Seoul throbs with a vigor and a vitality that come as a shock to anyone returning years after visiting the shattered capital in the aftermath of the Korean War—or even a generation ago, when it remained a distant Asian outpost, clearly fallen behind other major regional centers. Just 40 miles below the line that separates North from South Korea, Seoul sprawls on either side of the Han River, 20 miles inland from industrial Incheon—that's the port city that's building even farther into the sea in hopes of becoming the transportation hub of Northeast Asia. Together, the Seoul-Incheon megalopolis, including surrounding Kyonggi Province, shelters half of South Korea's 48 million citizens. Often at odds with one another on such hot-button issues as the economy, labor, the Korean-American alliance and how to deal with North Korea, locals swagger with an ebullience that belies headlines of the North's nuclear weapons, anti-American demos and political in-fighting.

Beneath shining office towers and apartment blocks that rise like giant matchboxes everywhere, the city is expanding its cultural and business horizons so rapidly that an official from the tourist office warns that "everything keeps changing." Sturdy stone bridges span a bubbling stream that was hidden beneath an expressway two years ago. A few months earlier, those bridges were heaps of stones, their gently arched walkways blocked by barriers, as workers strived mightily to meet the deadline for completion set by Seoul's dynamic mayor, Lee Myung Bok, who once ran the enormous construction company that covered the stream with asphalt in the first place.

Now Mayor Lee's dream is to beautify the capital, defying critics who say it grew so rapidly in the explosion of the '60s and '70s that civic planners and builders sublimated aesthetic values in the interests of Korea's "economic miracle." Strollers wander by the stream in the shadow of some of the country's largest corporations, down to an old-but-new district of all-night shopping centers, textile factories, clothing outlets and sporting goods stores near Tongdaemun, the city's historic East Gate. Cheong Gye Cheon, translated as "pristine stream," infuses a fiercely bustling commercial enclave with serenity and charm. The other way, on the broad avenue sweeping south to Seoul Station, traffic swirls around Namdaemun, the city's equally venerable South Gate, lording it over a warren of shops offering terrific bargains, above ground and in a winding underground arcade.

But Mayor Lee's vision does not stop there. In front of the historic City Hall, a massive pile of cement built under Japanese colonial rule, the vast City Hall plaza, once a magnet for enormous demonstrations, is now a grassed-over circle fit for concerts, parties—and a daily parade of figures dressed in bright Chosun-dynasty costumes as they reenact the "changing of the guard" in front of Deoksu Palace across the way. The square is truly the center of the capital, although many of the biggest chaebol, or conglomerates, have set up headquarters several miles away, south of the broad Han, whose twists and turns divide "old" from "new" Seoul. Wide, sweeping avenues, enormous department stores and soaring skyscrapers add a special luster "south of the river," even as Cheong Gye Cheon revitalizes the traditional city center.

Getting around
Rushing from one place to another is a daunting proposition for newcomers. While Seoul's transport system takes getting used to, frequent visitors soon discover some basic rules. If your business is anywhere from COEX, the huge exhibition center, to Apkujeong, the flossy district of high-fashion boutiques, upscale restaurants and nightclubs, stay "south of the river." Otherwise, you'll spend altogether too much time in traffic jams, if you go by taxi, or battling through a crowded subway system. But if you're "north of the river" and have to venture south of the river, plunge into the subway. Beginning with line number one, which runs all the way to Incheon via City Hall and Seoul Station, the capital has built one of the world's largest, most efficient networks in little more than 30 years. Subway maps in English are available, and you'll save time as well as money by hopping aboard. A trip from north of the river around to COEX, for instance, may take 45 minutes by subway—and upwards of an hour by taxi. Buses are also plentiful, but it may prove frustrating to determine where to get the one you want. Few foreigners take them—which is a pity, since the bus system is convenient and comfortable if you have the time and energy to figure it out.

Restaurants
Once noted for its culinary provincialism, Korea has turned into a gourmet's paradise. Yes, Korean food—like bulgoki or kalbi, classic beef dishes; or bibimbap, a mélange of veggies, bits of beef (vegetarians can order the dish sans beef) and maybe an egg mingled with rice and hot pepper sauce—is ubiquitous, but you can also savor everything from fast-food pizza and burgers to haute cuisine. For the best in Korean food, wander a few blocks north of Chong Gye Cheon to Insa-dong, an ancient district of traditional restaurants and small shops selling distinctly Korean artifacts. A tiny favorite: Daenamoo Bobjip (Bamboo Rice House, 02 735-2356). For the most exquisite in fusion as well as Korean, look for Min's Club, in a restored Korean-style house (02 733-2977, fax 02 733-2967).

Fine dining is everywhere, including in Itaewon, where great restaurants have sprung up just a few blocks from the thriving tailor and souvenir shops, sleazy bars and pickup joints catering to GIs from the nearby U.S. military base. One of the best: Le Saint-Ex (02 795-2465), on an alley off the main drag through Itaewon. Owner Benjamin Jonau somehow squeezes in art exhibitions along with a constantly shifting menu—and he opened a Spanish restaurant, La Plancha (02 790-0063), across the way.

