The first historical record of the Incheon area dates back to 475 AD, during the reign of
King Jangsu of
Goguryeo, by the name of
Michuhol, which is supposed to be located on modern Munhak Hill (). The area underwent several name changes with successive kingdoms and dynasties. In
Goryeo era, Incheon was called
Gyeongwon () or
Inju (). The current name was turned to Incheon in 1413. Later, Incheon County became Incheon Metropolitan Prefecture (dohobu, ). Old Incheon consisted of modern southern Incheon (i.e. Jung-gu, Dong-gu, Nam-gu, Yeonsu District, and Namdong District) and the northern part of
Siheung. The city center was Gwangyo-dong, where the prefecture office () and the local academy (hyanggyo, ) were located. The "original" two remaining buildings of the Incheon prefecture office are located in Munhak Elementary School, while the newly built (in 2001) prefecture office buildings are right across from
Munhak Baseball Stadium.
Modern history Another historical name of the city,
Jemulpo (alternatively Romanized as
Chemulpo), was not widely used until the opening of the port in 1883. It was frequently used until the Japanese annexation. After the opening of the Incheon port, the city center moved from Gwangyo to Jemulpo. Today, either Jemulpo or Gwangyo-dong is considered "Original Incheon" (). It was internationally known as
Jinsen during
Japanese rule, based on the Japanese pronunciation of Incheon's Sino-Korean name. In 1914, the Japanese colonial government merged outer parts of old Incheon (including the former center of Gwangyo) with
Bupyeong County, forming
Bucheon County. Between 1936 and 1940, some part of Bucheon County was recombined into Incheon, by which some part of "old" Bupyeong was annexed into Incheon. Incheon was originally part of
Gyeonggi Province, but was granted
Directly Governed (now Metropolitan) City status on 1 July 1981; the city officially separated from the province. In 1989, neighboring islands and Gyeyang township of Gimpo County were ceded to Incheon and in 1995 Geomdan township of Gimpo County and two counties of Ganghwa and Onjin were annexed to Incheon. Incheon was known as
Inchon prior to South Korea's adoption of a
new Romanization system in 2000.
Major events The city was the site of the
Battle of Chemulpo Bay, where the first shots of the
Russo-Japanese War were fired. During the
Korean War, Incheon was occupied by North Korean troops on 4 July 1950. Incheon was the site of the
Battle of Inchon when UN troops landed to relieve pressure on the
Pusan Perimeter and to launch a United Nations offensive northward. The result was a decisive UN victory and it was recaptured on 19 September 1950. was named after the tide-turning battle that ensued. Prior to and during the
June Democratic Movement in 1987, Incheon was the site of several pro-democracy protests. Incheon has also hosted a series of major international events. The Global Fair & Festival 2009 Incheon was held in the Songdo District in August 2009. It was open from 7 August to 25 October for a period of 80 days. It was a comprehensive international event with global institutions and corporations as participants. Various musicians and artists performed during the event. The city hosted a meeting of the
G20 Finance Ministers in February 2010. Incheon was the site of the third Global Model United Nations Conference, held from 10 to 14 August 2011. It first hosted the
Incheon Women Artists' Biennale in 2004 which expanded into welcoming international artists in its subsequent 2007, 2009 and 2011. Incheon hosted the
Asian Games in 2014. It hosted the 6th
OECD World Forum in 2018. Incheon was designated as the
World Book Capital for the year 2015 by
UNESCO. ==Education==