"My Island," "Your Island"

The name Yeouido is said to come from wordplay — a small hill here that stayed dry above floodwaters was jokingly called "my island" or "your island."

Key takeaways

One story holds that the name Yeouido comes from a low hill, Yangmalsan, on the site of today's National Assembly building, which kept its head just above floodwaters — leading locals to jokingly call it "naui seom" ("my island") or "neoui seom" ("your island"), later rendered in Chinese characters as Yeouido. Fact Yeouido first appears in written records in the 1751 document *Dosong Samgunmun Bungye Chongrok*, and from the early Joseon Dynasty onward, it served mainly as a state-managed pasture for livestock. Fact In 1914, it was reorganized together with Bamseom Island (then called Yuldo) into Yeoyul-ri, part of Yongmyeon Township, Goyang County. Fact

What to look for on site

Signage describing the origin of the name "my island, your island"
Reference materials illustrating the area's history as Joseon-era pastureland
Old administrative boundaries showing that Yeouido and Bamseom were originally a single community

Precise phrasing

It's inaccurate to say "Yeouido was always an urban center." Establish its background as a sandy island used for pasture during the Joseon Dynasty.