Key takeaways
The Annals of King Sejong record that the county office stood 11 *ri* (roughly 4 kilometers) east of Yanghwado ferry crossing, 11 *ri* west of Gimpo, 15 *ri* (roughly 6 kilometers) south of Geumcheon, and just 1 *ri* (roughly 400 meters) north of the Han River. Fact Yangcheon County's office stood in what is now the Gayang-dong area of Seoul's Gangseo-gu, specifically around lot 239. Fact The Geographical Appendix records that this area's land was half fertile and half poor, growing rice alongside millet, sorghum, barnyard millet, soybeans, kaoliang, red beans, mung beans, and buckwheat, along with hemp — the hemp farming is the source of the neighborhood name Magok, meaning roughly "hemp valley." Fact
What to look for on site
- The Gayang-dong area, site of the old county office
- Traces of hemp farming preserved in the name Magok-dong
- Magok's history as one of Seoul's last rice-farming plains before it was developed
Editorial note
It's inaccurate to say "Magok-dong was always a high-tech district." Establish first that it was a rice-farming plain before development.