Keijō (Japanese: 京城), or Gyeongseong (Korean: 경성), was an administrative district of Korea under Japanese rule that corresponds to the present Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
The name "Keijō" for "Seoul" remained in use in Japan for about a decade after the end of World War II. From the 1960s onwards, "Seoul" (ソウル - Souru) gained currency at the request of the South Korean government, and is the most commonly-used Japanese name today, with "Keijō" being relegated to historical or academic use only.
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History
When the Empire of Japan annexed the Korean Empire, it made Seoul the colonial capital. While under colonial rule (1910–1945), the city was called Keijō (京城; 경성; Gyeongseong; Kyŏngsŏng, literally meaning "capital city" in Hanja.). Keijō was an urban city (부; 府) that had two wards: Keijō itself and Ryusan-ku (龍山區, 용산구, りゅうさんく). Gyeongseong was part of Gyeonggi Province, instead of being an independent city or prefecture as in Joseon and present days. In 1914, several outer districts of the prefecture were annexed to neighboring Goyang County (now Goyang City), reducing the administrative size of the prefecture. In 1936, Gyeongseong expanded itself as it annexed Yeongdeungpo from Siehung County (now Siehung City) and recombined some parts of former Gyeongseong districts (Sungin, Yeonghee, etc.) from Goyang County. The Government-General Building served as the seat of the colonial government of Colonial Korea but was torn down in 1995.
Honmachi
The central district of Gyeongseong was Honmachi, present-day Chungmu-ro.