리스닝하기 넘 좋네요 구독하고 갑니다 ^^
This is George from George's Travels! Haha! Welcome to My Hell! I know what you mean about long editing days. I do a travel channel that's produced, and then the more easier K-Blog, where you just point and shoot and try to film in sequence, and tell the story of my day that way! Haha! Just found your channel, and love the content! Keep it up! Sadly, I will leave Seoul in two days of this message, and go back to the USA. Hopefully be back next year!
Hi George! Haha yeah sometimes you think it'll take about 6-8 hours to edit something and then you get super carried away and the whole week is gone eh! 🤣 Hope you had a great time in Korea! Safe travels!
Hi Matt and Yujin! Do you know if you can take a bike on the SRT? I tried on a Mugunghwa Train from Busan but took me like 5 hours (or more) to arrived at Seoul. Stay safe!
Hey Thoan! I think it's possible if you have a bike bag, and you take apart your bike to make it as small as possible like this blog: blog.naver.com/PostView.naver?blogId=jun0457&logNo=222229522113&categoryNo=6&parentCategoryNo=0 But I think taking the bus would be a lot less stressful for sure. Stay safe out there and enjoy the amazing weather these days!
We stayed (I think) 1 month in 동탄1 during our 3 months trip in Korea (부산, 서귀포, 대구, 경주, 서울 (김포), 광주. The SRT was awesome! 동탄 is not crowded (from my canadian POV 😅) It was perfect to go to Seoul when we wanted, many restaurants and parks! Perfect for my daugther too! Many children vs other cities in Korea (a big shock, so many people, but noooo kids!!l) We even did a day trip to Gwangju to see my friends there, again, because we didn't know what to do that day 😂😂 And yes... you need an ARC... Alien 😅😅😅 registrstion card for Everything that needs an app 😂😂 like ordering food when your stuck inside because of covid 😂😂😂😂 Quite a shock! I'm now nostalgic because of your video 🤩 PS. If I remeber correctly, the bike lane was on the other side of the road 😅
동탄1 is amazing! I prefer it to 동탄2 to be honest. You're right though. You see kids in new cities and the suburbs, but there are fewer in Seoul unless you are right beside a school or something. Also you are right that a lot of the roads in 동탄2 have a separate bike path on only one side. Glad we could bring back some memories! Take care! 😁
You're right that Songdo is quite far away. It's a nice city overall, but I don't think I'd ever want to live there. Do you live in Seoul right now? If you want to stay in the city but want things a bit slower paced, I'd recommend checking out Yonggang-dong in Mapo-gu. We just lived there for two years, and it's really quiet, has great access to the Han River for walks, and also walkable distance to the Gyeonguiseonsup-gil (forest path in the middle of Seoul). It was just as relaxing as living in Dongtan for us, but still close enough to transportation and everything to be convenient.
Of course! The Four Rivers Trail is pretty smooth overall. There are a few older/bumpier sections here and there, but overall I'd say it's about 80% to the standard of the smooth Han River Bike Path.
Hi Matt! Linus here! I’m just sane across your video and really enjoyed it. Funny coincidence.. during the pandemic,merryground came to me to offer a space in the garage ground mall. I really liked the concept and was only learning about the existence of the new city… like your video it did feel somewhat desolate and I had hard time deciding. but alas I had decline because of the distance and the manpower issues. I believe they asked a different bbq place to come in ㅋㅋ Oh well. Keep the vids going they’re very enjoyable!
Hey Linus! Great to hear from you and thanks so much! Haha what a coincidence that Merry Ground offered a space down there. Didn't even know about it until we looked up things to do in Dongtan 2. Your food would have been the best there by far! It was relatively empty though, so declining sounds like it was a good decision for you! Hope you are doing well and your back is doing better too!
The USA has fallen so far behind Asia in the infrastructure it will never catch up. Wish I could live in Korea or Japan, but will have to be satisfied with your videos.
I know what you mean as a Canadian. They really put so much effort into making things accessible and affordable here for everyone, and we could learn so much from them!
I left Korea back in 1971 and my wife in 1979 and lived in the U.S. Would you recommend a new city or traditional city for someone like us if we were to live there? We will not move there but are curious what the recommendation might be for a middle income elderly couple.
I think that new cities are good for elderly couples, because they are a lot quieter than cities like Seoul/Busan, with a lot more space to walk around in. I think it would be beneficial to have a car though, as it's a lot harder to get around than Seoul.
Government is trying to attract overseas Koreans to comeback into new cities I’ve seen some advertisements on local Korean community newspapers and they want investments from Koreans living abroad when they developed new town near incheon now songdo.
In Seoul, you can rent a studio apartment for about 500,000-600,000 KRW per month, or about 1,000,000 KRW for a two room villa apartment. Jobs are limited for foreigners. Native English speakers can teach english here for about 2.3 million KRW / month, and people from other countries can work in factories or on farms for about 2.5-3 million KRW / month.
