Namwon

Namwon (Korean: 남원; Korean pronunciation: [na̠m.wʌ̹n]) is a city in the North Jeolla Province in South Korea. Namwon is about 50 minutes from the provincial capital of Jeonju, which is almost three hours away from Seoul. The official city flower is Royal Azalea (철쭉) while the city tree is the crape-myrtle (배롱나무) and the city bird is the swallow (제비). With a population of 73,781, Namwon is a mid-sized city located just outside Jirisan National Park, which has the largest set of mountains on the South Korean Mainland. It also borders the Seomjin River, one of South Korea's more prominent rivers. It is 3 hours and 15 minutes from the Seoul Central City Bus Terminal (via direct bus) and about one hour from both the U-Square Bus Terminal in Gwangju and the Jeonju Inter City Bus Terminal (depending on traffic). It is called "the City of Love" because of the famous Korean love story of Chunhyang. Gwanghanlu Garden is a shrine to this love story.