Many government offices and private businesses have relocated to this new and fashionable center. The whole Han River area along both banks is being revitalized, with some of the land developed for parks and recreation. In warm weather this area is filled with thousands of residents enjoying boat rides, picnics, and other outdoor activities. To the southeast in the Kangnam district, a large sports complex was built for the 1988 Summer Olympic Games. This area is one of the fastest growing and most fashionable commercial and residential sections of the city.
Thousands move to Seoul from other parts of the country each year.
Thus Seoul is several times the size of Korea's second largest city, Pusan. Traditional arts, handed down from ages past, flourish in Seoul as the cultural heart of the nation. Western entertainments are also highly visible in the form of plays, symphonies, ballet, cinema, and popular music. The Sejong Cultural Center, designed to suggest traditional Korean architecture, is a showplace for both Korean and Western performing arts. The National Theater of Korea is the home for seven national performing-arts companies in drama, music, and dance.