South of the river, in glitzy Apukujeong, try Gossen (02 515-1863) for Italianstyle and Korean fare opposite the Galleria Department Store. Nearby, Once in a Blue Moon (02 540-5490) offers live music, featuring western standards to complement a standard western menu. Most hotels have terrific if expensive restaurants, both Korean and foreign. Room 201 (02 3701-0500 or 02 735-9071) is a new Italian restaurant, part of which actually is Room 201 in the New Seoul Hotel behind City Hall. The set lunch is highly recommended for fine dining at a reasonable price.

Hotels Seoul has numerous hotels, with a number of five-star international options. If you're north of the river, the Westin Chosun (02 771-0500, www.echosunhotel.com) remains the all-around best, as it has been ever since its founding as Seoul's first hotel in 1914, soon after the onset of Japanese rule. Across the street, the Radisson Seoul Plaza, (02 771-0200, www.seoulplaza.co.kr) overlooks City Hall plaza. Its second-floor coffee shop is a favorite meeting place for match-makers introducing eligible young men and women. Around the corner, just off the plaza, the Lotte (02 771-1000, www.lottehotel.co.kr) offers remodeled rooms in high-rises above a refurbished lobby.

On a slope of Namsan, the mountain in the middle of the capital, the Grand Hyatt (02 797-1234, www.grandhyattseoul.co.kr) looms above Itaewon, to which the hotel runs shuttle vans. Also on the side of Namsan, closer to the center, is the Seoul Hilton (02 753-7788, www.hilton.co.kr), where Miss Kong has presided with loving care for years over the capital's best business center. (Just don't confuse the Seoul Hilton with its rival Grand Hilton, formerly the Swiss Grand, on the northern fringe near World Cup Stadium.)

On the other side of Namsan, a favorite for big conferences is the Shilla (02 2233-3131, www.shilla.net). If you're attending a convention or show at COEX or the World Trade Center, way south of the river, stay at the Grand InterContinental (02 555-5656, www.seoul.interconti.com), its newer partner, the COEX InterContinental (02 3452-2500, www.seoul.interconti.com), or the Ramada (02 6202-2000, www.ramadaseoul.co.kr). Closer to Apukujeong, the JW Marriott (02 6282-6262, www.jw-marriott. co.kr) rises over Seoul's biggest intercity bus terminal. Not far away, also conveniently south of the river, are the renovated and renamed Imperial Palace (02 3440-8000, www.iphotel.co.kr), formerly Amiga; the Ritz-Carlton (02 3451-8000, www.ritz.co.kr); and the Renaissance (02 555-0501, www.renaissance-seoul.com).

Time off
You'll never run out of ways to get to know the capital and the country. For a dose of modern history, join a regular day tour to the DMZ, the four-kilometer-wide demilitarized zone that divides South from North Korea. A full tour of the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom includes a briefing from an American soldier (shouting out a standard history that he's had to memorize) and a walk through Freedom House, a modern building that faces the North-South line in the middle of the Joint Security Area.

You'll see North Korean guards staring at you, and you'll enter the small aluminum-covered building right on the line where North Korean and American officers stage occasional meetings. Your tour bus will take you to the "bridge of no return," over which prisoners were exchanged after the signing of the truce at Panmunjom. Outside the JSA, the tour may also include a look at the "third tunnel," one of the infiltration routes dug out by the North Koreans and later discovered and opened up by U.S. army engineers. If possible, you should also visit spacious if underused Dora Station, the last stop on the new rail line linking North to South, and ride up nearby Mount Dora to an observatory for a sweeping look over the line into North Korea.

But don't forget the past: Half a dozen palaces are wide open for tours right in central Seoul. You can spend hours wandering through the secret garden of royalty behind the tall walls surrounding Changdeok Palace. For a lovely view of the city, go up Namsan Tower, at the top of Namsan. And for much greater views, plus invigorating exercise, consider hiking up Mount Pugak, north of the city center but still inside the city limits. It's two or three hours to the top up any of several winding forest trails.

Getting there
They said it couldn't be done, but Incheon Airport, opened more than four years ago, ranks as possibly the most modern and convenient in Asia. Its long horseshoe terminal, spacious and rarely overcrowded, now serves more than 50 passenger airlines accounting for nearly 500 take-offs and landings a day, and "limousine" buses whisk you to stops throughout Seoul in anywhere from one to 1.5 hours. (Express buses go from the airport to most major cities elsewhere in the country.)

The airport is an engineering marvel, built on reclaimed land linking two islands, defying the legendary high tides of Incheon. Plans exist for another three runways and a cluster of luxury hotels, apartment blocks and shopping centers in varying degrees of construction. They're all part of the vision of Incheon as a hub, not only a port of entry into the Seoul metropolitan region and the rest of Korea, but also a transit point for destinations throughout Asia. A single beautiful bridge links the mainland to the airport, but plans are afoot for two more bridges, and a railroad is due to open in two years linking Incheon to Gimpo, the major domestic airport, much closer to Seoul.

Don't overlook Gimpo, half the distance to Seoul, for flying into Korea—you can reach Gimpo from Haneda, Tokyo's domestic airport (located right in the city, as opposed to Narita International Airport, two hours away), vastly slashing travel time between Tokyo and Seoul. To travel from Gimpo to downtown, you have a choice of buses or a subway line. A final note: If you're coming on a quick business trip, rent a cell phone at either Incheon or Gimpo. The price, when you return it before leaving, will be much lower than you'd pay your hotel—that is, if you're not staying in an executive-floor room that provides the mobile with the high price of the room.

DON KIRK is a journalist based in Seoul.