Hey there! It's fascinating to think that Canada prioritizes a solid pension and retirement system for its folks over high-speed trains that might be financed over decades. Given the swift population decline forecasted for Korea, I wonder how sustainable these massive infrastructure projects really are in the long run? Would love to hear your thoughts on this! 🤔
I'm sorry to hear that you feel parts of Canada are in a 'disaster' situation. I recognize that individuals all have their own experience and perspective to offer. If this is what you think of Canada's pension system I urge you not to look around the world. Canada's is actually planned in a very sound manner in comparison to others. @@garrusvakarian8709
Haha I'm not an expert or anything, but I don't think that these new cities will be sustainable with the population decline as you said. I've always thought that Korea should be focused on educating the elderly and giving them work as the nation continues to grow older. I don't know the implications economically or anything, but I'd love to see the elderly in Korea treated better overall.
You've hit the nail on the head. Members of the faculty I study under were just in South Korea last month for a summit on lifelong learning for the elderly. It's a noble endeavor, but let's not sugarcoat the facts. The rate at which South Korea's population is aging is unparalleled in recorded history-globally speaking. This isn't just a hiccup; it's a seismic shift. While educational initiatives are commendable, they can't single-handedly address the impending worker-to-retiree ratio imbalance. We're navigating uncharted territory, and it's cause for concern. Maybe robotics and AI will make up for the lost labor. That's what Japan is betting on now. @@lostthenfound
I think the S Korean govt is investing in new cities hoping to spur population growth. Part of the reason for stagnant population is the congestion in Seoul metro, which in turn increases competition for resources and prices.
You make an astute observation about the correlation between urbanization and dropping total fertility rate. Unfortunately, the planned new cities in Korea are also urban and will not directly impact fertility. They will not lower urbanization in Korea, but they may spread wealth through regulated real estate opportunity. There currently exists no ethical model to follow to boost fertility. It is an unchangeable depopulation - which isn't always a bad thing, but in Korea's case it is too extreme and will have massive financial repercussions for the inhabitants of Korea. The burden on the younger populations will likely be enormous and difficult to fathom due to the unprecedented nature of the situation.@@krnpowr
Oh nice! Dongtan 2 is pretty insane how many tall buildings there are around for sure! Take the SRT next time. It makes it feel like a "trip" more than taking the bus there.
There are so many so-called new city suburbs near Seoul that was supposed to bring down real-estate prices down. Ironically it made assets in Seoul more desirable. Such a pity that the Bank of Korea just does nothing to tackle this.
Things are getting out of hand eh? I used to dream about owning a place in Seoul some day, but I'm starting to think it'll never happen. Maybe once the population declines enough and the bubble bursts.
동탄이 안에서 살기는 좋은데 사실 교통 시스템이 아직 좋진 않음. 그게 가격에 다 반영이 되어있는거긴 함. 솔직히 사람이 가난할수록 인프라가 더 갖춰지고, 직장이 많은 곳으로 가야하는게 맞고 그것에 최적화된 도시가 바로 서울임. 결국 수요가 몰리니 서울이 점점 더 비싸지는건데 신도시와 서울에서는 각각의 장점이 있는 것 같음. 그래서 서울 내의 신축 아파트가 더욱 비싸지고 입지를 뛰어넘는 상품성을 갖게 됨.
I think living in Japan would definitely have some similarities for sure. The police here aren't all bad either. It's just hard when you need their help and they don't want to spend their time on you I think. Glad you have found a great place for yourself to live there!
That was really interesting. Reminded me a bit of the new areas being developed north of Toronto ... clean and pretty, but not a lot of character or interesting things to do. Like you said, primarly aimed at young families. It was nice to see all the green space though, especially compared to Seoul. Lastly, Yujin's sunglasses are very cool :-)
Thanks a lot @northice! It seems like more and more people want to live closer to big cities in this world which causes development like this (and population decrease in the countryside). Agree about the lack of character though. Hahaha Yujin's sunglasses are awesome eh! 😎
@dtown313 they are quite a bit different eh? Korea has a lot less space, so they have to come up with creative ways to use it. Just hoping they hold onto a lot of the beautiful traditions as well!
What do you want to see in Seoul? I'd love to see less lanes for cars, and more space for bikes and pedestrians, but I doubt that will happen as the car culture is so huge here.
Narrow streets are the soul of a city. Wide streets will kill businesses and make pedestrians feel inconvenient and lack a sense of hiding. People not only live in the busy city, but also want to be invisible here.
This is an interesting take and I never really thought about it, but I think you are onto something. Seoul's tight alleyways with narrow sidewalks are bursting with life in comparison to Dongtan.
It's a pretty rough "bike lane" eh @MrChaotio? Glad that all of this is improving every year, but you would think that new cities would be at the forefront of infrastructure. I use Samsung Pay to pay for everything on my phone. It should work for international cards too, but to ride the subway like that you might need a Korean ID. I'll look into it for the future and make a guide if it's something easy for tourists as well!
On the buildings you mean or on RU-vid? I don't control the ads on RU-vid, but I keep them on because we are trying to make this our career and that's the only way we make money.
Korean new cities are souless and lack identity. All look similar with no unique scenery. They are like what you described on new city foods. Looks nice but lacks distintive soul.
I agree @afaha2214. I don't know what Korea's plans are with the dwindling population, but that will be a major problem that the "New Cities" will be hit with hard.
