Cheonan

Gwangju Songjeong

Cheonan (Korean pronunciation: [tɕʰʌ.nan] ; 천안시, Cheonan-si), also spelled Ch'ŏnan, is a city in South Chungcheong, South Korea. Cheonan has a population of 666,417 (2018), making it the most-populous city or county in South Chungcheong, and the third most-populous city in the Hoseo region after Daejeon and Cheongju. Cheonan borders the Gyeonggi cities of Pyeongtaek and Anseong to the north, the South Chungcheong cities of Asan to the west and Gongju to the southwest, Sejong Special Autonomous City to the south, the North Chungcheong city of Cheongju to the south east and Jincheon County to the east. Cheonan has been called "the core city of [the] nation" due to its location 83.6 km (51.9 mi) south of the national capital, Seoul, in the northeast corner of South Chungcheong, serving as a transportation hub to the Seoul Capital Area and surrounding regions. Cheonan is connected to various freeways and railways including the National Highways 1 and 21, the Expressways 1-Gyeongbu and 25-Honam, and the city's Korail station serves the Gyeongbu Line and the Janghang Line, with services of the KTX. Cheonan is one of the furthest places from Seoul connected to the Seoul Subway Line 1.

Gwangju (Korean pronunciation: [kwaŋ.dʑu]) is the sixth-largest city in South Korea. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office moved to the southern village of Namak in Muan County in 2005. Its name is composed of the words Gwang (Korean: 광; Hanja: 光) meaning "light" and Ju (주; 州) meaning "province." Gwangju was historically recorded as Muju (무주; 武州), in which "Silla merged all of the land to establish the provinces of Gwangju, Ungju, Jeonju, Muju and various counties, plus the southern boundary of Goguryeo and the ancient territories of Silla" in the Samguk Sagi. In the heart of the agricultural Jeolla region, the city is also famous for its rich and diverse cuisine.