Yongin (; ) is a city in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population over 1 million, the city has developed rapidly since the 21st century, recording the highest population growth of any city in the country. Yongin is a multi-nuclear city with multiple urban centers, not a single nuclear structure, and Giheung District crosses the Yeongdong Expressway and Dongbaek, while Suji District crosses Pungdeokcheon Stream and Jukjeon.
Yongin is a city almost as large as Seoul by area, consisting of the highly urbanized districts of Suji District and Giheung District and the semi-urbanized district of Cheoin District. Yongin's urbanized districts are located close to the capital and many commute to and from downtown Seoul in approximately 30–40 minutes by car using the Gyeongbu Expressway or Yongin-Seoul Expressway, the Bundang Line subway, the Shinbundang Line subway or metropolitan buses. The Shinbundang Line with a maximum speed of extended to Suji District in January 2016, which allows Suji residents to travel to Gangnam Station in 25 minutes. The Bundang Line extended south to Giheung Station in December 2011, connecting to EverLine that extends all the way to Everland. In December 2013, the Bundang Line extended to Suwon Station of Seoul Subway Line 1.
Yongin is home to Everland and Caribbean Bay, South Korea's most popular amusement and water parks. The city is also home to the Korean Folk Village, the largest of its kind. The 12,000-capacity Yongin Stadium and the 37,000-capacity Yongin Citizen Sports Park Stadium are the largest sports venues in Yongin. Both stadiums are used mostly for football matches.
History
Although there is evidence of human settlement here as far back as the fifth century, Yongin was granted city status only in March 1996.
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In 1979, Yongin-myeon was promoted to Yongin-eup under Presidential Decree No. 9409. In 1983, under Presidential Decree No. 11027, Yeosunae and Gasancheon basins of Jinae-myeon, which were merged into Suji-myeon during the Japanese colonial period, Iui-ri and Hari were incorporated into Suwon City, and Jinmok-ri and Bongmyeong-ri, part of Jinwicheon basin of Namsamyeon, were incorporated into Pyeongtaek City. In 1985, Giheung-myeon was promoted to Giheung-eup under Presidential Decree No. 11772. In 1995, 660,000 m2 of Yeongdeok-ri, Giheung-eup, were incorporated into Suwon City.
Geography
Yongin has an inland location in the southern part of Gyeonggi province.
Climate
Yongin has a humid continental climate (Köppen:
Dwa) due to its inland location. The average yearly temperature is 11.6 °C, the average temperature in January is -3.1 °C, the average temperature in August is 25.1 °C, and the average yearly precipitation is 1,300mm.
Education
Yongin has many university campuses, namely Yong-In University, noted for its sports courses, Myongji University's Yongin Campus, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies' Global Campus, the Police University, Kangnam University (named for its former campus in
Gangnam District,
Seoul), Yong-in Songdam College, Dankook University and Calvin University.
Economy
Yongin has a major tech industry, centered around memory chips and
Display device.
The city is home to Samsung Electronics' Giheung Campus in Giheung District. It is Samsung's first semiconductor fabrication plant, completed in 1983, and produces DRAM. In 2024, a new R&D center for the company was completed at a cost of 20 trillion KRW.
Yongin also hosts the headquarters of Samsung Display, the display subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, and Samsung SDI, the battery making subsidiary of Samsung. The Samsung Display's new headquarters were completed in 2024.
In 2025, leading memory chipmaker SK Hynix announced its four fabs built in the southeast of the city will receive investments totaling up to an unprecedented 600 trillion KRW to meet booming demand in artificial intelligence.
The two projects by South Korea's largest chipmakers will turn Yongin into the world's largest semiconductor hub.
Yongin also has a major tourism industry, with Everland theme park, Caribbean Bay water park, the Korean Folk Village, and Daejanggeum Park all being major attractions.
Administrative districts
The city is divided into three
gu (districts):
Demographics
Yongin's population surpassed the 1 million mark in 2017.
Transportation
Yongin is served by trains on the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. The
Bundang Line has been extended into Yongin, calling at
Jukjeon Station,
Bojeong Station, Guseong, Singal, Giheung and Sanggal stations; and it has been extended towards Suwon Station, in Suwon. Since May 2013 a new line named the EverLine Rapid Transit System is in operation and linked to the
Bundang Line at
Giheung Station where it is possible to transfer between lines without going outside. From 2016 onwards, the inner
Suji District area will also be served by four new
Shinbundang Line stations,
which will allow Suji residents travel to
Gangnam Station in less than 30 minutes. An extension from Gangnam to
Sinsa station, began construction in 2016 and was opened on May 28, 2022.
The GTX higher-speed rail serves Yongin through Guseong station, which the GTX-A line runs through. It was completed in 2025.
Yongin has an intercity bus terminal in the city center, though the densely settled northern areas are served better by the terminal in Yatap-dong, Seongnam.
Food
Yongin's most famous food is the Sundae of Baekam-myeon, Chouin-gu. Baekamsundae has a special feature of filling meat without blood.
Sports
Yongin is the home of the WKBL women's basketball team Yongin Samsung Life Blueminx and the K League 2 football club
Yongin FC. The city is also home to the Yongin Football Center.
The Yongin Mireu Stadium, home of Yongin FC, is the largest stadium in the city. Suwon Samsung Bluewings have also used the venue as their temporary home ground when the Suwon World Cup Stadium was unavailable.
Sister cities
Notable people from Yongin
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Seo Eun-kwang – singer and actor, member of K-pop group BtoB
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Yook Sung-jae – singer and actor, member of K-pop group BtoB
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Park Hyung-sik – singer and actor, member of K-pop group
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Bomin – singer and actor, member of K-pop group Golden Child
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Mino – rapper and producer, member of K-pop group Winner
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Lee Sung-yeol – singer and actor, member of K-pop group Infinite
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Chan – singer and actor, member of K-pop group iKon
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Changbin – rapper, singer and producer, member of K-pop group Stray Kids and producing team 3Racha
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Yoon Do-young – football player
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Kim Do-hoon – actor
Attractions
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Everland theme park
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Caribbean Bay water park
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Korean Folk Village
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Yongin Daejanggeum Park, previously known as MBC Dramia (MBC 드라미아), located at Cheoin District, is the filming location of historical dramas such as Moon Embracing the Sun, Jumong, Queen Seondeok and Dong Yi. Viewing tours are available, which includes traditional folk games, historical court dress and archery.
Gallery
File:Gugaldong yongin.JPG|Gugal-dong Yongin
File:Tancheon - 06 - An artificial island in Jukjeon.JPG|Tancheon
File:용인시청.JPG|Overall view of Yongin city hall
File:0_DanKooKU_6.jpg|Dankook University
See also
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List of cities in South Korea
External links
