ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the dynamism of Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea, via an econometric analysis of activity at ICN, Incheon International Airport. The specific objectives are to: set out a history of Seoul, leading to its present position atop of the global hierarchy; explain recent thinking on the economic performance of city systems, with attention to the value of spatial interaction models for analyzing it; estimate a pair of poisson-based gravity models, for arrivals and departures, using primary data on ICN; and end with a set of evidence-based thoughts and conclusions. The general finding is that a rich combination of ideas, old and new, as woven together here, is key to understanding contemporary urban empires and their interface with the global economy.
